On a gusty Saturday afternoon in March, two men crack open a Soviet-made hangar, then scramble to slow the doors movement as gravity takes over. The 33-ton blast door rumbles along a steel track tilting gently downhill. Inside the vast bomb-resistant cavern, a jumble of light aircraft are flooded with daylight.

Two hobby pilots slow the movement of an armored door after opening a Soviet-made aircraft hangar at the Milovice airfield.

The armored aircraft hangar is part of the Milovice Aeroclub, which has established itself on an abandoned Soviet air base 40 kilometers northeast of Prague.

Light aircraft inside a Soviet-made warplane hangar in March 2025.

Today, in shelters designed for Soviet fighter jets, small sports planes are kept in some of the most secure conditions in Europe.

A Russian-language sign calling for aircraft technicians to be diligent hangs inside a Soviet hangar at Milovice.

The Milovice military facility began as a barracks and training ground for the Austrian Army in 1904, and was later used by Czechoslovak, then occupying Nazi, forces during World War II.

Czechoslovak soldiers training at Milovice in 1938.

After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, occupying Soviet forces equipped the base with armored hangars and other war-ready infrastructure.

A military band plays outside Milovice Air Base in February 1990.

A city for tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers and their families was set up near the air base, connected by a direct train from Moscow to Milovice, whichran daily.

Soviet troops photographed in the Milovice military base in February 1990.

They were like a state within a state, Tomas Nosek, the chairman of the Milovice Aeroclub told RFE/RL, adding that the only significant remnants of the Soviet military presence that remain today are the eight hangars that we currently use, and the reinforced runway.

Hangars at Milovice Air Base.

Nosek says the armored hangar doors are "very impractical," for the hobby pilots and the club has swapped out several with lightweight entrances. "For now, we have actually replaced the doors at five of the eight hangars," but he adds, "one is designated as a cultural monument, so nothing will change there."

A Soviet monument at Milovice seen in February 1990.

Soviet troops began withdrawing from Milovice in February 1990 amid the collapse of communism in Europe. By June 1991, the last soldier had departed.

A member of the Milovice Aeroclub holds pieces of a Soviet fighter plane, which he says was destroyed with explosives during the departure of the Soviet military 35 years ago.

After the Soviet departure, locals discovered remnants of destroyed aircraft and other detritus. Several unexploded munitionshave been discoveredon the territory of the former Soviet base since 1991.

A decaying building at Milovice Air Base.

Since the Soviet withdrawal, several plans have been floated to revive the area.A wildlife reservehas been successfully established on a forested section of the territory, where bison and wild horses now roam.

A pilot taxis towards the runway at Milovice Air Base in March 2025.

So far, however, only the Milovice Aeroclub has been able to give new life to the military infrastructure left behind by the Soviet troops.

Tomas Nosek with his light aircraft.

Its an ideal place, Nosek says, inside the hardened hangar where his light aircraft sits waiting for its next flight, the temperature is constant inside, which is good for us.