Without even reading I knew it was Don Kirlin who bought them. And after reading I was right. Cool guy to know or even talk to. I met him many years ago when he ran the World Freefall Convention in Quincy Il. Because of him I got to jump a Super Constellation, a Martin 404, a Ford Tri Motor, Amerijet 727 and even bomb Bay door exits from a couple bombers. This was THE event in skydiving. It ended after the Quincy airport assholes pulled the annual lease due to increased air traffic. It moved to Rantoul Il but it wasn't the same as Quincy. It ended in 2005. What Don did for the skydiving world will never be forgotten, one of the most memorable men I have ever met.
Don is a well connected man and I remember the year he brought the L-39's there and then he whips out a Mig-29. I hear he now owns at least 4 Mig-29's. He loves aviation and found a way to get his very expensive hobby paid for. A few lucky people got rides in them, I also flew in several Migs in Russia, they couldn't afford the fuel so if you were willing to fill it up for them they would take you for a ride. Really loved their version of the vomit comet. My bet is Don still does some move work. From what I remember he was a Navy pilot and I believe he was also a Air Force pilot. I also remember a connection to Fedex maybe as a pilot but I think it may have been more. He owns many more than what that article stated. Not even going to get into the weapons collection.
