The Central Museum of the
Air Forces at Monino
The Central Museum of the Air Forces
at Monino, Russia is located approximately 38 kilometres from Moscow
along the Gorky Highway in a wooded area. The museum was formerly known
as The Russian Federation Air Force Museum and, prior to that, The USSR
Air Force Museum.
The museum is on a facility what was an
operational air base from 1932 through 1956. The museum was founded in
1958 and opened in 1960 at the original airfield location with the
original airfield structures.
The area was off-limits to civilians during the Soviet era so it has
been neither easy to find nor easy to access. Advance permission to
visit the museum was recently required for non-Russian citizens. Despite
this, it is the finest Russian aviation museum in existence.
The facilities are largely unimproved and the majority of aircraft are
exposed to the harsh Russian weather. The museum has long been run by
the Russian government and many of the Russian aviation Design Bureaus (Tupolev,
Ilyushin, Antonov, Mikoyan, etc.) have contributed exhibits and
resources to the museum and its maintenance. Despite these conditions,
the aircraft are in surprisingly good shape.
After the museum was opened a lot of afford wend in to find aircraft of
the early period of the Soviet air force types included in the Po-2,
Pe-2, Tu-2, DB-3, SB, IL-10, they are displayed in a new hanger
The Central Museum of the Air Forces at
Monino, Russia is located approximately 38 kilometres from Moscow along
the Gorky Highway in a wooded area. The museum was formerly known as The
Russian Federation Air Force Museum and, prior to that, The USSR Air
Force Museum.
The museum has examples of pretty much every single type of Russian jet
fighter, arranged by manufacturer with separate sections for Sukhoi,
Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) and Yakovlev. unlike most other museums which
preserve production examples, Monino is home to numerous prototypes and
demonstrators, often not well known in the West. As such it provides
some unique insights into the vast development and production effort
expended by the Soviet military-industrial complex during the Cold War
period.
For example the Sukhoi T-10 Flanker A. This is an early prototype of the
Flanker, prior to the extensive redesign of the airframe to the now
“classic” Su-27S Flanker B configuration. The differences are much more
prominent than observed in most western redesign during de development.
Next to the more well known type’s on displays the collection of less
known aircraft is very interesting like the the Myasischev M-50
"Bounder" a supersonic intercontinental nuclear bomber which first flew
in 1959. Or the Sukhoi T-4, a Russian attempt to emulate the USAF XB-70
Valkyrie mach-3 bomber.
A Tupolev Tu-128 Fiddler A Often described as the largest fighter ever
built, the Fiddler was a long range interceptor developed to engage and
defeat the US Air Force B-52 fleet over the vast northern frontiers of
Soviet Russia. Just to name a few.
Early models of the jet age are present
in type not well known in the west . Like the Mikoyan MiG-9 Fargo The
MiG-9 Fargo was one of the earliest Soviet turbojet interceptors and
drew heavily on captured German jet technology. The cannon armament was
designed for interception of USAF and RAF heavy bombers. The Lavochkin
la 15 fantail was an early Soviet jet fighter and a contemporary of the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. It is rumoured that its design is base on the
wartime Focke-Wulf Ta 183 . The Lavochkin La-250 "Anakonda" was a
high-altitude interceptor aircraft prototype developed in the Soviet
Union in the 1950s. Test flights of the five prototypes were plagued by
crashes and the project was abounded with the sole survivor being at
Monino
From the navel site there are some
interesting aircraft on display as this is a separate part of the
Russian defence not all are present. But there are some interesting
planes on display likea two-engined Beriev Be-12 "Mail" seaplane and a
Yak-38 "Forger", which is a vertical takeoff and landing fighter which
went into production in 1975 and served aboard Soviet Kiev-class
aircraft carriers. Near the Yak-38 was another Yakovlev designed VTOL
naval fighter, the supersonic Yak-141 "Freestyle" and a the navalised
Mikoyan MiG-29K a direct derivative of the Fulcrum A, with a tailhook
and structural changes for shipboard operations.. From the naval
helicopters used a Kamov Ka-25 is present but currently not on display.
The Mi-6 Hook for many years the Mi-6
was the largest helicopter in the world, able to carry twice the load of
the largest helicopter ever produced in America.
There are three Mi-6s at the museum. The most interesting one being a
Hook B a Command post, electronic warfare helicopter, then a grey
regular version with the wings mounted just behind the rotor head and a
fire-fighting version without the wings. In the nose is a water cannon
and pipes under the fuselage could be lowered in flight to suck up
water.
Sins a couple of year some aviation
enthusiasts, retired Air Force pilots, pilots, ground personnel, and
students studying all roles in aviation formed a group and then a
non-profit organisation called "Aviarestorer". Do all sorts of
volunteer work: from cleaning the museum grounds and aircraft to
actually restoring the museum aircraft - inside and out. There goal is
to preserve the display aircraft and restore them to the condition they
were in when they landed for the last time at Monino. You can follow
there progress on there website
aviarestorer.ru
The museum in Monino is a must fore everybody interested in Russian
aviation. For a visit contact the museum to arrange the visit as the are
not always open. For the precise information have a look at there
website
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