Tour of the Vietnam War Vietnamese Air Force Hanoi Museum (2018)
The static park contains plenty of Soviet-era fighters, ans there is also a nice indoor museum with bits and bobs and some atmospheric historic photos as well
MiG 21, the backbone of the Vietnamese air force for many years, remained in service in Vietname until November 2015
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or olówek (English: pencil) by Polish pilots due to the shape of its fuselage.
Approximately 60 countries over four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations six decades after its maiden flight. It made aviation records, became the most-produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history, the most-produced combat aircraft since the Korean War and previously the longest production run of a combat aircraft (now exceeded by both the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon).
More radar
MiG 21, with 12 kills
L29 trainer - I think a Czech design?
L29 trainer
MiG 21
1950's Sikorsky-copied technology at it's best with the Mi-4
Mi-4 in a fetching 2-tone paint scheme.
"Taking Uncle Ho on a bisiness trip" is probably now a euphemism for something rather rude in modern day Vietnam
Su-22
The Sukhoi Su-17 (NATO reporting name: Fitter) is a Soviet variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed from the Sukhoi Su-7. It enjoyed a long career in Soviet, later Russian, service and was widely exported to Eastern Bloc, Arab air forces, Angola and Peru as the Su-20 and Su-22. 36 Su-22 aircraft served with the Vietnam People's Air Force.
Su-22 fighter bomber again
The VPAF still operates late model Su-22s, aircraft of the Cold War era
Su-22 from the front. A total of 2,867 Su-17 and its variants were built, of which 1,165 were exported to 15 nations
The rarely seen MiG 19, the last of the MiG 15 lookalikes
MiG 19
I'm not sure why this caption omits the punchline to a very well set up joke, however from now on I fully intend to spell "Glorious" with a double-R, as its just so much more emphatic
Antanov AN2 cargo plane
The text for the Antonov - apparently it did actual war stuff as well as transport
More MiG 21's
13 kills for this MiG 21
MiG 21 front angle
The more venerable MiG 17
This plane gave the US 7th Fleet a bit of a "booten" from the sky !
Raid on the 7th Fleet - still a big deal
Its a veritable toy box of Soviet military aviation
Uncle Ho
Here's the painting commemorating the "booten" given to the 7th Fleet
Soviet-inspired artwork supporting the Air Force.
MiG 17s on the deck and in the air
MiG 17
A diorama of some air combat action - looks like a bad day for the F-105's
More evocative wartime photos
Presumably MiG 17s?
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the USSR from 1952 and operated by numerous air forces in many variants. It is an advanced development of the very similar appearing MiG-15 of the Korean War. MiG-17s first saw combat in 1958 in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis and later proved to be an effective threat against more modern supersonic fighters of the United States in the Vietnam War
One of the few bits of kit in the museum you aren't allowed to touch
Uncle Ho's pro-airforce speech
That Soviet WW2 AA truck thing again.
Summary
All in all, even though I sort of went by accident I found this to be a super little museum, with plenty of kit to see and climb all over (if you wished). As appears to be the case with a lot of Vietnames war museums, you are assumed to know the context and history before you go, but there were planty of captions next to the kit and most were in dual language too
The lend-lease and captured German AA pieces had interesting back stories, and underlines just how cobbled together much of the early war stuff was for the Vietnamese army
However, seeing the radars, missiles and the MiG 21's and Su-22's then gives a real sense of just how quickly the Vietnamese must have developed a "real" modern air force to go toe to toe with the US on an equal footing
Certainly worth a visit if this is your thing and you happen to be in Hanoi. One note of caution though - like all museums in hanoi, this one closes for lunch at 1130-1pm, and is not open on Fridays
That's the end - so why not go back to the Links Page and find some more interesting stuff to look at? , or visit my photo gallery for lots more museum and airshow pictures?
