but expensive to operate. The Majester is a good plane but those turbojet engines suck quite a bit of fuel. They're basically the same engines used on the T-37 "Tweety-Bird" trainer. That plane has many nicknames because of those engines, including "Converter" (converts fuel into noise) and the "3-Ton Dog Whistle." While the Majester only costs a fraction of a new Cessna 172, you'd probably spend somewhere around $200+ an hour just for fuel. Maintenance on surplus military aircraft isn't cheap, either.

There's one other complication about those surplus jets - in order to fly them, you have to get what's called a "Letter of Authorization." That requires a minimum of 1000 flying hours experience. Since turbojets suck even more fuel at low altitide, you'll want to fly them high. All flights above 18,000 feet require an instrument rating. Furthermore, how you can legally use the plane depends on how it is licensed. Most surplus jet trainers are licensed in the Experimental-Exhibition category. If I remember correctly, this category is restricted to 600 miles of your home base except if you're flying to an airshow (for exhibition purposes, of course). You're allowed to perform "training" flights but you can't just hop in and fly where ever you want. For most people, this isn't a problem. Here's an article that describes the Letter of Authorization process for a T-28 Trojan. This link provides a lot more info on the Experiment-Exhibition category.

As for the BD-5 jet, here's a link to a company that still sells the kits. I actually like their BD-5 turboprop the best because it has a lot better range and isn't that much slower than the jet. Of course, the pure jet is cooler.

There are some homebuilt jets out there. My personal favorite is the Viper, a two-seat high performance jet that's sexy as hell. Their Mark II model looks real good but I don't know if it has flown yet.

There's also the Maverick which is a 4 seater. However, I don't really care for the plane because the engines suck too much fuel. I'd prefer the plane be powered by those cute little Williams EJ-22 turbofans developed as part of NASA's AGATE program. The proposed Eclipse jet intends to use two of these engines and cost about $800,000 which is less expensive than a new Beech Baron light twin. We'll see if that plane materializes.