{"id":4841,"date":"2020-05-12T22:02:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T03:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=4841"},"modified":"2020-05-12T22:02:06","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T03:02:06","slug":"the-man-with-his-own-mig-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/the-man-with-his-own-mig-29\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man with His Own MiG-29"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The man with his own MiG-29.&nbsp; I have heard of rich men with their own classic car collection.&nbsp; This is the story of a man with a classic jet collection, including an enemy fighter, the MiG-29<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ralph_Lauren_2013-e1589337365960.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4838\" width=\"141\" height=\"199\"\/><figcaption>Ralph Lauren<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many tales of men (e.g. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/chloesorvino\/2016\/11\/14\/ralph-laurens-classic-car-collection-art-you-can-drive\/#55c3d3f06241\">Ralph Lauren<\/a>) with vintage automobile collections.\u00a0 While researching <a href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/mystery-jet-revealed\/\">the mystery jet<\/a> a few weeks ago, I ran across a man with a vintage aircraft jet collection.\u00a0 His name is Don Kirlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kirlin came into his fortune by inheriting one of the world\u2019s largest chain of Hallmark Stores.&nbsp; This was before the collapse of the greeting card industry, thanks to online greetings and DIY card making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kirlin hales from Quincy Illinois.\u00a0 Safely tucked away in a hangar in the Illini State are a variety of aircraft&#8211;sure to wow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MiG-21<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MiG-21_Lancer_C_cropped-e1589337354772.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4837\" width=\"164\" height=\"107\"\/><figcaption>MiG-21<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Vietnam veterans will be familiar with this classic.\u00a0 The MiG-21 was flown by the <a href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tribute-to-the-f-4-phantom-ii\/\">North Vietnamese<\/a> and held many a dual with the <a href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/f-4c-phantom-ii\/\">F-4 Phantom<\/a>.\u00a0 The single engine jet has a top speed of around Mach 2 and a service ceiling in excess of 50,000 feet.\u00a0 Kirlin had two in his collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">L-39<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>At one point, Kirlin had nine of them.\u00a0 The jet, made by the <a href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/mystery-jet-revealed\/\">Czech Republic <\/a>was a mainstay trainer for the former Soviet Union since the 1970s.\u00a0 Kirlin uses it as an aggressor jets when his services are leased by the Pentagon for air warfare exercises (e.g. Red Flag).\u00a0 He has also acquired L-59s, an updated variant of the L-39.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/L-39ZA_Albatros_cropped-e1589337344424.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4836\" width=\"271\" height=\"183\"\/><figcaption>L-39<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Aero.L159a.arp_-1024x726.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4832\" width=\"258\" height=\"183\"\/><figcaption>L-59<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MiG-29<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Bulgarian_mig-29_altered-1024x583.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4834\" width=\"253\" height=\"143\"\/><figcaption>MiG-29<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The Fulcrum.\u00a0 It was the Soviet Union\u2019s most advanced aircraft for over two decades, designed to fend off the F-15 and F-16 of the United States Air Force and the F-18 of the U.S. Navy.\u00a0 Reading of how Kirlin got the aircraft out of Kyrgyzstan (former Soviet Republic), is the stuff made for movies.\u00a0 It could easily be turned into a feature film, but you can read about it in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2005\/10\/kirlin\/\">wired.com story<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of 2005, Kirlin was employing former military pilots to fly the craft in the war games.\u00a0 I also noticed a few L-39s for sale in the Illinois area, which likely come from Kirlin\u2019s collection.\u00a0 Haven\u2019t seen an ad yet, however, for the MiG-29.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a footnote: For an interesting look back at the MiG-21, F-4 Rivalry, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.holloman.af.mil\/Article-Display\/Article\/951739\/f-4-pilot-mig-21-destroyer-visits-holloman-tells-story\/\">see this story<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The man with his own MiG-29.&nbsp; I have heard of rich men with their own classic car collection.&nbsp; This is the story of a man with a classic jet collection, including an enemy fighter, the MiG-29 There are many tales of men (e.g. Ralph Lauren) with vintage automobile collections.\u00a0 While researching the mystery jet a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":4839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[24],"tags":[1169,1172,1158,1168,399,1167,1171,1170],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Man with His Own MiG-29 - Doctor Aviation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The man with his own MiG-29. 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