Päijänne Tavastia Aviation Museum ( fi, Päijät-Hämeen ilmailumuseo) is an aviation museum in

Asikkala Asikkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Vääksy, at the shores of the Lake Päijänne. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. Asikkala's neighboring municipalities are H� ...

, near

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It opened in its current form on 19 May 2006. The museum was previously known as Vesivehmaan varastohalli (the Vesivehmaa storage hall). The museum displays mainly aircraft of the

Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; fi, Ilmavoimat, , Air forces; sv, Flygvapnet, , Air weapon) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of Finnis ...

. In 1948, the Finnish Air Force began separating and storing some of the aircraft that had been taken out of service. The aircraft were stored in hangar 4 on former World War II air force base of Vesivehmaa (presently known as Lahti-Vesivehmaa airport, EFLA). They also had a large number of older aircraft in storage. By the end of the 1940s, many of the World War II-era aircraft were sold as scrap. During the late 1970s the aircraft were moved to their current location in hangar 1. The museum is run by "Lahden ilmasilta" (LIS), a guild association, which was founded on 15 November 1962. The association wanted to preserve the aircraft that remained, which numbered about 20. The museum has about 2,000 visitors per year.

On display

Former aircraft of the Finnish Air Force *

Blackburn Ripon The Blackburn T.5 Ripon was a carrier-based torpedo bomber and reconnaissance biplane designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was the basis for both the license-produced Mitsubishi B2M and the improved ...

IIF – the only complete Ripon left *

Folland Gnat The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft. Envisioned as an affordable light fighter in contrast to the rising cost and size of typical combat aircraft, it wa ...

Mk.1 *

Fouga Magister Fouga (also known as Air Fouga) was a French manufacturing company established by Gaston Fouga at Béziers during 1920. Originally specialising in the repair of railway rolling stock, the firm eventually became most noted for the aircraft it p ...

CM 170 *

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

UTI *

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...

bis *

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia. In addition t ...

P *

Saab 35 Draken The Saab 35 Draken (; 'The Kite' or 'The Dragon') is a Swedish fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of the Saab 35 Draken started in 1948 as the Swedish air fo ...

Finnish Air Force aircraft, which have not been restored * Aero A-32 *

Caudron C.59 The Caudron C.59 was a French, two-seat biplane with a single engine and a canvas-covered fuselage, produced between 1922 and 1924. Suitable for a variety of roles, more than 1,800 Caudron C.59s were manufactured. Operational history The Caudron ...

* Caudron-Renault CR.714 * Vampire Mk.55 * I.V.L. D.26 Haukka I * VL E.30 Kotka II Civil aircraft, which have not been restored * I.V.L. K.1 Kurki *

Republic RC-3 Seabee The Republic RC-3 Seabee is an all-metal amphibious sports aircraft designed by Percival Spencer and manufactured by the Republic Aircraft Corporation. Design and development The RC-3 Seabee was designed by Percival Hopkins "Spence" Spence ...

* Kassel 12A

Gallery

Image:Aero A.32 (GR Jupiter engine).jpg, Aero A-32 GR Jupiter, AEj-59 Image:Caudron C.59 Suomessa.jpg, Caudron C.59, CA-50 Image:Caudron-Renault C.R. 714.jpg, Caudron-Renault C.R. 714, CR-556 Image:VL E.30 Kotka II.jpg, VL E.30 Kotka II, KA-147

External links

Lahden Ilmasilta

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paijanne Tavastia Aviation Museum Aerospace museums in Finland Asikkala Museums in Päijät-Häme