Flying a supersonic MiG-29 jet fighter or another similar military aircraft has always been the dream of my life. My wife knew that and bought me a voucher for a Fulcrum MiG-29 flight from an experience gift company. This was surely the best gift I ever received.
 

The MiG-29 flight was organized by a specialized jet fighter flight company, MiGFlug. The Top-Service they offer are MiG 29 flights in Russia, and Zero G flights in Russia and the US. Next to that, they have many smaller, price worthy jet trainers they operate nearly everywhere. But I was lucky to receive the rather expensive MiG-29 flight in Russia, so we went to prepare. MiGFlug has been very professional and helped us a lot with visa etc. We felt very comfortable with them.

There’s nothing like “dare to aviate” anymore. And if you think it’s something of a dream sitting in one of the most advanced jet fighter planes, flying it, getting lifetime memories of its electrifying maneuvers, you need to expose yourself to the fact that “enjoy to aviate” is today’s reality. In fact, thousands of people are satisfying their curiosity and dream of flying combat aircrafts with top guns such as Fly Fighters offering the best of the adventure flight services. Now that you know civilians can fly a jet fighter, you should also know what every non‑pilot aviation enthusiast would like to get into: a MiG flight!

Flying supersonic jet was never cheap. The Concorde jet was costly to run and maintain that led to high ticket prices. MiG jet flights in Russian MiG jets are even more expensive. A MiG 29 flight costs more than USD 15000 for the MiG flight only. And the cost to travel to Russia is not included in that basic price for Russian MiG flights. Advanced MiG flights like stratospheric Edge of Space flights cost even more for the MiG flight only.

The 4th-generation jet fighter aircraft Mikoyan MiG-29 was designed and developed by the Mikoyan design bureau in the USSR as a replacement for the MiG-23 Flogger for the Soviet Airforce. The MiG-29 Fulcrum air superiority jet fighter has been developed during the 1970s and joined the Air Force of the Soviet Union from 1983 at the well-known Kubinka airbase near Moscow.

To put it bluntly: A mig flight is not available at a bargain price. MiG-31 flights to the stratosphere cost dependent of the jet flight duration up to EUR 20,000. And mig 29 flight is with about half the price for the short mig 29 flight program still expensive. Fly jet fighters is something that is not affordable for anybody: Many customers are top managers, entrepreneurs, or multinationals on the look for a truly unique incentive program for key staff or key account customers.

Despite dreaming of it, many people don't know that flying fighter jets is possible for civilians. Up to today, a few hundred flight enthusiasts took the chance to fly in a jet as airforce pilots do. What do you need, if you want fly a jet fighter? To fly fighters, you don't need any prior flying experience. Jet flights for amateurs are carried out in two-seater aircraft, so you'll fly with a jet fighter instructor who will be in control during most parts of the flight such as starting, landing and crucial maneuvers. So if you're healthy and can afford the ride, you're good to go. To fly a jet fighter, there's remain two things to consider: Which jet fighter to fly and the available budget.

Let's first look at different locations to fly military aircraft. In general, there should be distinguished between light L-39 jets and heavy 3rd generation jet fighters such as the MiG-29 and MiG-31. If you look for the most advanced jets to fly, flying fighter jets in Russia is the way to go: Only there, the MiG-29 - designed to outperform the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18, is available for so-called demonstration flights. This means you can fly military aircraft that are in air force service around the world. If you are planning on flying fighter jets like the MiGs, keep in mind that these flights are not cheap: Supersonic flights in MiG-29 start at some 14000 USD. Because of ever-changing exchange rates and oil prices, the prices vary seasonally and annually. Specialized consulting companies such as MiGFlug.com or FlyFighterJet.com have agreements with key players of the defense industry and are therefore able to provide direct clients and travel agencies with "demonstration" flights in MiGs. Unlike in Russia, flights in American F-15, F-16, F/A-18 or even F-22 are generally unavailable to the public.

Fly fighters has been the dream of my life. Somehow, however, I had other interests when I was at the age at which one should prepare for becoming a pilot. The fascination for military aircraft and the wish to fly military aircraft has never vanished. When I grew older and made career, I often thought how it would be when I had chosen another way and became s pilot. Would I be luckier in the morning when driving to the airport to fly airplanes to fly to destinations far away? Would I have a better life as a fighter pilot, would I feel happier when I have to fly a military aircraft instead of driving to my office every morning? Would it make a big difference to fly airplanes as pilot instead of flying quite often on a business class seat?

Although I’m more interested in history and naval/land forces than in fighter aircraft, I was enthusiastic about the new possibility to fly MiG 29 Fulcrum fighter aircrafts in Russia. Given the very high cost of operating a MiG 29 Fulcrum jet fighter, I was surprised that the price to fly MiGs is not that high.

When entering the airbase to fly a MiG 29, I realized that not much changed since the Soviet time, even when fly MiGs is possible in this place now. It seemed to me that the behavior of the crew there hasn’t changed much: They are old-fashioned, and talking a lot about the glory of the old time, when Mikoyan MiG 29 Fulcrum and Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker frightened the NATO-member countries and their military leaders. Somehow you can feel as “fly mig-tourist” in Russia that some older members of the ground crew would probably prefer to see flying MiGs to defend the Russian glory rather than flying MiG with passengers from western countries.