Old photos coming to light

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vikingBerserker said:
I wonder if one of the other air museums would take the Tu 144.
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Would be good if they would just keep Monino going. There's heaps of big aircraft there that face scrapping that should be preserved. I wonder if they will save the Tu-4? It's one of only three left. This stunning image gives you in indication of the scale of what might be lost if Monino closes:

https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp...ssia-Central-Air-Force-Museum-at-Monino-1.jpg

Won't be the first time. There used to be a similar aircraft grave yard at Khodynka Field in Moscow (which I nearly went to but didn't) - it was a private collection of airframes, missiles and lots of other stuff located on the site of a former air base, but all the aircraft were scrapped and the site is now apartment blocks and a shopping centre.

here's a link to a guy's photos taken before they destroyed what remained:

Moscow: Abandoned Aircraft Museum

There was a lot more than what he photographed, but its all gone.
 
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The Soviet Union's workhorse post-war flying boat, the Be-12 Chaika looks awkward out of the water.

Beriev Be-12 M-12 Mail 001

One of only three surviving complete Tu-4s left (the other two are in the China Aviaiton Museum on the outskirts of Beijing), this one has significance as it was one of the aircraft invoilved in what was named the Borispyl raid after the airfield it took off from in Kiev. This was a launch of armed bombers to suppress the civilian population of Budapest during the 1956 uprising; thankfully, while the aircraft were en-route they were given the order to return to base. Eek! Note the camera shy dog.

Tupolev Tu-4 B-4 Bull 001
 
Yakovlev's Yak-38 doesn't hold a candle to the Harrier, it's most obvious Western counterpart, but that wasn't the point. The Yak-38, unlike the Harrier was developed especially to operate from the Kiev Class anti-submarine cruisers and provide an air support arm to their enormous range of weaponry. Although possessing short range, average performance and weapons carriage capability, the Yak-38 had an ingenious autoland-eject capability installed after many were initially lost during recovery aboard the carriers. Yak-38s first went to sea aboard the Kiev a year before the Sea Harrier, too, so there, suka!

Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger A 003

This is the third prototype of what its pilots called the 'Cheburashka', after a big eared cartoon character, the MiG-23 was a promising variable geometry fighter interceptor that was widely exported and has seen combat with Western types in various war zones round the world. Featuring a combined radar scope/head up display, the MiG-23 was a sophisticated replacement for the MiG-21. Although still in service with a handful of countries, including Syria, wherethey have been used during the civil war that has devastated the country, most MiG-23s have been replaced by the superior MiG-29.

Mikoyan Guryevich MiG-23-11-3
 
Thanks, as ever.

So, what can be said about the Il-2 in brief that hasn't been said already? One of the most significant WW2 aircraft and the most mass produced aircraft in history needs no introduction. This dusty example in a darkened hangar was the first time I'd seen one in the flesh.

Illyushin Il-2M3 Sturmovik 002

The big An-22 Antei is a giant, although this patchwork palette of an aircraft hasn't weathered its outdoor stay too gracefully. The biggest turbo prop aircraft and an aircraft without equal in the West, the Antei is an impressive beast. In the West, only the limited production Short Belfast comes close, but even then, the Antei is bigger, carries a heavier load across a greater range at a higher speed compared to the Belslow.

Antonov An-22M Antei Cock
 
Our next oddity from a dank Monino is the Ye-152M interceptor prototype, which was one in a family of big high-altitude high-speed missile toting bomber killers, the VVS instead settling on the MiG-25. It was called the E-166 for reasons known only to its painters after its sister the Ye-152-1, which undertook three record breaking flights and received the designation for FAI certification. Weird and unnecessary.

Mikoyan Guryevich Ye-152M Flipper 001

One of the most versatile and prevalent aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, the Pe-2 was a true multi-role machine, performing a slew of different tasks with gusto. Despite this inherent notoriety, the Pe-2 survives in paltry numbers, only four left in the world.

Petlyakov Pe-2 002
 
Crimea_River said:
The Pe-2 looks pretty fresh at that time.
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Yup, some of the aircraft had undergone repainting at the time I was there, which makes the Ye-152M paint scheme all the more odd.

Something left of field now, the Volga stratospheric pressurised balloon capsule. The purpose of this was trials for cosmonauts exiting their spacecraft by parachute, as Gagarin did from his Vostok, at high altitude. Sadly, in 1962, during a trial ejection from an altitude of 24,000 metres, the cosmonaut in question hit his head on the exit door on the way out and while his parachute deployed and his body landed safely, his suit had de-pressurised and he had died.

Gondola Stratostata Volga

The big Mi-26 is a remarkable piece of engineering and is still in operation to this day. The type has lifted everything from oil rig pylons, turbine generators, artillery pieces and various military vehicles, yachts and other watercraft and even a Handley Page Hastings. The Alliertenmuseum (Allied Museum) in Berlin's Hastings was once airlifted from the former RAF Gatow to its current site at Zehlendorf. I wonder if they'll do the same when the Alliertenmuseum relocates to Tempelhof? Probably.

Mil Mi-26 Halo 001
 
Yet another forgotten DC-3, or in the Soviets' case PS-84/Li-2 replacement, the Il-12 was tthe forerunner of the ubiquitous Il-14. Quite a few of them were lost in accidents.

Illyushin Il-12 Coach 001

Ooo boy. The Myasishchev M-4 was a big bomber of some repute and sent the West into a frenzy when it was first unveiled in 1954 during the May Day parade flyover of Red Square, although it had terrible range, it was faster and could carry a heavier load than the broadly similar in requirement Tu-95 Bear.

Myasischev 3MD Bison C 001
 
nuuumannn said:
It was called the E-166 for reasons known only to its painters
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I vaguely remember from around 1960 +/-, some FAI speed and altitude records being set by a Soviet E-166, which at the time was passed off as a more or less stock MiG21. This may resonate nostalgically with some aging Russians.
 
One of the most distinctive of all the aircraft at Monino is the amazing Sukhoi T-4 Sotka, an aircraft designed to emulate the XB-70 Valkyrie in design and performance, although it was not merely a Soviet copy, but a completely individual design. Astonishingly innovative for a Soviet design, constructed primarily of titanium and equipped with quadruple redundancy fly-by-wire technology for example, the T.4 first flew in 1972 and after the completion of only one other airframe was cancelled two years later. It was a remarkable machine and a reminder that the Soviet industry could build quality as well as quantity, if not able to maintain what was an extraordinarily complex programme.

Sukhoi T-4 Samolet 100 Sotka 001

In September 1959, the United States awaited the arrival of Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev on its soil; a momentous occasion made even more eye-opening because of the means by which he arrived - in the prototype Tu-114 four-engined turboprop airliner. On completion this aircraft was an impressive beast; the largest, fastest and longest ranging airliner built up to that time, and with an enviable safety record for a Soviet aircraft. It also held numerous aviation records for its class for many years and to this day bears the distinction of being the fastest propeller driven airliner built.

Tupolev Tu-114 Cleat prototype 001
 
One of the great aircraft to emerge prior to the outbreak of the Great War was the Sikorskii Ilya Muromets four engined bomber, named after A hero from Slavic mythology. This rather startling machine was the biggest aeroplane built at the time and was the first multi-engined aeroplane to be put into production. An S-22 variant, this is the only existing example, albeit a reproduction.

Sikorskii Ilya Muromets reproduction 003

This is the prototype of Sukhoi's long lived Su-24 bomber, the T-6-1 and is quite different from the production variant, the most obvious difference being its lack of a variable geometry wing. Note that it has down-turned wingtips, this is a direct influence of the British TSR.2, which the Soviets acknowledged. The idea was for a strike fighter with STOL performance and to achieve this, the aircraft was to be fitted with four extra engines to provide its short field performance, but it was deemed impracticable as the space required ate significantly into that needed for fuel tanks, as it had terrible range.

Sukhoi T6-1 001
 
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