Hellenic Air Force Museum – A quick visit
This article is part of a series:
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- 1. RARE TF-102
Hi everyone,
Had the chance to pay a quick visit to The Hellenic Air Force Museum, located at Tatoi AFB, near Athens!
I could see a lot of, and in cases rare, great Aviation stuff there, mainly regarding the Hellenic Air Force History, but do not be surprised to watch an F-86 finished as the “BEAUTIUS BUTCH II” and a MiG-15 (Lim-2Rbis), finished as Colonel Yeygeni Pepelyiaev's personal aircraft!
Some pics aren't as sharp, due to poor lighting conditions, but I included them for modeller's sake anyway.
Hope you like my pics.
Also, due to time restraints, I missed some planes, like the RF-4E and the Mirage F-1, so, hopefully, a complimentary Part 2 might follow.
If you so please, you can visit the Museum's neat site:
https://www.haf.gr/en/history/museum/
Correcting and adding info comments eagerly expected, my friends!
Also will be happy to research and provide additional info for any subject you might have particular interest.
Happy modelling!
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- 1. Do-28, ex Olympic, used by HAF as "VIP"
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- 1. GRUMMAN AG-CAT
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- 1. F-86E EARLY STYLE SCHEME
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- 1. T-33 TUG TOWING, UNDERSTANDABLE HIGLO ORANGE SCHEME
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- 1. G159 Gulfstream 1, used as VIP transport
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- 1. Dakota used by Greek FAA
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- 1. T-37 TWEETy!!!!
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- 1. F-104 splendid looking TIGER
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- 1. D0-28, ex Olympic in operational camo
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- 1. HU-16B, Aegean Blue colour extremely faded
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- 1. F-104G and H-19
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- 1. F-5A, "saturn" scheme
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- 1. A-7 in stunning "MOUNT OLYMPUS" scheme
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- 1. A-7, TIGER scheme
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- 1. H-19 in early SAR scheme
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- 1. Tiger Moth
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- 1. H.M. 14 POU DU CIEL ultralight
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- 1. Blenheim IVF, 203 British Squadron, Crete, April, 28th 1941, crew saved.
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- 1. Ju-52 instrument panel
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- 1. RECOVERD JU-52 FIN
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- 1. VERY RARE SB2C-5 Helldiver
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- 1. Harvard
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- 1. GOT TO LOVE THE MARTIN BAKERS!
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- 1. A NICE PAIR!
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- 1. SIOUX
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- 1. F-84G HELLENIC AEROBATIC TEAM
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- 1. ATAR 09K50 MIRAGE F-1 ENGINE
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- 1. RF-84 LATE STYLE CAMO
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- 1. F-84F EARLY STYLE SCHEME
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- 1. F-86D EARLY STYLE SCHEME
What a treat - thank you for sharing this wonderful collection! They are all great, but the biggest re-discovery for me may be the Gulfstream 1. Not a type often seen. Looking forward to your next field-trip my friend!
Thanks, Erik @airbum! Will do more field trips with pleasure!
As for the Gulfstream 1, it was acquired in 1963 for the personal use of the - then - King of Greece. After 1967 it was used for high rank military and governmental members transportation. Deemed uneconomical to operate, its use was generally limited, the last flight taken place in 1995.
Thanks for sharing Spiros I enjoyed viewing your pics.
Glad you liked them, Tom!
Thanks, Spiros. That's a cool and quite varied collection. Hope you can add more in the future.
Cheers Gary! There are some other quite interesting subjects over there. On to my second "quick visit"!
Thanks for posting Spiros it's good to have look at another country's aviation heritage.
Thanks Haslam! Glad you like them.
Thanks for visiting and thinking of us all when you posted this one. I like the F-104 in tiger coat and the Corsair likewise! @fiveten
Thanks Michael! Agree with you: these are some cool tigers!
Thanks for sharing - some really cool pics!
Thanks Greg!
Looks like a great museum! That TF-102 is a strange looking bird. Yes, need to see the Phantom, thanks for sharing!
Cheers Robert @roofrat. That RF is a beautiful anniversary one, in lizzard camo...I'll do my next visit the soonest!
Thanks Spiros! Great pics!
Cheers, Rick!
All the best!
Thanks for sharing, some unusual aircraft in the mix and some cool looking schemes. It seems the museums in Greece have the same issues that they do here in the US. Getting the planes is easy, housing them and keeping them looking good is a challenge. Museums are notoriously unprofitable and survive by means of endowments, donations and a volunteer force of workers. All three of those are often in short supply.
Thanks @luftwaffe-birdman! You're definitely right: there's a short supply of the basic means to overcome those museum issues. It's such a pity for these historically important machines to have a portion only of the attention they deserve.
All the best!
As much as I love the F-104, I have to say I like the Tiger Meet markings on the A-7 better! Quite a few F-84s there. That's a type I'd like to see restored and flown. (Preferably all three variants, but if I had to choose I'd take a swept wing F first.) What is the warbird scene in Greece like? Are there many operators of ex-military planes? A few of the indoor jets look like they could be made serviceable without relatively much work.
Cheers Josh@jpatt1000 ! Unfortunately the wardbird scene here in Greece could have been much better. There are some historic aircraft flying from time to time, but that's all.
Motivation, money, and less than stellar aviation culture are the factors to blame. Such a pity, indeed things coul easily have been A LOT better.
All the best, my friend!
Here's a relative link to the above@jpatt1000:
http://drflight.blogspot.com/2017/07/athenian-aviators-collection.html
Cheers again!
Well, the Athenian Aviators Collection has an A-26, An-2, Storch and a very nice Catalina! Thanks for the link!
Oh boy, just realized the page was in Greek, @jpatt1000! Happy to see you could sort things out. Cheers again!
Looks like I have to plan a holiday to Greece soon (when the virus thing is gone).
Lots of interesting planes to be seen.
Some of these planes caused my interest in aviation back then.
Thanks John @JohnB! You' re most welcome!
Great pic's Spiros and with notes so we know what we're looking at, thanks for posting !
Thanks Allan!