Päijänne Tavastia Aviation Museum () is an aviation museum in

Asikkala Asikkala () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Vääksy, at the shores of the Lake Päijänne. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia regi ...

, near

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. 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; ; ) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions. The Finnish Air ...

. 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). Aviation Museums website, ''Finnish Aviation Museums''
/ref> This guild association, which was founded on 15 November 1962, 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 improv ...

IIF - the only complete Ripon left *

Folland Gnat The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic aircraft, 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 comb ...

Mk.1 *

Fouga Magister The Fouga CM.170 Magister is a 1950s French two-seat jet trainer aircraft that was developed and manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer ''Établissements Fouga & Cie''. Easily recognizable by its V-tail, almost 1,000 have been built in Fr ...

CM 170 *

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-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 the first successful jet fighters to incorporate s ...

UTI *

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

bis *

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...

P *

Saab 35 Draken The Saab 35 Draken (; ''The Kite'', ambiguous with ''The Dragon'') is a Swedish interceptor aircraft, fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Saab AB, Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Saab AB, SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of ...

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

Caudron C.59 The Caudron C.59 was a France, French, two-seat biplane with a single Piston engine, 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. Operation ...

* 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 Aluminium, all-metal Amphibious aircraft, amphibious sports aircraft designed by Percival H. Spencer, Percival Spencer and manufactured by the Republic Aviation, Republic Aircraft Corporation. Design and developmen ...

* 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

References

External links

Lahden Ilmasilta

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