The Museum of Local Lore and Art, the Rodina Museum-Reserve and the Lenin Memorial - in the Ulyanovsk Region there are many interesting and informative tourist places. But the most popular among the guests is the Museum of the History of Civil Aviation, where unique exhibits stand in the open air - rare models of airplanes and helicopters with which the history of Russian aviation began.
Whole story in the open
The most spectacular part of the exposition is located at the Brateevka airfield (Ulyanovsk). The Civil Aviation History Museum covers an area of 18 hectares and offers over 30 aircraft for inspection. The exhibition shows the history of the development of Russian aviation - there are many passenger aircraft and helicopters of various types: from AK-1 to Tu-114.
The main part of the exhibits is located in the halls of the museum located on the territory of the higher aviation school of the city. Ulyanovsk can rightfully be proud of them. The Civil Aviation Museum belongs to the school and is its pride. Many samples of technology were found, restored and reconstructed by students. Now in the storerooms of the museum there are more than 9000 different exhibits: from small models to genuine parts and components of aircraft. Of great interest are rare and sometimes unique technical documents, drawings and diagrams. And on the simulators, classes are held to train modern pilots.
The most interesting exhibits
The Tu-116 aircraft, flight number 76462, was specially released for N. S. Khrushchev in 1957. The board was developed on the basis of a bomber and released in duplicate. Today one of them is exhibited in Ulyanovsk.
The supersonic Tu-144 is unique in that out of several serial copies, only two were engaged in passenger transportation and carried out civilian flights. One of them under number 77110 can be seen at the airport Brateevo (Ulyanovsk). The Civil Aviation Museum has one of the rarest aircraft - the world's first ANT-4 bomber, designed as a monoplane. It was released in 1929. It was on it that the historical flight of the USSR - USA was completed.
The liner "Tu-104" occupies a special place in the museum exposition. The first flight on it was made back in 1955, at that time it became the first in the world and the only supersonic civilian aircraft.
Museum Creation
The complex began work not so long ago - the first guests visited the aircraft exhibition in 1983. Since then, the museum has significantly enriched its exposition; most of the exhibits arrived at the exhibition site on their own after the completion of the flight resource. Immediately at the museum, a scientific and educational complex was created, where a documentary exhibition and flight simulators for training cadets are located.
The first exhibit was the Mi-1 helicopter, developed in 1948. It was set almost 50 world records for speed, accuracy and range.
The Museum of the History of Civil Aviation (Ulyanovsk) became part of the Association of Technical Museums of Russia, and in 1989 received the well-deserved title of the People's Museum.
Monuments of science and technology recognized the nine most valuable exhibits of the museum.
Modernity and development
The content of such a unique technical collection is complicated, troublesome and expensive. A simple painting of one aircraft costs hundreds of thousands of rubles, if you follow all the rules and technologies, that is, restore the protective layer in hangars, the cost of work increases several times. Restoring the interior is even more difficult. Many technical details need to be re-produced, developed and installed for specific models and conditions.
All work has to be done by the museum staff and cadets of the school. The museum’s exposition can and should be constantly supplemented with new exhibits, while aircraft factories and design bureaus are ready to cooperate and assist the museum’s management, but transporting one aircraft is a complex and extremely expensive process. Negotiations are underway with the Moscow Aviation Museum on the transportation of the rare Il-14 to Ulyanovsk. The Civil Aviation Museum is constantly making every effort to ensure that the unique collection looks decent and is constantly updated.
Museum operating procedure
The Museum of Civil Aviation (Ulyanovsk) is open all days of the week, except Monday. Opening hours: weekdays from 10:00 to 17:00 h and until 16:00 h on weekends.
Brateyevka airfield is located on the western outskirts of the city. Ulyanovsk always welcomes its guests.
Civil Aviation Museum: how to get there
The museum can be reached by shuttle bus number 91, 12, 66.
All aircraft exhibited in the museum can be viewed not only from the outside - everyone can sit at the helm of unique aircraft.
You can either study the exposition yourself, or book a tour with a professional guide who will fascinatingly tell about each exhibit and the history of Russian aviation.