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Belgrade Aviation Museum |
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Aeronautical museum , Belgrade "Muzej
vazduhoplovstva, Beograd"
The first thing you notice when approaching the museum is the building
resembles a "strange alien mushroom" what is the museum.
The current museum opened in the late 80’s. There are a dozens military
and some civilian aircrafts around and there are in a total 50 aircraft
inside the building.
The museum has a good collection of aircraft from the period of the
second world war . This collection of aircraft that all flew for the
Yugoslav Air Force consist of a mix fighter and fighter-bombers which
include the German Messerschmitt Me-109, British Hurricane and the
only surviving Spitfire LFVC trop, Russian YAK-3 and Ilyushin IL-2, and
a American B -47 Thunderbolt, which should be added by a German FW.190,
a Russian YAK-9P and the only surviving example of the Italian fighter
"Fiat G-50", which are all in the museum store at the moment.
Throughout the museum the evolution of the Air Force can be seen. In
this special collection of American, British, and Soviet built jet's and
helicopters. The collection shows F-86D Sabre and Republic F-84G
Thunderjet next to a Folland Gnats and a MiG-21F-13 Fishbed.
In the helicopter departement you can see a Westland Whirlwind ,
Westland S.51 several type's of MiL helicopters but also a Kamov Ka-28
and Kamov Ka-25 are on display. A type of helicopter not very often seen
in a museum.
The exhibit of the 1999 NATO air strikes are displayed with great pride.
In the display the wreckage of the two US aircraft are the main
attraction with the “star” being parts of a F-117 that was shot down. On
display are the cockpit canopy, ejection seat, and part of the wing .
Part of the tail of a F-16 is also on display as are several rockets,
bombs and drones including a RQ-1 Predator. |
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In the central part of the exhibition
presents the domestic jet aircraft "Gull", "hawk" and "Eagle",
constructed in the Aeronautical Technical Institute in Zarkovo, and
produced in factories of "Soko" and "Utva". The aerie shows the Yugoslav
aircraft industry. There are light liaison planes and small "partisan
gunships", the first prototype of the J-22 Orao supersonic attack
aircraft, a SOKO G-2 Galeb jet trainer with 6000 landings, and the tail
of a G-4 Super Galeb which was hit by a Stinger over Bosnia in 1991
There are some surprising experimental aircraft from Ikarus Aircraft
Factory on display The designation Type 451 covered five different
research aircraft. The original Type 451 was a streamlined prone-pilot
experimental aircraft with two piston engines. The Type S-451 M was a
jet-powered version of the airframe with a conventional cockpit (first
flight 25 Oct 1952). The J-451MM was a single-seat close support
development with tricycle landing gear. The S-451MM Matica was a
two-seat tandem basic trainer and the T-451MM Strsljen II was a
single-seat advanced trainer.
The outside display consist of two
parts a display part which is freely accessible and a storage part that
is of limits. On display are transport aircraft and helicopters, in this
part of the museum the origin of the planes is again varied.
There are about 70 aircraft in the storage aeria. Most of these planes
were phased out of Yugoslavian service in the years after the Balkan
conflict. Most of them are SOKO Kraguj J-20 and SOKO Jastreb J-21 jet
trainer and light attack aircraft, but there are a few MiG-21s, SOKO
J-22 Oraos, SOKO Super Galeb G-4 s and several types of local prop
aircraft. In the outside display used to be a ex Iranian Mig-23 , this
aircraft has returned to Batajnica.
Unfortunately, the museum is facing a
disastrous shortage of funds since the collapse of Yugoslavia. The
planes inside the buildings are in good condition, something that cannot
be sad about the outdoor exhibits. Under the museum building, in the
storage spaces and workshops, a number of aircrafts await restoration,
including several rarities. However, Serbia is bouncing very slowly, so
in the coming years, the situation may well improve. |
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The museum address is Airport "Nikola
Tesla", 11271 Belgrade
and the opening hours are (apr-oct)mon:09:00-15:30, thu-sun:09:00-18:30
/ (nov-mar) mon-sun:09:00-15:30
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