Aviation wise this country had an enormous build up during the communist Cold War era with reaching over 200 military fighter jets for this relatively small country. The early days were dominated by Russian built MiG-15 en 19's, Mi-4 Hounds and a single IL-28, but soon after a hick-up in the relation with Russia, Albania turned for help to China and purchased even more military hardware in the form of Shenyang FT-5s, F-6 and F-7's (MiG-15, MiG-19 and MiG-21 copies). Also several Nanchang Y-5 (An-2 copy) and Nanchang PT-6 (Yak-18 copy) and Z-5 helicopters (Mi-4 copy) were obtained.
Nowadays the country is building up with the help of NATO and mainly western types dominate the skies, although is far lesser numbers and mainly rotary. A further investment by NATO was announced earlier this month when the news came out that Kucova airbase is being updated to the new NATO standards and will forfill the role of support base by NATO for airlift support, logistics operations and exercises.
Sadly many stored airframes have been scrapped after years of storage since their de-activation at the turn of this century. Luckily for me there are still some airframes kept for preseveration. At Tirana-Rinas airport many survived to date and also a visit to the military academy could be made where a few are on display with the defence museum. The latter is on a military installation and prior approval to access should be requested 3 days in advance.
Here's my log. Numbers between brackets were not read but assumed correct based on various sources online. Any confirmation would be nice though as well help with the request (?).
Tirana Military Academy Aug-3rd
Outside:
8-01 Shenyang F-6
(0209) Shenyang F-7 marked as "020"
02 Nanchang PT-6
? Z-5 marked as "4-65"
Inside:
? Shenyang F-6/MiG-19S cockpit and vertical stabilizers only (stabilizers marked DG-6)
Unfortunately the Z-5 was not checked for it's real ID as I thought it was a known airframe already (should remind me to always check for c/n). All aircraft received a new paint job compared to earlier pictures, but maintained there previous codes except for the F-7.
Tirana-Färke Aug-6th
(6-41) Z-5 preserved at gate
Tirana-Rinas/Mother Theresa airport Aug-6th
? Y-5 red c/s preserved at civil terminal
3x Y-5? green/brown c/s south side, near helicopter apron
? Shenyang F-6 marked as "20 & 40" preserved at airforce base
(3-15) MiG-19S marked as "20" preserved at airforce base
(3-608) IL-28 preserved at airforce base
(3-03) MiG-19S stored
(3-04) MiG-19S stored
(3-34) Shenyang F-6 stored
(3-44) Shenyang F-6 stored
(3-72) Shenyang F-6 stored
(3-74) Shenyang F-6 stored
(3-77) Shenyang F-6 stored
(3-78) Shenyang F-6 stored
(8-08) Shenyang FT-5 stored
(8-14) Shenyang FT-5 stored
(8-31) Shenyang FT-5 stored
I had some bad luck with the inbound and outbound flight taking place when it was dark, so no confirmation on those serials of Rinas airbase. However, the day of departure was spend mostly up on mount Dajti which is east of Tirana. From here there are good, but distant views of the airfield. The three Y-5's? are also visible on google earth and appear to be frames only. From my position on the mountain it appeared the wings had been attached. It actually looked if these were operational, so who can help me with this query? Also Färke airbase can be seen which is even a lot closer but parts are obscured by the hills surrounding the base (e.g. the newly build hangars). The Z-5 guarding the base gate was also seen from here.
I hope this helps and maybe next time I will be able to do some more checking. Did I already mention this country is beautifull?
Cheers,
