Man Wants Refund on Jet He Bought on EBay
Ah, the thrills and chills of hearing the rumblings of the world's next great superpower: Chinese Ebay.
From Reuters:
- Zhang Cheng, a Beijing businessman, bid $24,730 and paid a $2,000 deposit for a Russian MiG-21 on Ebay.
But legal experts informed Zhang that the MiG-21, located in Idaho in the United States, was "almost impossible to ship back."
Moreover, the seller clearly confined the destination of the plane to the United States and Canada."
Now Zhang wants a refund. What would the negative feedback be on the seller's Ebay profile? "Bad shipper minus minus. Refused to ship an advanced weaponcraft from USA to China.
Has Mr. Cheng considered flying it back to China? We hear planes are really good for that whole traveling through air thing.
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Comments:
The article doesn't mention WHY it is almost impossible to ship the plane to China...The Mig 21 is old technology, so it couldn't be an sensitive technology problem...is it because it is a warplane, and therefore a weapon? Is it too hard to fit it in a shipping container? Worst case I'm sure they could fly the thing...What is exactly the problem here?
He probably hit a snag at the Post Office when they got to the "fragile, liquid, perishable or potentially hazardous" question.
I'm sure he's just having buyers remorse. Like any military aircraft, its an impulse buy and CLEARLY marketed toward the weak. I think he should sue McDonalds.
I had shipping problems on my Russian MiG-21 too...
The replies are great!
In truth, though the plane has been stripped of weapons and the man is a collector who already has several other jets in his stash.
I agree that there should have been a specific reason as to why it can't be shipped. Perhaps it's not airworthy and no freighter has a cargo plane big enough to hold it. Shipping even by boat would cost more than the plane itself.
Actually, it's perfectly legal to own a private fighter jet these days, as is flying it (provided you have the requisite insurance, etc.).
Especially MiGs and other oddball non-American fighter jets. Though, you do find the odd F-18 (like the one on eBay a couple of years back), and de-milled older American aircraft around. Perfectly legal, but for the very rich.
Regarding the flying-it-back idea - all airspace issues aside, you might start to have second thoughts around the point where you ran out of fuel, 500km after you took off.
The MiG-21 was a fighter-interceptor; it doesn't have much range.
I don't work for the FAA or nothin, but I have a feeling that there may be some legality issues when it comes to flying private fighter jets in US airspace.