Cold War Air Museum, cold weather day

Updates have been slow this week as we have had an unusual snowfall with up to 12 inches accumulation, bringing things to a standstill in the area. Our "thin skinned" volunteers at the Cold War Air Museum are not used to working in such cold. This morning's exercise was clearing the snow from the hangar doors so some of our intrepid aviators could take the Mi-2 out for a flight.

On arrival this morning, a brisk wind still made the windsock stand out. The farm buildings just visible behind the windsock are also visible in the picture below, from "Soviet Big Iron Saturday", just three weeks ago.

 

Because the Soviets (and the Chinese) are serious about cold weather warfare, the aircraft are well equipped for the rigors of winter. More so usually, than our local pilots. This picture and several others are available on the museum website for use as computer desktops or backgrounds.

A common problem for little planes that live outside, the accumulation of snow slid off the wings and the weight of the snow remaining on the tail caused this aircraft to tilt backwards. When the snow melts, the aircraft will "plop" back down onto its' nose wheel.

We are happy that our aircraft live inside now, but when they were in military service, they saw much harsher conditions and much deeper snowfall than this.

After three days of snow and overcast skies, the sun finally came out this afternoon. Within three hours, the ramp (that had 6 inches of snow this morning) is almost clear. This group of visitors, who were fascinated by the museum's aircraft, are now fascinated with the idea of a snowball fight before the rare sight of snow completly disappears.