The sweet spot for home turntable enthusiasts on a budget seems to be the $200 mark. This might be the best of the bunch.
One can only imagine the sake-fueled club hopping that led to the development of the Seiko Frequency drum machine watch.
Real Toy Planes
By James Grahame
Kids love toy planes. A few kids are lucky enough to buy the real thing when they grow up. That usually means a clunky used Cessna 172 or an old Piper Arrow. But in recent years, a group of wealthy enthusiasts has taken to importing and restoring old Soviet Block aircraft.
This is the Aero Vodochody L-39 "Albatros," built in the Czech Republic as a two seat jet trainer. Over 2,800 were built following its 1972 introduction. Two hundred of them are now in private hands. It's powered by a single Ivchenko AI-25-TL turbofan engine and is capable of hitting a maximum speed of 485 mph (780 km/h). Ceiling altitude is 37,730 ft, so you'll have lots of sky to play in.
Jet Warbird Training Center offers 35 minute introductory flights in the L-39 for $1200. Flight training runs about $1950 per hour, including aircraft, instructor, and jet fuel. Expect to pay around $300,000 for a ready-to-fly late 1980s version.
Aero Vodochody L-39 Flight Training (Jet Warbird Training Center)
L-39 "for sale" page (Lots of pictures at Pride Aircraft)
