
The Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune, nestled in the rolling hills of Burgundy's wine country, is the last place you'd expect to find a fighter plane which once had atomic bombs strapped expectantly under its wings.

Michel Pont, who is the world's biggest private collector of fighter planes with 110 according to the Guinness Book of World Records, inherited the castle in the 1980s and stuffed every corner of his property with his prized possessions.

The former pilot's obsession began during his days in the military and continued as he travelled the world trying to stop vintage planes from being destroyed.

His collection and the abundant size of the property has allowed him to open nine separate museums in the castle, one for each type of vehicle.

In order to fund his vast collection, the 87-year-old opened the doors of his castle to some 40,000 visitors a year.

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The castle is located in Savigny-les-Beaune near Beaune. The website says that it overlooks an impressive estate of several hectares and a fierce collection of fighter jets

Among the collection are Michel Pont's record breaking collection of WWII fighter planes. The Vautour, pictured, was designed during the 1950s and not removed from service until the 1970s. 28 of the 149 built were supplied to Israeli military

In addition to the planes which include the F-100F Super Sabre above, the estate includes a collection of 30 tractors used specifically in the vineyard

The Dassault Super Mystère (pictured above) is a French fighter-bomber and is pictured on the grounds of Michel Pont's estate

Former pilot and racing driver Michel Pont, speaking at his chateau in Burgundy is the world's biggest private collector of fighter planes

The Dassault Mirage III (pictured above) is a single-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft. It was developed and manufactured by French company Dassault Aviation

The F-16, pictured above, is single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed for the United States Air Force. Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved to be used in all weather scenarios

Despite all the military hardware, the Château de Savigny les Beaune, is still a functioning vineyard and winery

The French Air Force, Dassault MD-450B, known as Ouragan or 'Hurricane.' It was the first French designed combat aircraft to enter production

The DH 112 Venom, pictured, is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft and was used by the RAF during the Suez crisis

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, pictured above, is a Soviet plane which earned itself the nickname 'Silver Swallow' in Vietnamese and was the most produced combat aircraft since the Korean war

Some of the most memorable sites of the museum include a soviet helicopter sitting on the back lawn, a 1970s hovercraft, a warehouse full of vintage firetrucks, 200 antique motorbikes and 36 racing cars.

Transporting all of the machines from across the world was a task in itself.

Pont, who has owned the castle for nearly 40 years, dismantled one aircraft himself on a runway in Djibouti and rebuilt it when he got it back to the confines of the castle.

Many came from WWII scrapheaps in Belgium, Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

'When you have a head for collecting you find a way,' Pont told MessyNessy.

He told the Guinness World Records: 'Collecting jet fighters is very different from collecting post cards or stamps. I'm ex-military from the air force, so I had the opportunity to meet pilots and see the planes back then, that's how I caught the bug. I started buying planes in France.

'I enjoy saving them, these objects that no one else wants anymore. If I had not been crazy enough to buy these planes they would have all been cut into pieces and made into aluminium bars.

'My collections make me happy, but i'm glad other people who are passionate about them can enjoy them. It's comforting to know I've not wasted my time.'

A Belgian fighter aircraft, the Dassault Mirage 5 BA, can be seen sitting on the front lawn of Michel Pont's medieval castle at Chateau Savigny-lès-Beaune in Burgundy

The Vought F-8 Crusader (pictured above) was primarily used during the Vietnam war

Originally built as a supersonic interceptor aircraft, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, eventually became widely used as an attack plane

The Mirage 5, pictured above, was built after Israel requested 50 units in September 1966. Due to the rising tensions in the Middle East, their production was put on hold later in 1967 by Charles de Gaulle. The jets were also sold to Abu Dhabi, Belgium, Colombia, Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Pakistan, Peru, Venezuela, and Zaire

Pont scoured Europe, as well as Russia and even Africa in the hunt for new aircraft for his collection.

When he found a new jet he would take a team of mechanics to help dismantle the plane, then rent a crane to transport it back to France in pieces.

Spending his younger days as a racing driver, he said that it was his parents who also inspired his passion for heritage.

Pont told Guinness World Records he took part in the French championships, winning 168 trophies in eight years.

The octogenarian was also in the French air force and said he caught the bug by speaking with pilots and buying planes when they were declared unfit for service.

He told Guinness World Records that he wanted to stop them from being destroyed.

Pont said: 'The 12 hectares of property were mostly wasteland and brambles. So I planted four hectares of vines and prepared two to three hectares for the planes.

'After buying the castle I had to come up with ways to make this investment viable. Forty years ago we were just beginning with 50, 100 visitors, now we welcome around 35,000 paying visitors annually - 40,000 in total.

The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French jet attack aircraft used by the RAF and French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear attack role. It's still used by the Indian Air Force with modifications

The Nord Noratlas (pictured above) was a dedicated military transport aircraft, developed and manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer Nord Aviation

The Aero Jet Trainer L-39 Albatros, pictured above, was a Czechoslovakian training aircraft used during the 1960s

The Dassault Mirage III was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizontal flight

Michel Pont surveying some of his 110 fighter jets which have come from scrapyards in Russia, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, France and even Africa

'My home is now the only place in France where people can take pictures and get close to planes, almost close enough to touch them.

'In the military air bases, when planes were declared unfit for service, they were put on sale. So 30 years ago I started buying these planes to save them from being destroyed.

'All military bases are closed to the public so this is the only place to see a wide variety of planes from all over the world.

'When I bought this property, I could never have imagined that some day I would be crazy enough to collect jet fighters.'

Pont's most recent purchase was an American Sabre jet he bought in Sweden that was completely restored.

His collection began with motorbikes, small motorcycles, antique furniture ploughs, tractors and tools for his wine-making business around 60 years ago.

As all military bases are closed to the public in France, Pont believes this is a way to let people get up close with fighter jets and he opens his property and surrounding estate as a museum.

The Dassault Super Mystère, pictured above, is a French fighter-bomber and was the first Western European supersonic aircraft to enter mass production

Many of Pont's planes were discovered in the WWII boneyards of Poland and Belgium. One he deconstructed himself on a runway in Djibouti to rebuild when he returned from the Chateau

The Château de Savigny les Beaune sits on a 50 acre vineyard and the cellar contains vintages dating back 600 years

Pont's collection boasts more than one hundred fighter planes with some helicopter plus over 2000 models inside the castle

The Canadair Sabre was an aircraft manufactured for use during the Korean war. It was produced until 1958 and used primarily by the Canadian Air Force

But not all his trips to rescue vintage jets went as planned, as during a visit to Warsaw, Poland, Pont was held up at the German border and accused of smuggling weapons.

He said: 'Everything was going well, we took the planes apart, put them in our vehicles and then we reached German customs. The customs officer said: ''What's happening here? Nobody move.''

'They almost handcuffed us, there were flashlights, police dogs. They thought we were trafficking planes for war. We were stuck there at 3am and spent the night in our cars. They ended up phoning the police in Dijon to find out who I was, then we finally got through.'

Although the planes are kept outside in all weathers, the elements do not damage them as they are made from aluminium, Pont said.

More than 30,000 people visited the Chateau during 2018.

Originally built in 1340 for the Duke of Burgundy, the Chateau was demolished during the 1400s and later rebuilt and restored in the 17th Century.

Along with the impressive collection of military hardware, it is still a 66 acre vineyard with vintages dating back 600 years.

The Château de Savigny les Beaune is open for tourism and saw 30,000 people visit its nine permanent museums last year

The Ouragon or 'Hurricane' were purchased in India who renamed it the Toofani (Typhoons). Israel bought 24

In combat over Korea, the Soviet made Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was successful as a straight-winged jet day fighter