The Central Air Force Museum is an aviation museum in Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia. A branch of the Central Armed Forces Museum, it is one of the world's largest aviation museums, and the largest for Soviet aircraft, with a collection including 173 aircraft and 127 aircraft engines on display.
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Tsentral'nyy Muzey Vvs
4.8
(203)
I visited Monino back in 2011 and 2015, and yesterday I went back again. Save money and use public transportation, it is easy and pretty straightforward: I took my two kids along and they really liked the train short trip, even though I don't speak russian. You will get a glimpse of Moscow suburbs.
Go to Yaroslavskaya train station (Komsomolskaya metro station brow/red line exit# 2) but don't enter the main building go to its back where you will find the commuters trains ticketing booth. Go for the Express train it has less stops, it is more comfortable and you will reach Monino in 58 mins instead of 1h20mins, just ask the lady for "Manina Express" she will understand. Download the Russian Railways RZD app to know the timing in advance, it is available in English as well and will come in handy for the return trip.
Once you reach Monino just exit the station from the right and use GPS to walk about 2.0 kms to the museum. You can also print a map or just ask the locals for "MUZEY" they will gladly show you the way. Monino is a small town so don't worry about getting lost.
Time your return to the station with the Express train departure, it is less frequent than...
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Beautiful and amazing museum. It is far from center of Moscow but very much worth the trip. Staff is very helpfull and nice and price is really low. Getting there is also quite an adventure, but don't ge discouraged. If you are coming by train/bus/minibus from the town station north of the museum, expect that the road leading directly to museum (and suggested by google maps navigation) is closed (barricated as the academy closed down) so you will have to walk a bit around throught the town - but it is just 5-10 minutes of walking more. They also have a very well stocked souvenir shop with a wide variety and good prices (from books in english to magnets, badges, dvds, Putin souvenirs, babushkas, t-shirts etc). What is inside of the hangars is kept in good condion but the planes outside are slowly decomposing (it is a sad sight to se MiG 31 kneeling on the grass) so every year the planes will be in worse condition... Hopefully, the museum will get some funding and preserve at least some of the unique planes there as it would really be a shame to lose those...
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For aviation fans (like me) the visit is well worth the travel time to get there from Moscow City:
A large selection of Russian military aircraft from between the two world wars to current times. Most of the few indoor exhibits are only with explanations in Russian, most of the outdoor exhibits have English spec sheets, too. The TU-144 is very special to see!
We had a great opportunity to enter the fuselage and cockpit of the largest helicopter of the world: A technician let us in through a side door! Impressive!!
The entry fee is relatively cheap, the memorabilia shop ok. The lady there very friendly. The travel with the Russian railway from Yaroslavsky station took about an hour and didn't cost much.
To the "non-aviation-enthusiast" visitor a warning: The overall maintenance of the place is not exactly outstanding, some of the exhibits are not in a good condition - I guess they're fighting...
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