World Aerospace Museum Inc

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Mission

The World Aerospace Museum Inc [wami] locates aircraft from former soviet block countries and brings them to the United States. The aircraft and parts arrive at the hanger in shipping containers transported across the ocean by ship and then put on a truck for delivery. The wings come off. The Tail sections are removed. Each piece arrives either bolted to skids, or on specially built transport supports that we or the shipper assemble. Some aircraft are transported on cargo planes.

Once the aircraft and their support equipment have arrived, they are disassembled, overhauled and rebuilt. Some parts must come from the original manufactures in Europe. Some are hand fabricated here, others are replaced with the US varieties. Since the instrument panels are most often labeled in a language other than English, the labels are replaced with their American translations. Radios, nav/com/transponding equipment, are replaced with those compatible with US standards. Moving map GPS displays are installed. Once the wiring is checked out and all systems are tested to be in good working order, ground tests are performed. The aircraft are moved outside and partially fueled with Jet-A flight fuel. Pre-flight procedures are gone through and the turbine engines are started. Once the low power readings are checked for correctness, the throttles are advanced. wheel chocks remain in place and the percent of power in increased, while breaks are applied. Engine temps and fluid flow are monitored for proper activity. If all goes well, the turbine is powered down to idle and the chocks are removed. The engines are powered back up and the craft is run up and down the taxiway under greater power, all the while testing the brakes. If all goes well, the craft may be moved onto a long runway for some high speed taxi testing. This author has only seen tests of an L-59 and a Mig-21. Under power, the 21 by far out volumed the 59 which one would expect from a Mach 1.7+ max speed craft.

Airplanes

Aircraft currently in the museum include L39.C model, L39ZA model, L39MS model, MIG 21 UM, MIG-29 fighter.

L-39 C Model

Manufactured by "Czech Republic" Aero Vodochody Corp. (Built in 1982)

Hot Ejection Seats
Dimensions - 40' 5" long, 31' 5" wing span, 15' 5" tall
Maximum Weight - 11,618 lbs
Power Plant - One Lvchenko AI-25-TL
Thrust - 3,792

L-59 Super Albatross (A.K.A. L-39MS)

Manufactured by "Czech Republic" Aero Vodochody Corp. (Built in 1992)

Features:

Hot Ejection Seats
Certified To Carry ECM Pods, Threat Emitters, Towing Reels, Chaff Dispensers, Missiles, and Bombs
New cockpit instrumentation - Heads Up Display EFIS, GPS, Tacan, VOR, ILS
Simple to Fly and Maintain
Four wing stations
Dimensions - 40' long, 31" wing span, 15' tall

Performance:

Maximum speed - 497 kts
Max load factor - +8, -4g
Fuel Burn - 240 gallons/hour - High speed mission profiles
Fuel Burn - 200 gallons/hour - Max range profile

Mig-21 (two seat)

Manufactured by "Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB"

Features:

Hot Ejection Seats
Dimensions - 51' 8" long, 23' 6" wing span, 14' 9" tall
Maximum Weight - 20,723 lbs.
Power Plant - Tumansky R-13-300 Turbojet
Thrust - 14,550 pounds

Performance:

Maximum Speed - 1,300.00 mph
Ceiling - 57,750 ft
Range - 1118 miles

Mig-29 (single seat fighters)

Manufactured by "Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB"

Features:

Hot Ejection Seats
Dimensions - 56' 10" long, 36' 5" wing span, 15' 6" tall
Maximum Weight - (empty) 23,030 lbs
Power Plant - Two Klimov/Sarkisov RD-33 Turbofan
Thrust - 22,200 lbs

Performance:

Maximum Speed - Mach 2.3, 1,520 mph
Ceiling - 18,400 meters
Range - 905 nm

Contact

Tours of our facility are available Monday through Friday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM by appointment.
Contact (217) 885-3143 for appointment times and directions to our hanger in Adams County, Illinois, USA