Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1220268
T he Central Air Force Museum in Monino (Центральный музей Военно-воздушных сил РФ) is one of the most famous and sought-after aviation museums around the world. The numbers speak for them- selves. The exhibition features 173 aircraft and 127 aircraft engines and other exhibits that form a unique Cold War diary. The history of this Soviet Aviation Mecca dates back to the 1940s. This is when the Gagarin's Air Force Academy has been found- ed in Monino (Военно-воздушная академия имени Ю. А. Гагарина). It can easily be said that the Acad- emy is a leading educational body that shapes the personnel for the Russian Air Force. 700 Soviet Union Heroes and more than 10 Cosmo- nauts graduated from there. To- wards the end of 2008 we could have witnessed a fusion between the Academy and the Zhukovskiy facility that trains aviation engi- neers. Nonetheless, the Monino campus remains active until today. Coming back to the Museum, it has been established in 1958, at an airfield that was closed on the very same year. The Museum started its activities in 1960. During some peri- ods the Museum was closed for the public. This is because the exhibi- tion features prototypes of almost all Soviet and Russian military air- craft. Since 2001 the Museum has become a Federal cultural institu- tion. Since 2006, meanwhile, it has been opened to the general public. Miasischev 3MD, carrier of the P-6, KSR or Kh-10 missiles. 9 examples of this jet were built. It was known under the NATO Code Bison-C. Its task was to provide the Soviet Air Force with an ability to strike targets in North America. Su-15 "Flagon" - this aircraft is (in)famous for downing the Korean Boeing 747, flight KAL007, on September 1st, 1983. Miasishchev M-50 "Bounder" - supersonic strategic bomber aircraft. Never did the Bounders enter service. The prototype that made its maiden flight in 1959 stunned the western analysts during the Soviet 1961 aviation day fly-pass. The program was cancelled, ultimately, as the space race had a higher priority at the time. www.fragoutmag.com