Lisle Kauffman: My Fulbright Scholarship at EUNU-Luhansk, Ukraine: Luhans'k Aviation Museum

This afternoon, Саша (Sasha) took me to the aviation museum here in town. It is located at the old military airbase. It some respects, it resembles a graveyard more than a museum, because there is very little money for preservation of the aircraft. However, it is still very interesting. All of the aircraft are Soviet era Russian airplanes and helicopters. The fee is 10 UAH or about $1.25. We had a lot of fun. I will be posting many of the photos that I took, but it will take a while, as I have over a hundred pictures.

A view of just some of the aircraft at the museum

A Ми-8 (Mi-8) Russian helicopter, one of the highest production
helicopters in the world and in use in over 50 countries.

Су-24 (Su-24) Sukhoi Russian fighter jet.

A Ка-25ПЛ (Ka-25PL) Russian anti-submarine
helicopter used by the Soviet Navy.

A Ка-27 Russian helicopter

A КСР-2 Ракета (KSR-2 Rocket), a Soviet cruise missile
put into service in 1962. It could be armed with either
conventional high explosives or a nuclear warhead.

A Ми-6 (Mi-6) Russian helicopter. This is a huge aircraft!

Ми-24А (Mi-24A) Russian helicopter

Ми-24А

Ми-24К Russian helicopter

Behind me is a Ми-2 Russian helicopter.

Ми-2

An Аэрофлот (Aeroflot) jet

МиГ-21 (MiG-21) Russian figher jet.

МиГ-17 (MiG-17) Russian fighter jet

МиГ-17 (MiG-17)

МиГ-23 (MiG-23) Russian fighter jet

Sasha with the МиГ-23

I was told this fellow was actually the museum's dog, and he would bark at anyone who came near him. Sasha said this shepherd was "not happy," and even he would not get too close. It made taking pictures of some helicopters rather interesting. Apparently he was placed in that location to guard a pair of bi-wings which were still operable. Neither of us attempted to take close-up photos of the planes behind him. He was a good boy and did not move from that spot then entire 3 hours we were at the museum.