Rumbula Air Base Infrastructure
13
It is located in the southeast of Riga, in Rumbula, between Maskavas Street and the Daugava River.
In Rumbula there was an air base of the Soviet Army Air Force and a civilian airport next to Riga's main airport in Spilvė. Both airports existed until the opening of the "Riga" airport. Before the Second World War and the occupation of Latvia, the airfield of the Aviation Regiment of the Latvian Army was located in Rumbula.
After World War 2, the Soviet Union began producing jet-powered aircraft, which required longer and smoother runways. Old airfields were expanded and new airfields were built. The changeable weather conditions of the Baltic and the short flight time of the first jet planes were the reason to build many reserve airfields. The noise of the jet planes caused dissatisfaction among the residents of Riga, because the military airfield was too close to residential areas and could create dangerous situations. In 1973, it was closed and the Lielvārde airfield was built in its place, to which fighter planes were transferred. Shortly before the closure, there was an international scandal. A US Air Force officer who was one of the military attachés in Moscow was beaten there. He was allegedly attacked by 14 - 20 airport employees, who suspected that the airport was being photographed.
Today, you can see the abandoned airfield area.
Used sources and references:
1. Upmalis, I., Tilgas, E., Dinevičs, J., Gorbunovs, A. Latvia - USSR karabase. Riga: Zelta graud, 2006.
2. Eglīte, M. Environmental health. Riga: Riga Stradin University, 2008.
3. Jachimovičs, J. US diplomat beaten in Riga. Australian Latvian, 1972.
Related timeline
Related topics
Related stories
Rebellion on the warship STOROŽEVOJ
On 8 November 1975, as was customary in the USSR, Riga hosted another large-scale celebration of the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Nobody, even in their wildest nightmares, could have imagined that the 58th anniversary of the Revolution would go down in the history of Latvia and the USSR as something unprecedented and unprecedented - a mutiny on board the Storoževoj, a large anti-submarine ship. For 15 years, the USSR denied that a mutiny had taken place on board.
The story of Cīrava airfield
Cīrava airfield - created during the Second World War, used by the Soviets as a DOSAAF airfield, currently used for agricultural purposes and recreational trips, as well as Soviet-era aircraft on display in the hangar