[TheZookie007]

Number 3 - a Boeing 747, costing c. $230 million, owned by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah

The 747-400 presidential plane of Brunei gained notoriety for being personally flown by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for a meeting with President Barack Obama in 2013, as reported by Reuters. The Sultan reportedly purchased the aircraft from Lufthansa, using his own funds, and adorned its interior with gold, earning it the nickname 'The Flying Palace.'

Registered as V8-ALI, the plane was valued at $230 million, placing it among the world's most expensive. Since 2018, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has upgraded to the newer Boeing 747-8 VIP quadjet, registered as V8-BKH, according to Planespotters.net data.



The exact price of the newer aircraft remains undisclosed. Yet, given its VIP configuration as a double-decker quadjet, coupled with ownership by one of the world's wealthiest royals, the cost is anticipated to align closely with its predecessor, the Boeing 747-400.

[TheZookie007]

Number 2 - a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, costing c. $350 million, owned by the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich

Former Chelsea Football Club owner and close associate of Russia's president Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich, owns one of the world's most expensive private jets - a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner widebody aircraft.

Abramovich's 787 widebody, registered as P4-BDL, was outfitted to carry 50 passengers in comfort and is valued at approximately $350 million. The eight-year-old 787 is operated on behalf of Abramovich by Global Jet, a private air charter company based in Luxembourg, according to Flightradar24.com data.

[TheZookie007]

And at number 1, currently the most expensive private jet now flying - another Boeing 747, costing c. $367 million, owned by Joseph Lau

Some sources claim that Hong Kong real estate tycoon Joseph Lau's aircraft is a Boeing 747-8 VIP, an expansive two-deck airliner. However, Boeing announced in 2007 that Lau had ordered a Boeing 787-8 VIP, a more compact aircraft than the Boeing 747-8 VIP.

Lau is said to have invested approximately $153 million in purchasing this aircraft, typically designed to seat up to 250 people. Reports indicate that the customization costs for Lau's Boeing surpassed double the original price of the aircraft, reaching a reported total of $367 million.

[solvegas]

The consolidated Model 28, under the US Navy designation as the PBY 5 Catalina seaplane, first flight in March 21 of 1935 and mass produced from 1936 to 1945 with a total amount of 3308 units produced. They were also flown by the US Army Air Corps, The Royal Canadian navy, The Royal Navy and Air Force and they were used reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue and USA retired them in 1957 but other nations flew them until the 1980's and if you ever saw the TV show Fantasy Island with Ricardo Montalban, this was "the Plane, the plane." Its most important event it was involved in was during the Battle of Midway, June 4 -7, 1942, when it was a Catalina Seaplane which spotted the Japanese fleet West of Midway and radioed the USA fleet Northeast of Midway atoll and allowed the US navy to defeat the Japanese fleet by sinking four of its large Aircraft Carriers and afterwards, the Japanese were no longer on the offensive.

[Jack59]

The PBY 5 was also used as a bomber as I recall. Although it was not particularly successful in that role. Still it was an excellent aircraft. If I were to hit the lottery I would buy or build one. Then refurbish it with enough living space for a crew of four plus two passengers.

[vf1000ride]

I got lucky and got to see a PBY at an airshow back in 2007.  Was cool to see one flying.

[TheZookie007]

I got lucky and got to see a PBY at an airshow back in 2007.  Was cool to see one flying.

Did anyone do a Hervé Villechaize and point at it and shout "de plane! de plane!"?

[jmikeh]

The PBY 5 was also used as a bomber as I recall. Although it was not particularly successful in that role. Still it was an excellent aircraft. If I were to hit the lottery I would buy or build one. Then refurbish it with enough living space for a crew of four plus two passengers.

Is this the same plane Quint spoke of during his speech in the movie Jaws? rescuing surviving men from the USS Indianapolis sinking.

[vf1000ride]

The PBY 5 was also used as a bomber as I recall. Although it was not particularly successful in that role. Still it was an excellent aircraft. If I were to hit the lottery I would buy or build one. Then refurbish it with enough living space for a crew of four plus two passengers.

Is this the same plane Quint spoke of during his speech in the movie Jaws? rescuing surviving men from the USS Indianapolis sinking.

Should be yes, there was a famous story about a PBY rescuing over 50 sailors from the water in that event.  Here is a vintage photo supposedly from the rescue.

[solvegas]

Originally designed and started during World War 2 but prototype not finished until 1946, the single largest strategic bomber built by any nation and much larger than the iconic B-52 Stratofortress, the B-36 Peacemaker, which unlike the B-29, was so large it did not need to be modified to carry the nuclear weapons of the time, could fly unrefueled up to 10,000 miles or 16,000 kilometers and had six propellers and four jet engines (Six turning and four burning), it was it first flew in 1946, was on active duty from 1948 until 1959 and it was retired because it was slow at the time and required a lot of maintenance. There was a time the US Army Air Corps believed that Britain would fall to the Germans and so you would need a bomber to fly from the USA to Germany.   

[solvegas]

if you've ever seen the TV show, "Baa, baa black sheep", loosely based on USMC pilot Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, he was a member of the American Volunteer Group Republic of China under Chang Kai Shek squadron known as the Flying Tigers and the aircraft they flew was the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and they painted the Shark mouth because the Japanese saw sharks a bad luck omens. The P-40 was already being considered obsolete by 1942 due to fighters like the P-47 Thunderbolt, Lockheed P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang, so their production was ended in 1944, yet it did have a good record. 

[vf1000ride]

You guys would probably love the collection of aviation pictures I have taken over the years.  This one of a P-40 goes back to the same airshow as the PBY.

[MaxBigfoot]

I always thought the P-40 was a damned good looking plane.

[solvegas]

Designed by Kelly Johnson from Lockheed Aircraft Company in Burbank, California, he designed in 1954 a truly radical single engine Mach 2 supersonic fighter, the F-104 Starfighter. He also designed the P-38 lightning from World War 2, the U-2 reconnaissance spy aircraft and the SR-71 Blackbird in the 50's which remains to this day the fastest manned aircraft in history. The F-104 entered service in 1958 and retired in 1969 from the USAF. The last one was retired from the Italian Air force on October 31, 2004.

[Cutter]

I have to say that ascetically the F-104 is a beautiful aircraft.

I will admit that it has the turning capacity of a brick, so it was not good as an actual fighter.

 It just looks damn good.