Warbird Information Exchange

I heard a rumour that a Canadian company is bidding on Mirage III's? I wonder which one? Northern Lights, Top Aces, Bombardier? Does anyone have info on this? Anyone know which Mirage III's are up for the bidding?

Brian...

Well... the Swiss Air Force retired theirs in 2003... perhaps they are doing something similar to what they did with their Hunters and Vampire/Venoms.... would be pretty cool if true. They would be immaculately maintained too. Not sure how the FAA or US Gov't would feel about it of course!

Cheers,
Richard

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Richard Mallory Allnutt - Photography - http://www.rmallnutt.com

Have not heard anything yet on the east BLR .... but that would be cool! I am sure there are a number of Mirage aircraft out there.

Belgium had/has some for sale i thought .... would stand to reason that a french aircraft would go to a company like a bombardier to do this stuff....

It just occured to me that those would be pretty hard to hide cause i am assuming that they need a looooong runway .....

V

Just read in a newsletteer yjay an american customer is biiding on Mirage III over here in France.

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Paris, FRANCE

Maybe (again) one day...

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

The Swiss AF Mirage IIIS' and RS are well spread and in museums or in private hands, mostly on display in immaculate condition.... on my way to work I drive by two of them, Mirage IIIS J-2302 and Mirage IIIRS R-2104....

the Fighters (IIIS) were retired 31st December 1999, the Photo-ships (IIIRS) were retired 31st December 2003, dito for Two-seaters (IIIBS/DS)

the last 13 surviving aircraft (after donations to museums and some srapping) were auctioned off on 26th November 2004 at Buochs Airbase; the aircraft were sold without their engines and other parts containing Thorium, such as airbrakes and nosewheel leg doors. The starting bid was 5'000.- :

Lot / Type / Serial / Price (CHF)

1 Mirage IIIDS J-2004 33'200.-

2 Mirage IIIS J-2302 23'600.- (weathered due to open storage)

3 Mirage IIIS J-2325 55'200.-

4 Mirage IIIS J-2333 55'600.-

5 Mirage IIIRS R-2102 38'400.-

6 Mirage IIIRS R-2104 37'200.-

7 Mirage IIIRS R-2106 37'400.-

8 Mirage IIIRS R-2107 28'800.-

9 Mirage IIIRS R-2109 29'800.-

10 Mirage IIIRS R-2110 60'000.-

11 Mirage IIIRS R-2111 40'000.-

12 Mirage IIIRS R-2113 33'000.-

13 Mirage IIIRS R-2116 50'000.-

Three of the jets were sold abroad (among them 2 to France). The other ten remained in Switzerland.

so no flyers and none expected to be a flyer again anytime soon.

Martin

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Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

ABU DHABI 1S: 12 5AD + 5 EAD
2S: 3 5DAD
PR: 5 RAD

ARGENTINA 1S: 19 IIICJ + 17 IIIEA + 10 5P
2S: 3 IIIBJ + 4 IIIDA
Plus 35 IAI 1S Dagger-A & 2S Dagger-B.
IIICJs & IIIBJs were ex-Israeli, 5Ps were ex-Peruvian.

AUSTRALIA 1S: 49 IIIO(F) + 51 IIIO(A)
2S: 16 IIID
Most built locally, all now out of service.

BELGIUM 1S: 63 5BA
2S: 16 5BD
PR: 27 5BR
Minor upgrade performed on survivors in early 1990s, but
all were then retired.

BRAZIL 1S: 16 IIIEBR + 4 IIIEBR-2
2S: 6 IIIDBR + 2 IIIDBR-2
2 IIIDBR, all IIDBR-2 & IIIEBR-2 were ex-AdA.
Many assembled locally. Survivors upgraded with canards &
so on in early 1990s.

CHILE 1S: 6 50C + 8 50FC
2S: 3 50DC
50FC were upgraded by Dassault from AdA 5Fs. Chilean
survivors mostly updated to Pantera standard.

COLUMBIA 1S: 14 5COA
2S: 2 5COD
PR: 2 5COR
Plus 12 IAI Kfir-C2 & 1 Kfir TC7. Most Columbian Mirages
upgraded in early 1990s to improved Kfir standard.

EGYPT 1S: 54 5SDE + 16 5E2
2S: 6 5SDD
PR: 6 5SDR

FRANCE 1S: 95 IIIC + 183 IIIE + 58 5F
2S: 27 IIIB + 5 IIIB1 + 10 IIIB2(RV) + 20 IIIBE
PR: 50 IIIR + 20 IIIRD

GABON 1S: 3 5G + 2 5G-2
2S: 4 5DG
Two surviving 5Gs were updated to 5G-2 spec.

ISRAEL 1S: 72 IIICJ
2S: 5 IIIBJ
IAI built 61 Nesher / Daggers, with 51 single-seaters and
10 two-seat Nesher-Ts; and 212 Kfirs, with 40 early Kfir-1s
(many updated to Kfir-C1 spec), about 12 Kifr-TC2 trainers,
and the rest Kfir-C2s. Confusing pattern of upgrades to
Kfir-C7 and Kfir-TC7.

LEBANON 1S: 10 IIIEL
2S: 2 IIIBL
All out of service.

LIBYA 1S: 53 5D + 32 5DE
2S: 15 5DD
PR: 10 5DR
Most or all out of service.

PAKISTAN 1S: 18 IIIEP + 43 III(0) + 28 5PA + 28 5PA2 + 12 5PA3
2S: 5 IIIDP + 7 IIID + 2 5DPA2
PR: 13 IIIRP
The III(0) and IIIDs were ex-Australian and locally
refurbished. Some source hint a few were converted into
reconnaissance machines.

PERU 1S: 22 5P + 10 5P3 + 2 5P4
2S: 4 5DP + 2 5DP3
Some upgraded.

SOUTH AFRICA 1S: 16 IIICZ + 17 IIIEZ
2S: 3 IIIBZ + 3 IIIDZ + 11 IIID2Z
PR: 4 IIIRZ + 4 IIIR2Z
All out of service, some having been upgraded to Cheetah
standard. There are about 16 Cheetah-E conversions (all
out of service); 38 Cheetah-C conversions; 16 Cheetah-D
conversions; and one Cheetah-R conversion.

SPAIN 1S: 24 IIIEE
2S: 6 IIIDE
Withdrawn from service in early 1990s.

SWITZERLAND 1S: 1 IIICS + 36 IIIS
2S: 4 IIIBS + 2 IIIDS
PR: 18 IIIRS
Most built locally, many upgraded with canards, etc.

VENEZUELA 1S: 7 IIIEV + 6 5V + 9 50EV
2S: 3 IIIDV + 1 50DV
Survivors mostly updated to 50 standard.

ZAIRE / CONGO 1S: 8 5M
2S: 3 5DM
All out of service.

Hi,

just to inform that the Mirages are part of historic aviation in Chile. The last Group employing Mirage 50 Panteras at Punta Arenas was disbanded on December 31, 2007. Hopefully, at least two of these aircraft are due for preservation while the remainder are offered for sale, as well as some of the ex-Belgian Mirage M5M Elkan. There are two examples of Mirage Elkan at out aviation Museum, plus some other airframes preserved in various air bases in this country.

Regards and I wish everybody a nice 2008
ARP