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Re: Brian's Cobras

Posted by Rob Mears on Sat Jan 31, 2004 12:14:36 PM

In reply top The "new" Brian on the board, and his airplanes. posted by Brad on Fri Jan 30, 2004 07:36:14 PM

Brian gets the biggest pat on the back from me for his decision to preserve THREE Cobra helicopters (and counting?). Virtually no one has taken to the scent of the AH-1 Cobra, and AFAIK there will never be a deluge of Cobra airframes on the market that people can pick & choose from at their own convenience. They apparently have to be quickly snapped up one at a time as the rare opportunity presents itself.

To this day I count only about eight that have been preserved in private hands, which is a pretty poor track record for what is effectively the ORIGINAL attack helicopter. The Cobra paved the way for the choppers that now dominate the modern battlefield.


I think the majority of warbird folks would consider the Cobra to be an "off topic" aircraft, but when it comes to military combat aviation you can't deny the significance of the type. As restricted as it may be, the pool of surplus Cobra airframes that are available for private ownership and collection are out there today, and will not be there tomorrow. Twenty or thirty years from now there will be plenty of youngish aviation enthusiasts & collectors saying "If I'd only known about it back then" - same as many WWII-era warbird enthusiasts say today ;)

Taiwan has a squadron of Cobras that will hopefully be importable to the West for private ownership once they are deemed obsolete in the not too distant future. The Army isn't about to let the private sector fly off in their surplus Cobras, and I really can't think of any other sources where they might be found in the future. There are a number of Cobras being modified for heavy lifting and fire bombing, but I'm not sure about the Federal restrictions on those birds, or the possibility of their being available for private purchase after they've been relieved of their current duties.

The original Vietnam-era AH-1G is still the best-looking Cobra to roll off the assembly line IMO (slim, single-engine fuselage, rounded canopy, 7.62 mini-gun, etc). I know of only ONE of these that is available and in private hands. I suppose the majority of these early examples were simply upgraded into the twin-engine monster Cobras that are still flying today.

Anyway, I never hear anyone ANYWHERE talk about "warbird" Cobras so I just wanted to share my feelings on the matter ;D

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