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SubscribeControversial stealth aircraft canopy for sale on eBay?
By Ben Coxworth
13:27 December 28, 2011
The cockpit canopy reportedly made for the failed A-12 Avenger II attack aircraft, which is now for sale on eBay (Photo: Seth Kettleman)
Image Gallery (9 images)Twenty-eight years ago, the United States Navy decided that it wanted a field replacement for its A-6 Intruder ground-attack aircraft. A team from McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics won the contract to design the plane, which would be an all-weather, aircraft carrier-based stealth bomber, known as the A-12 Avenger II. Its first flight was planned for December 1990, but technical difficulties and cost overruns kept the team from meeting that deadline. By January 1991, in fact, the Secretary of Defense cancelled the program due to breach of contract. A legal battle between the Navy and McDonnell Douglas ensued, and continues to this day. Now, however, it's possible to own a literal "piece" of the story - a cockpit canopy reportedly made for the A-12 is for sale on eBay.
According to an article posted on The Dew Line blog, the canopy was first found for sale on the GovDeals.com website by surplus aircraft parts dealer Seth Kettleman. It was advertised as being an A-12 canopy, and he ended up winning it in an online auction, with a bid of US$2,300. According to Kettleman, serial numbers and other manufacturing data on the canopy verify that it was indeed manufactured for the A-12.
The canopy had been sent to GovDeals about two months ago by Purdue University, where it had been languishing in an aviation department hangar for over 15 years. Apparently, no one seems to know how it got there.
Anyhow, should you think that the canopy might look good in your rec room, you'd better do some serious budgeting - Kettleman has set its eBay Buy-it-Now price at US$620,238.
Nice... expensive scrap metal.
Mr Stiffy
- December 28, 2011 @ 04:54 pm PST
Custom super powerboat builders have been sourcing f16 canopies for years. Seems like thosekind of people with an insane amount of money would buy them...
SpaceBagels
- December 28, 2011 @ 07:56 pm PST
Considering what collectors have paid for SR-71 parts,etc.,
it is within reason that somebody in that strata will
show the dough to take it home.
It is crazy,too,
what people will pay for rags with oil stains
(art,so called).
Never underestimate what people will pay for
"the only one".
Griffin
- December 29, 2011 @ 08:25 am PST
I don't need a spare
Jay Finke
- December 29, 2011 @ 10:09 am PST
Wow, I didn't know they actually got far enough to make an entire canopy for the 'flying Dorito'! I bet it would have been formidable had they actually been able to make it work...
fixman88
- December 29, 2011 @ 12:12 pm PST
This and a bunch of computer graphics = the next direct to video Sci-Fi "thriller". ;)
Gregg Eshelman
- December 29, 2011 @ 10:27 pm PST
Up to $620,000+ on 1/1/2012
Would have made a great solar racer, but not at that price.
Eletruk
- January 1, 2012 @ 02:17 pm PST
I saw this very canopy in the summer 1991 in the education labs at the Purdue airport. That's very interesting to finally find out what it was supposed to go to. I wonder if the composite leading edge mold in the same room came from the same project.
JNiccum
- May 22, 2012 @ 03:07 pm PDT
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Not really applicable maybe with big-ticket items such as this thing, but as far as buying/saving on eBay in general goes:
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If you see an auction that you want to bid on, use a sniping service such as Hidbid.com to bid for you. It'll bid in the last few seconds, helping you to save money and avoid shill bidding.