Sunday June 10 was a real holiday for the residents of Tver. At the airfield Migalovo was held an open day, timed to the 75th anniversary of the 12th Guards Military Transport Aviation Mginsky Division and the 196th Guards Minsk Military Transport Aviation Regiment.
The division was formed in May 1943, and received its name for the successful execution of combat missions in battles against the German fascist invaders and the liberation of the village of Mga in the Leningrad region. The regiment received its name on August 1, 1944 for the courage and heroism of personnel, good organization in the combat performance to liberate Belarus and Minsk from the Nazi invaders. The division and regiment changed their place of deployment and began to be based on the outskirts of Tver in Migalovo in 1946.
Behind pilot’s belt – flights to the Syrian Arab Republic and extinguishing forest fires in Transbaikalia.
Crews of the division regularly participate in the air parade on Victory Day over Red Square, and also successfully perform at Russian and international competitions. In particular, in June 2018, Tver pilots took first place at the All-Russian competition “Aviadars-2018” in the nomination “Military Transport Aviation”.
The 75th anniversary of the pilots decided to celebrate in a big way: since the very morning from the very beginning, all comers began to pull together at the checkpoint of the airfield in order to really plunge into the life of military transport aviation. A large number of aviation and ground equipment were represented on the territory of the airflied.
The official start of the celebration took place at 10:00 with congratulations and awards of distinguished servicemen, then the units of the Guards Division and cadets of the Tver Suvorov School continued the celebration of the anniversary, which passed a solemn march.
One of the most spectacular events was the air parade, which was attended by more than 10 pieces of equipment.
Two Mi-8 helicopters headed the air parade, followed by An-26, An-72, Il-22, Tu-134, A-50, the legendary An-22 Antey and An-124 Ruslan.
The highlight of the aviation show was 3 Il-76. Thanks to the skilful and well-coordinated actions of the crews, aircrafts passed in a ceremonial formation, dropping more than 120 tons of water, which colored the sky in the colors of the Russian flag. It stands to mention that these same Ils took part in the Victory Day parade on May 9 over Red Square in Moscow.
At the end of the program, another Il “triangle” appeared right above the spectators and in a spectacular dissolution made shooting of heat flares, which are used to divert missiles from the target in military practice.
After the parade, some of the aircraft landed at the Migalovo airport.
After watching the grandiose air parade, spectators clothed the equipment, which was presented on the ground, were formed huge queues. According to estimates at the moment, about 30 thousand people visited the open door day in Tver. Extensive non-aviation activities entertained the people throughout the day.
Visitors had an opportunity to see cockpits of the main aircraft of Russian military transport aviation.
Antonov An-26 cockpit
Ilyushin IL-76MD cockpit
Cockpit of Antonov An-22A – the biggest turboprop in the world
Antonov An-124-100 cockpit
The holiday lasted until 4 pm, everyone was extremely pleased with the event and many positive reviews were left.
Our editorial staff once again congratulates the 12th VTAD and the 196th VTAP on its anniversary and wishes a peaceful sky over its head! Congratulations!