OK, what could possibly be more awesome than a 4th birthday party in the "largest indoor hangar in Europe"? (A claim I find doubtful, but what the heck!) Nothing could be cooler! Joseph, in Miss S's nursery school class, invited her and the other classmates to his party at the National Aviation University. So we all trotted over there on a Saturday morning. We were limited to one adult per child for the "tour." I got to go, which was good, since the tour was all in Russian.
This was not your average tour - we actually got to climb in, on and under all of the working airplanes. I know they look like they are old and decrepit (they were) but they are all functional, and the students use them for practice. In fact, while we were there, a group of students was studying the HVAC system on an old plane in the corner.
The kids were totally amazed by everything, obviously. Here my daughter is dwarfed by a tire.
Logically, if you are going to have 3 and 4 year olds runnning amok, you would assume the location is somewhat child-friendly? No way. The first thing the guide said was - don't touch any levers or any of the items in the hangar, especially if they are red. I'm sure none of the children paid the slightest bit of attention, especially since that part of the lecture was followed by the guide putting each of them on the missile (seen above with Miss S beneath) so they could have their photos taken. What?!?
Here we are in the world's oldest Tupelev airplane. You could go in the cockput but my daughter was a little scared. I don't blame her. After all of the kids left, the last little boy, Sammy, was coming down the stairs from the plane, and the guide engaged the hydraulics, putting the wheels down. The kids all freaked out - saying "Sammy pushed a button!" I think it was the high point of our entire tour, the idea that one of them made the wheels come down. This was the plane (below.)
Last thing we went inside was the MI-8 helicopter. Fun for the whole family? We enjoyed looking out of the portholes, but again she didn't want to do into the cockpit. Maybe next time?
This was not your average tour - we actually got to climb in, on and under all of the working airplanes. I know they look like they are old and decrepit (they were) but they are all functional, and the students use them for practice. In fact, while we were there, a group of students was studying the HVAC system on an old plane in the corner. 
Here we are in the world's oldest Tupelev airplane. You could go in the cockput but my daughter was a little scared. I don't blame her. After all of the kids left, the last little boy, Sammy, was coming down the stairs from the plane, and the guide engaged the hydraulics, putting the wheels down. The kids all freaked out - saying "Sammy pushed a button!" I think it was the high point of our entire tour, the idea that one of them made the wheels come down. This was the plane (below.)
