Kachinsky Air Garrison

In Ukraine, Crimea, not so far from Sevastopol, in the village of Kacha lots of different air fleet species draw their duty. They are amphibian aircrafts BE-12, military cargo planes AN-26, search-and-rescue helicopters KA-27PS as well as antisubmarine KA-27PL ones. And though many of them are 40 odd years old, they are battle-ready night and day and eager to attain any combat task in the territory of the Black Sea, and, in particular, Crimea.

To start with, there is a little museum about the garrison creation history.

It has all begun as far back as in times of Imperial Russia. Turn your attention to the uniform of pilots; everyone has their own kind of outfit as the universal air uniform had not been created yet and first pilots were raised from different military forces departments.

In front of the museum there is a park with busts commemorating country’s heroes laid out.

Our tour begins with an amphibian aircraft BE-12 which was built in 1971.

The plane is meant for detection of submarines and performing rescue missions on the water. Before that aircraft carried nuclear explosives for operational-tactical purposes.

The plane is piloted by four crew members: two pilots, a navigator and a radiop. Navigator sits in the prow and thus has the most comfortable seat.

For detection of submarines the navigator’s seat has a radar set fixed up.

Next to the navigator seat there is an anchor fastened to the wall; looks like some kind of an alien object in the plane.

And that’s the view of the navigator seat from the prow of the airplane. Above the door you can see pedals that pilots use while navigating a plane. Pilots are sort of sitting on the ‘second floor.’

All the seats are equipped with parachutes and catapults; the roof steadily rolls aside and you can even lean out of the cabin.

It is almost impossible to walk about the plane while in flight. Even when it is on ground you are barely able to move without stumbling upon sharp corners.

There is a feeling as if you’re not inside of a plane but inside of some submarine.

The radiop seat in the tail of the plane.

BE-12 is constructed not only to detect submarines but to save people also. There is a special niche place for saved ones which is fitted out with a couch.

Alongside of BE-12 stand a few military cargo planes AN-26. They are used for shipping goods and conveyance of landing troops.

Kacha is not just airplanes but a whole lot of helicopters as well.

Stay tuned!

Story and photos via sergeydolya