The Riga Aviation Museum has the strangest entrance to any public museum I've visited. Located at the Latvian capital's airport, you just walk over from the main terminal and ring the bell.
The owner and curator of the museum let me in and took my 7 euro payment. The museum has many Russian and Soviet aircraft not seen in most western museums.
Like most museums, Riga has little placards next to each aircraft with what it is and a few facts. Here though, they're in Latvian, English and Russian.
The -27 was a ground-attack version of the MiG-23 flown, primarily by the Soviet/Russian and Indian air forces. The flatter nose is a giveaway this is a -27 and not a -23.
This Antonov An-24 was flown by Latvia's own Latavio airlines. These could carry up to 52 passengers. All were built between 1959 and 1979, but some are still flying.
This is the MiG-23, note the difference in the nose from the -27. This is the MF variant, also called the Flogger-B, which was the main export version.
This mean machine is a MAZ-7310, an 8x8 heavy multi-purpose truck built in the then-Soviet (now Belarusian) city of Minsk. This is the airport fire-fighting version. If you've seen any movie or news footage of Soviet mobile rocket launchers, those were a version of this truck.
The museum's other Su-7 is the "BKL" variant that was ruggedized for landing and takeoffs on makeshift runways, hence the skids mounted on the landing gear.
The Yakovlev Yak-28 had various roles in the Soviet, and later Russian, air forces. They included a medium bomber, an interceptor, electronic warfare, and more.
While most civilian pilots in the west learned on 2- and 4-seat Cessnas, many in the Soviet Union (and later, Russia) learned on Yak-18Ts, which were designed especially for training Aeroflot pilots.
This passenger variant seats 12, but the An-2 have served almost every aircraft role due to its reliability, robustness and forgiving flight characteristics.
This is actually an early Mil Mi-24 Hind, the second production "A" variant. It looks like a completely different helicopter compared to the later versions due to the boxy, flat windows. We got a better up-close look at a later Hind at the Helicopter Museum.
The small wings aren't for show, they actually supply a significant amount of lift while cruising. Interestingly, the starboard wing has a slightly greater angle than the port wing.
I asked if I could have a look inside. I was given a very quick and final "no." This look into the nose through a broken window was as close as I could get. Most Mi-6s had a crew of 6.
The Riga Aviation Museum was a wonderfully fascinating. There aren't many easily-accessible aviation museums with this many ex-Soviet aircraft. Riga is a lovely city to explore as well, when we're all able to travel again.
Discuss: Soviet aviation history on display at the Riga Aviation Museum
Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion.
Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion.