Tour of the Vietnam War Vietnamese Air Force Hanoi Museum (2018)
From the Hanoi Air Force Museum - Part 2 of 3
Having accidentally found myself in Hanoi with a spare morning, a trip to a military museum was required. Originally intending to go to the supposedly disapointing Vietnam War Museum, my driver ended up dropping me off instead at the Air Force Museum...which doesn't appear in the normal guidebooks, but as you will see is still pretty good, especially for a wargamer!
This is the 2nd of 3 pages with photos from the museum, here we are still in the static park and moving onto some actual aircraft
A captured light ground attack aircraft rebadged from the early part of the War
It's an A37, if you hadn't spotted it before. 24 destroyed aircraft - honest!
The way they have neatly done the overpainting of the US insignia is an interesting touch - very much tabletop standard!
A similarly captured and repurposed F5 Freedom Fighter - a brand name that is either deeply approriate or slathered in irony depending on where you are looking at it from one suspects..
When South Vietnam was overrun by NVA forces on 30 April 1975, approximately 87 F-5As and 27 F-5Es were captured. In November of that year the Soviets were offered the opportunity to select from the captured U.S. equipment. The Soviets quickly loaded one complete F-5, along with two complete spare engines, any and all spare parts, and all ground support equipment onto a waiting Soviet cargo ship. Several of the F-5s left over from the Vietnam War were sent to Poland, Czechoslovakia, and then Soviet Union, for advanced study of U.S. aviation technology, while others were decommissioned and put on display at museums in Vietnam. The 935th Fighter Regiment of the VPAF 372nd Air Division was the only unit in the world flying both MiG-21 and F-5 fighters. Eventually, the lack of spare parts grounded all the captured aircraft, but in May 2017 it was reported Vietnam is considering refurbishing some of these aircraft and putting them back into service.
Another amazingly heroic story
A very pretty and 1950's Sci-Fi looking aircraft, the F-5 is still (amazingly) in service with several air forces, including the Swiss!
The tidy overpainting of the US insignia again
Is the F5 still in service?
A caputured and re-branded Huey
The captured Huey with the Vietnamese insignia on display
A lineup of aircraft and missiles
I'm guessing that may be one of the most unoriginal serial numbers of all time.
The museum has some more recent airframes as well, such as this Hind.
Vietnamese Hinds
And also aa KA-25, used in an ASW and maritime role
The text for the KA-25
I think I once downloaded one of the Reactionary Pulro Band's early albums (when they were a bit more punk and edgy - before that weird electronica phase they went through in the late 80's)
The FULRO insurgency against Vietnam was waged by the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (French: Front Uni de Lutte des Races Opprimees; abbreviated FULRO) against the South and North Vietnamese governments and the unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The FULRO insurgents represented the interests of minority Muslim and Hindu Cham, Christian Montagnards, and Buddhist Khmer Krom against the ethnic Kinh Vietnamese. They were supported and equipped by China and Cambodia according to those countries' interests in the Indochina Wars.
A massive beast of a helo! The MI-6
The Mi-6 was by far the world's largest helicopter when it was designed in 1954/56; with a maximum load capacity of 12,000 kg. It was also the world's fastest helicopter; with a top speed of 300 km/h (190 mph). In its early days, the Mi-6 set many world records, including one for sheer circuit speed at 340 km/h (211 mph). As of 2013, the Mi-6 still holds the FAI record of fastest 5-tonne lift over 1,000 km, in which it flew 284 km/h in 1962.
An impressive record
Thats one helluva insignia on the side of the Mi-6
Inside the Mi-6 helicopter showing the rear loading ramp - this is very much a truck-sized space
Anyone flown EasyJet recently will recognise the interior fit-out
Checking that the wheels are still there is an important precursor to landing the MI-6
An agricultural feel to the cockpit
The clamshell doors are pretty big from the outside - and pretty agricultural too!
Lets hope they brought it in by road
A USN Skyraider with wings up configuration
Skyraider in action
Bird Dog
Some sort of light trainer
and another...
The museum has lots of radar arrays. Not sure if anyone makes these in 15mm scale, but I took quite a few photos just because they are so big and ungainly
Russian truck, AA radar array
You'd not miss this from space... but stand in front of it and I suspect you'd get cooked like a potato in a microwave!
Next up, some Russian built jet fighters, and the inside of the Museum. Click here to read on for more stuff!