Ok,

The final installment of my Kiev Ukraine chronicles for this trip.  One of my big ticket items has always been the state museum of aviation.  I've missed it twice, not this time!  The weather has really sucked all week, snow, cold, more snow.  When we got to the museum, it was 1/4-1/2 mile visibility and some freezing fog.  Not surprisingly, we were the ONLY visitors in the whole place.  Normally, they have several of the airplanes open, and you can sit in the cockpits for under $1/US.  But they refused to open even the gift shop, for the crazy american and his wife.

Awesome!  You weren't kidding about the ice fog.  Love the Tu-95.

Holy shit that's an awesome collection! Thanks for the pics! But now for some reason, I'm feeling much colder.

I want to see inside the gearbox, that drives those contra-rotating props.  I'm still amazed how fast that thing is, for a turboprop.

Great planes, but I would pass on a trip in the snow.  Aviation museums in hangars FTW.

Awesome!

Technically, these were at the other museum, but it's more airplane related so I'll leave them here.

MIG-23 cockpit.

Reminds me of my trip to a Russian tank museum just outside of Moscow in January 2009, effing cold

Damn..

They got a MIG-31 Foxhound just sitting out there in the snow.

I would love to see that. I was lucky enough, ironically, to see a bunch of Iraqi owned russian aircraft in Iraq in 2003. I don't think realize how big a Mig 25 is until they are standing next to one. That thing is huge!

Thanks for posting the pics!  Sucks to see all that stuff rotting in the snow.....