States.

But the Island has not declared war on its giant neighbour -- for the Bermuda fly boys are in it strictly for fun and part-time.

A group of Bermuda businessmen with a taste for fast jets have been flying high-performance jets in New Mexico -- some from the arsenal of the former Soviet Union, complete with red star markings -- for several years.

And now they have special flying suits and a highly-coveted Bermuda Air Force patch -- a shark in a gunsight enclosed in a red Bermuda triangle.

"Wing Commander'' Marcus Mahy -- a former Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force -- said the original idea of two or three friends going to the US to fly fast jets just took off.

And he said: "There are seven or eight of us now and we go for a week every year without fail.

"Wherever we've gone, the patches have been very much sought after by other pilots -- we always take a supply with us as gifts.'' Mr. Mahy added: "People see the patches and we're frequently mistaken for a real Bermuda Air Force. They say they didn't realise Bermuda had one.

"We say it doesn't -- but it has its downside. People sometimes pick on us for low-flying when it's not us, it's really the US Air Force.'' Mr. Mahy said the group's flying suits and jackets were made specially and based on the RAF pattern.

He added: "The Bermuda Air Force patches were custom-made in England and they're very popular.'' The group of around six travel every year to an airfield in New Mexico, where the owner keeps a selection of unusual and vintage planes.

The collection includes the two-seat L-39 jet, a standard ground attack/jet trainer in former Warsaw Pact countries, and the L-39 featured in the latest James Bond action movie.

The L-39 is owned and operated by Larry Salganek who runs Jet Warbirds Aerobatics.

Mr. Mahy -- who used to fly in RAF F-4 Phantoms as a flight engineer -- said it was unusual for civilian pilots to fly fast jets.

He explained the old Soviet bloc jets were only allowed to fly in the US under an experimental licence.

He added that, unless pilots were fully qualified, they had to take to the air under the eye of an expert instructor.

Soviet Onions! Members of the `Bermuda Air Force' in front of a high performance L-39. They regularly take the ex-Warsaw Pact ground attack/jet trainer for a spin above the New Mexico desert.

AIRPORT AIRPLANE FLY