Museum of Aviation, Szolnok

This museum started out as the "private" aircraft and technical peripherals collection of the Kilián György Flight Technical College in 1973. Since then many things changed - including the name of the college - but the collection remained. It even got bigger and bigger! Originally the museum focused on military aviation but later civil and utility aircrafts were introduced to the collection which is divided into two: the open air part of it can be visited by anyone, other planes (Yak-11, Yak-18) are housed inside one of the hangars at the air base this area belongs to.

This is what you see when you enter the museum. The aircrafts stand outdoors so they're not in best condition, but nevertheless, the collection is great! On this page I only give you a taste of what's there to see, later I'll add more pictures!

MiG alley: Mig-15, Mig-15UTI, Mig-17PF, Mig-19PM, Mig-21F, Mig-21UM, and you can also see a Tupolev Tu-134A in the distance.

L-29 "Delphin", a czech jet trainer from the early sixties.

L-39ZO "Albatros", the successor of the Delphin. The hungarian airforce obtained this type from the surplus stock of the german Luftwaffe after East and West Germany were united. A lovely plane!

The first version of the MiG-21 "Fishbed" flown by hungarian pilots, the MiG-21F13 (1962)...

... and the last: MiG-21MF. This fighter was removed from service in 2001.

The variable geometry MiG-23MF "Flogger B" was only used for a short time between 1979 and 1997.

Front view of the plane with its complicated landing gear. It's a wonder that it worked, but it worked :-)

The "23" from behind. Notice the extendable fin under the tail, locked into the landing position!

The Mig-21MF we already saw with a Sukhoi Su-22M3 ground assault aircraft and an Ilyushin Il-18 passenger turboprop in the background.

The Su-22M3 is a very robust "swing-wing" plane (only the outher part of the wing is variable, the inside is fixed, that's where they put the payload).

They were just refurbished when they were taken out of service, with many flying hours to go.

The Tu-134A was never used by the hungarian airforce - the plane was donated by hungarian airlines MALÉV.

You can also see a dismantled L-39 before the Tupolev.

This Antonov An-24 was used by the goverment for VIP trips.

The An-26 was the military version of the An-24. Of course this was messed up later because the An-26  was used for passenger transport while the An-24 was used by the military...

These planes are used both for cargo and by paratroopers.

Tha Kamov Ka-26 with coaxial rotors is powered by two radial motors. The air force used this agile roto-wing aircraft for dispatch (messenger) and reconnoisance tasks.

The Mil Mi-2 is a much stronger helicopter with its two turbines. I have seen some unbelievable maneuvers done with this aircraft!

The Mi-4 was the first helicopter used by the Hungarian Airforce, but not for a long time...

The Mi-8 is one of the most versatile helicopters in the world; this is the "salon" version as used by the army.
The cockpit of the plane

The Mi-24 "Hind" is a real gunship. This aircraft was just brought here without the turbine engines when I did this photo.

The pilot sits in the upper cabin, the weapon systems operator below. The 4-barrel machine gun and the optical and radar targeting sensors can be seen under the nose.
The cockpit of a Mi-24

This PZL-104 "Wilga" was used by the police, but it has military markings. The aircraft with fixed slats was perfect for monitoring traffic.

M15 "Belfegor": a soviet utility jet (!) biplane (!). This plane was never used in Hungary, I don't know how it got here. An interesting aicraft though.

The museum received this turkish Lockheed F-104 "Starfighter" in exchange for a MiG-21.

Since then there's also a german F-104 on display here...

The Hawker "Hunter" was one of the first successful jet fighters. The one here was donated by the Swiss Air Force.
 

This Ilyushin Il-2 "Sturmovik" tank killer was recovered from Lake Balaton a few years ago. It was shot down in WW2.

The wooden parts were burnt and then rotten during the 50 years it rested under the water, but the metal parts are okay. You can even read the serial number on the motor!

See more: another visit in May 2011