Today, there are several MiGs in the USA that are privately owned and flown. One of these is the ‘Red Bull’ MiG-17, owned and flown by Bill Reesman at airshows across the nation. Seeing this agile and nimble ex-military fighter perform aerial displays at airshows is always a thrill, and according to Bill (and others who have flown the MiG-17), the MiG-17 is itself a joy to fly, with very few if any of the inherently unforgiving flight characteristics possessed by the original MiG-15 design (it took a skillful pilot to exploit the MiG-15’s full potential safely, as there were a few nasty little surprises awaiting the unskilled at the edges of the MiG-15’s performance envelope). In the course of restoration by American warbird owners, several of these now privatelyh owned MiGs have been found to have dents in their ejection-seat armor plates--evidence that they had stopped significant enemy fire at some point in their service lives!

It's not THAT hard to do. There are a bunch of MiGs flying around the US in private hands.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by USamf

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The Concorde at 50,000 feet could cause damage on the ground under the right conditions. The SR-71 at 80,000 feet had a pressure wave of about .9 at ground level. Anything over 1.0 could cause minor damage, and damage hearing.