Chelyabinsk Shagol Airport (also Bakal) is an airport in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 located in the northwest part of Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...

. It was the first airport in Chelyabinsk, but now all passenger service is carried out by Chelyabinsk Balandino Airport

Chelyabinsk Balandino Airport

Chelyabinsk Airport is an airport in Russia located 18 km north of Chelyabinsk. It services large airliners and can park up to 51 aircraft. It also serves as a secondary hub for S7 Airlines and Ural Airlines.-Passenger airlines:-Accidents and incidents:...

, and Shagol Airport is used by the local pilots training school, the Chelyabinsk Red Banner Military Aviation Institute of Navigators

Chelyabinsk Red Banner Military Aviation Institute of Navigators

The Chelyabinsk Red Banner Military Aviation Institute of Navigators is a Russian Air Force school, located in Chelyabinsk. The previous name's translation was Челябинское высшее военное авиационное краснознаменное училище штурманов им 50-летия ВЛКСМ ....

. In August 2007 it was used in military exercises of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It was a military bomber training base during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 and had about 35 Tupolev Tu-134 UBL

Tupolev Tu-134

The Tupolev Tu-134 is a twin-engined airliner, similar to the American Douglas DC-9 and the French Sud Aviation Caravelle, and built in the Soviet Union from 1966–1984. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain other Russian airliners , it can operate from unpaved...

's based as recently as 1995. High-resolution satellite imagery from Google Earth

Google Earth

Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...

 shows 41 Tu-134UBLs and a few An-24 aircraft and helicopters.

Kommersant

Kommersant

Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...

-Vlast indicated in 2005 that the 239 Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment was based here.

Photos of the aircraft stationed in the airport

• http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia---Air/Tupolev-Tu-134Sh/1454827/L/&sid=b57c171a46587b04f302038e573b9f2b
• http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia---Air/Tupolev-Tu-134UBL/1517763/L/&sid=b57c171a46587b04f302038e573b9f2b
• http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia---Air/Tupolev-Tu-134UBL/1428355/L/&sid=b57c171a46587b04f302038e573b9f2b
• http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia---Air/Tupolev-Tu-134UBL/1386986/L/&sid=b57c171a46587b04f302038e573b9f2b