Description of the attraction
The Museum of Military Transport Aviation was opened on August 14, 1984. The Museum is located in the city of Ivanovo on the territory of the center for combat training of flight personnel of the "Severny" aviation garrison.
The museum building has a historical character. The formation of the legendary fighter squadron of French aviators "Normandie-Niemen" took place here.
The museum exposition is presented today on the open airfield and in the museum halls. The inner part of the exposition consists of four halls telling about the history of regiments and formations of military transport aviation. Shown here are aircraft models, historical photographs, maps, dashboards, documents, etc. In the open area - airplanes, which were at different times in service with the VTA of the USSR and Russia, are freely available. These are Li-2, An-2TD, An-12B, Il-76MD and many others.
Museum workers are doing a lot of work on the patriotic education of the younger generation both on ordinary days and on the days of aviation holidays.
The history of the museum is closely connected with the history of the Severny airfield, which is located 6 km from the city, in the north of the city. The construction of an airfield for basing military aviation began in 1935. A 12-bombing aviation regiment was formed here, the basis of which was TB-1 and TB-3 aircraft. In 1939 the airfield was closed. In 1940, a reserve regiment was created again. On the basis of the 165th training regiment, a military school for the training of navigational pilots is being created.
During the war, the Severny airfield trained navigators and night bombers. During the war years, three squadrons were served on the base of the airfield, each of them had 25-30 aircraft. And on November 29, 1942, "Severny" received volunteers who had arrived from France to fight against the German invaders. Later, these pilots and aircraft mechanics joined the Normandy Squadron. Before the hostilities, the French squadron underwent training for the Yak-1 and Yak-7 under the leadership of P. I. Druzenkova.
In April 1943, the Normandy was sent to the Western Front. The squadron showed heroism during the battles for Lithuania, took part in the Belorussian operation and the Battle of Kursk, and took part in the battles in East Prussia. The famous squadron also included residents of Ivanovo.
In 1958, the 229th Aviation Regiment with Il-14 aircraft was sent to the Ivanovo airfield. The management of the 4th Special Purpose Aviation Division also moved here. In 1967, the 5th squadron was formed, which was supposed to be provided with Antey aircraft.
From 1974 a new period began in the history of the airfield. In December, officers' courses were reorganized into the Center for Combat Use and Flight Personnel Retraining. A military transport aviation regiment was transferred here from Tula. Here they trained assistants to the commander and commanders of the ship, the commanders of the aviation squadron, detachments, pilot-instructors, pilot-navigators, chiefs of staff of the aviation regiment. Specialists from abroad were also trained here.
In March 1979, the pilots of the Ivanovo Center took part in large-scale exercises of the Ministry of Defense. 1979 to 1982 PPI crews flew to airfields in Afghanistan.
In August 1994, a single military transport aviation regiment was formed. In 1998, large reductions began here. The Pechora Long Range Radar Detection Regiment, the only one in Russia, was transferred to Ivanovo on A-50 aircraft.
Today the airfield "Severny" is active, on its runways it receives An-12, Il-76, An-22, A-50. At the "Severny" airfield there is an aircraft repair plant, which was established in 1940. The aircraft repair center in 1950-60.restored many An-2 and Li-2 aircraft. In the Ivanovo Center, capital and preventive maintenance work was carried out to repair the AN-24, An-26, An-22, An-30. Later, the plant began servicing the AN-72, An-74 aircraft. Currently, work is underway here to modernize the Yak-52 into the Yak-52M (for military schools).
