Plane fanatic gets a jet (From This Is Local London)

Wallington plane fanatic gets a jet

8:20am Thursday 12th January 2012 in Bizarre By James Pepper

A plane fanatic has landed himself a bargain - a former cold war spy plane.

Plane crazy Mustafa Azim from Wallington has just bought a PLZ Mielec TS-11 Iskra Jet, one of only two in Britain.

The plane, a former cold war spy plane, comes equipped with a canon and high tech spy camera, but as he doesn't read Russian, Mr Azims new toy will remain grounded.

Unfortunately, the planes camera did not contain any film, so Mr Azim was unable to reveal details of any Russian reconnaissance missions over Sutton.

Qualified pilot Mr Azim, 45, said he will however be able to taxi the plane around at air shows, and use it on static displays. Despite losing the initial auction with a bid of £7,000, the auctioneers contacted Mr Azim when the winner failed to pay.

Mr Azim, said: "The winning bid was from a car dealership, which actually owns the only other plane of its kind, but they ran into financial trouble and I was offered the jet instead."

Last year, the Sutton Guardian reported how Mr Azim was working on another project - converting a plane into an apartment - but it has been put on the back burner while he completes another project - creating an aircraft simulator.

This week Mr Azim will travel to Bulgaria to buy two former Balkan Airlines planes which he will sell for scrap metal, however not before 'cannibalising' the two planes into one and flying it home.

He said: "I've survived two major recessions and have always come out not far from the top, but never thought I could get to do something like this."

Mr Azim's "Chopperdom" flying restaurant - another old aircraft he converted into a airborne diner - has attracted a host of international stars such as Hugh Hefner, rapper Ice T, soul-singer Isaac Hayes and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.