Flying bulls, give you wings

You have probably heard about the Red Bull, but have you ever heard of the Flying Bulls?

The Flying Bulls is very interesting company gathered around a group of aviation enthusiasts with an enormous passion for rare historical aeroplanes. They own a private aircraft fleet based in Salzburg Austria. The company is owned by the Austrian businessman, billionaire, aircraft enthusiast and speed junky Dietrich Mateschitz. You may know him as the owner of the company which produce the most famous Austrian consumer product energy drink Red Bull. Thence the name Flying Bulls.

It all started in the 1980s, when a Tyrolean Airways pilot Sigi Angerer, who normally flew modern jets decided to follow his passion for the historic planes and started his collection. After several years he met Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and idea of the Flying Bulls was born, the rest is history. “The Flying Bulls” company was created in 1999.

The Flying Bulls are in possession of some of the most beautiful and exceptional old planes in the world. They have everything luxury airliner, combat planes and helicopters

Luxury aeroplane for presidents and marshals

The crown jewel of their collection is Douglas DC-6B airliner which was is service of the Yugoslav president Marshal Josip Broz Tito and served as the luxury airliner for him and his VIP guests. When Tito got bored of the plane, 10 years after, she was sold to Zambia’s president Kenneth Kaund. This aeroplane underwent major restoration which lasted for four years. Her size and impeccable retro design, as well as the fact that is the only DC6 still able to fly earned her special place in collection.

Military jet for any occasion

Flying Bulls are also in possession of four fully operative, demilitarised Dornier Alpha Jets used in many spectacular aerobatics air shows. The military version of this aircraft is still in use by many national air forces, such as Portugal, Egypt, Morocco, and five other African countries. These planes are the first planes of their kind that are demilitarised and licensed for civilian use.

Let the Cobra in

We continue in (de)militarised fashion. Attack Helicopter Cobra is one of the most known combat helicopters in the world. Its “popularity” Cobra reached in the late sixties and the early seventies during the Vietnam War. The Flying Bulls are in possession of one Cobra helicopter. Its top speed is top speeds of more than 350km/h and swallows 400 litres gasoline per hour.

Grease Lightening

Probably the most beautiful and the most impressive aeroplane in the collection is the P-38 Lightning by Lockheed. Her unconventional twin tail and highly polished silver skin makes you fall in love with this graceful aircraft. P-38 was produced between 1941 and 1945 and commonly used during the Pacific War. Although this model was built in more than 10.000 copies, today she is very rare and appears to be priceless. Flying Bulls have the only P-38 in Europe, and one of the only ones that is still being used.

Beside aeroplane mentioned above, Flying Bulls have various types of aircrafts from those used in World War II, such as the Chance Vought F4U Corsair through the bomber B-25, helicopters, to modern steel birds.

All these and lot of more can be seen at the private airport hangar “Hangar-7” at the Salzburg airport. Admission is free.