It's just an idea at the moment. But Tauranga's adrenaline seekers could ride shotgun in a genuine Eastern Bloc trainee fighter that may've seen battle action.

Tauranga's Mr Mossman can jet from Tauranga to Whitianga in 10 minutes in his Aero L39 Albatros.

Tauranga's Mr Mossman is thinking of registering his Aero L39 Albatros on something called Part 115 Adventure Aviation – that's a civil aviation rule governing fun rides for the public.

The cost? Who knows? But it would be a rare opportunity none-the-less.

'For a lot of people it's on their bucket list to go for a ride in a fighter,” says Mr Mossman.

The Albatros is Mr Mossman's big boys' toy. 'It's fun,” he says with a grin. It isn't the biggest plane he's flown. 'But it's definitely the most fun.”

Fun because it does aerobatics and goes excessively fast. How fast? Well it takes Mr Mossman 10 minutes to jet across from Tauranga to Whitianga – a journey that in a car takes 2.5hours.

'It goes as fast as you want it to,” says Mr Mossman. He's a private man. He'd rather not reveal his first name.

'In straight and level flight it'll do about 700km/h, but 900km/h in a dive.”

Mr Mossman's an international airline pilot for Air New Zealand and flies a Boeing 777 – the military training aircraft is for his spare time.

By his own admission the Albatros is expensive to run –that from a man who earns well. How expensive exactly? He won't say. 'Just expensive.”

The Aero L39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer aircraft developed in the Czech Republic.

It's the most widely used jet trainer in the world. It's also flown combat missions in a light-attack role.

The aircraft is 12.2m long with a wingspan of 9.5m wide. There are 2800 still in use around the world including by the Russian, Lybian and Syrian air forces.

Now there's one sitting in a hangar at Tauranga Airport. There's apparently only one other of its kind in this part of the world.

Tauranga's Albatros is owned by a company in the United States. It was delivered in pieces assembled here by the Americans.

'It's been stripped right back and re-painted and then put on the NZ register under the jurisdiction of New Zealand Civil Aviation.”

So, that fantasy of riding in a fighter jet could become reality.

Call Mr Mossman lucky and he says: 'It's not luck”. 'It's just a love for flying.”