Near the airport of Riga there is a strange museum – only one person takes care of it – Victor Talpa. It seems he likes this work and may tell many stories about the air exhibits.
Tu-22
According to Victor nobody is interested in the museum. But maybe nobody simply knows that it exists?
Hundreds of people 300 m away from the museum wait for their flights, how can it be that no one wants to see the aircrafts?
Someone would tell that all the planes are old and decaying, but does new equipment go to museums?
Big green Mi-6
The museum had been created for 40 years. Officially it has existed since 1997 without any state help. It’s the only one air force museum in the Baltic States and one of the largest in Europe. The collection of Soviet aircrafts is considered to be the biggest outside the CIS.
Mi-24A
Freshly painted Ka-26
An-2
Yak-18T
At the backyard is a lot of interesting stuff: propellers, jets, helicopter gear boxes…
Tu-134B that crashed on 6th of January, 1981 while landing in Adler, Sochi.
Tu-104A
Built in Omsk in 1957. The former private aircraft of L. Brezhnev. Burnt in Nākotne (Jelgava region) where it had been moved for a rich kolkhoz, its director wanted to make a museum and later a sauna (!!!) inside of it. Probably it’s the reason why it was burnt in the 1980s.
Tu-22
Radars were burnt while utilization in order enemies couldn’t steal any secrets.
MIG-21BIS
MIG-21US
There is a lot of aerodrome equipment too.
There are enough uniforms, devices and accessories for a normal museum but now they all are kept inside a huge helicopter.
Without any financial help from aside, all alone, this man makes a real deal. Probably he would be pleased if more people know about him and they are not indifferent to what he does.
Location: Riga
via nektonemo
It’s not that bad. I’ve been there several times. One of the main problems is that the museum is closed very frequently. It hasn’t got decent working hours and is open when the owner wants. But it is a wonderful place to visit, if lucky.
Every time I’ve flown to Riga I’ve seen these planes and helicopters, and every time I’ve just though it was some sort of scrapyard, and not a museum.
Is there a difference between Russian scrap yards and museums?
Imagine a technics museum that runs without any funding – it’s a miracle that the most of those aircrafts are still in one piece. Not talking about painting or getting back in working conditions…
Most people don’t like to leave the airport while they’re waiting for a flight. They’re afraid they’ll miss it.
I’ll be visiting sometime…does it have a website?
Onliest in Baltics?
What about aviation museum in Tartu, Estonia? It has over 20 planes and helicopters and all have been nicely restored and museum has been there for over 10 years already…
http://www.lennundusmuuseum.ee/index.php?lang=2
Perhaps Latvia can learn something from Tartu museum…I don’t understand how people have so little respect for the past.
Looks awesome. If I were there I would for sure repair and flew some of those airplanes!
Tu-104A / Built in Omsk in 1957. The former private aircraft of L. Brezhnev. Burnt in Nakotnya (Yelgvsky region)
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Pls change “Nakotnya” to “Nākotne”; and “Yelgvsky region” to “Jelgava region”, this is the correct wording in Latvian
I hope he finds the support he needs. That Mi-6 looks fantastic.