Country & City: Sweden, Söderhamn.

Date of visit: 2009/05/31

Summary: This is the place to go to if you want to see the aircraft & equipment at a Swedish Air Force base during the later half of the last century. F 15 Söderhamn Air Wing was operational from 1945 until it's disbandment in 1998. During the cold war the Swedish Air Force was among the strongest in the world, much due to the fact that Sweden was wedged between NATO & the Warzaw pact. Located very close to the coast F 15 covered a large portion of the Baltic sea as well as protected the airspace over northern Sweden. The museum is operated without government funds by an association of air force veterans who are doing a tremendously fine job keeping the aircrafts & hangar in perfect shape. Shown in one of the original hangars are all types of aircraft operated from F 15 together with maintenance equipment, a wide array of ordnance and related items. Cockpit ladders are avaliable for every aircraft if you want to check the interior as well. For those of you who like the SAAB 37 Viggen three of them are displayed, both in the hangar and outside, plus one cockpit section avaliable for visitors to try out. In different rooms in the adjacent building they show air traffic control, com center, CO's office and much more.

Rating: We strongly recommend a visit to this location. We were shown around the museum by a former F 15 fighter pilot, now part of the staff. He was very helpful and his anecdotes raised the experience even more. This is the perfect half-day museum. Just 240 km of brand new highway north of Stockholm it's easy accesible.

www.soderhamnflygmuseum.se