Aircraft Museum

Aircraft Museum, Kolkata

This Aircraft Museum in Kolkata is a military aviation museum built by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority and exhibits a TU-142M Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti-Submarine Aircraft of Indian Navy.

Location of Aircraft Museum, Kolkata

The Aircraft Museum is a military aviation museum located in New Town – Rajarhat area, Kolkata.

Collection of Aircraft Museum, Kolkata

The Aircraft Museum is a decommissioned TU-142M Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti-Submarine Aircraft which was retired on 27 March 2017. A flight of stairs takes you to the inner cabins of this aircraft where you can see the Torpedo chambers, Reconnaissance Cameras, Black Box and other components of this Naval Aircraft. The various parts and areas have been labelled and life size mannequins of pilots and crew members have been placed to demonstrate the functionalities of this aircraft.

This Tupolev 142M Aircraft is one of the loudest planes on the planet because each of the NK-2 Engine of this aircraft has two co-axial mounted contra rotating 18-feet long propellers, where the second one spins in the direction opposite two the first. This not only counteracts the torque created by the rotational airflow of the first propeller but harnesses it for greater speed. Contra-rotating propellers are, therefore more efficient but they are more expensive to produce and unbelievably noisy.

History of Aircraft Museum, Kolkata

The TU-142 is a Soviet Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti-Submarine (ASW) Aircraft. It was designed by the Tuplev Design Bureau. It was manufactured by the Kuibyshev Aviation and Taganorg Machinery Plants in 1994. This Aircraft design is used by the Russian Navy still today.

On December 1984, India signed an agreement to procure eight TU-142s for its maritime security from former Soviet Union till March 2017, for a period 29 years. The aircraft was retired on 27 March 2017 during a ceremony held at the INS Rajali Airbase. This aircraft is one of the world’s largest and oldest and has served in Indian Navy for a period of 29 years.

The TU-142M Participated in all major exercise and Operation Cactus in Maldives and Operation Vijay in 1998. It also Participated as the first Indian Naval aircraft in the Republic Day Fly Past in 1999 in new Delhi.

When the Russian Air Force decommissions its fleet of Tuplove TU-142/TU-95 bombers sometime after 2040, the TU-142/TU-95 will have been in service for over 90 years.

Trivia on Aircraft Museum at Kolkata

The Soviets built a civil airline version of TU-142M known as the TU-114 Rossiya, it still holds the world record for the fastest propeller-driven aircraft reaching speeds of 871.38 km per hour.
A strategic bomber version of TU-142, TU-95 dropped the world’s largest nuclear device ever tested. The 50 megaton, 60000 lbs. AN602 Tsar Bomba.
The crown of the could was 56 kms. high at the time of the picture. In fact, the noise produced by TU-142M has reportedly been reported upon by submarine crews and jet pilots.