A laboratory to test aviation engines

Back in Soviet times, to the North of Spilves Street, there was a peculiar structure – two low and rectangular “mega-chimneys” made of red brick, if memory serves, from which the roaring sound of a jet engine could often be heard. People gossiped about the place, saying that apparently that was a place to repair or test military airplane engines. The noise from the two terrifying chimneys was so loud that it could sometimes be heard or “felt” at a distance of several kilometres. How often did that happen? It’s hard to remember, but at least one a month or two. Once Latvia won its independence, I had the right to spend some official time there, and the owners said that that there were still barrels of aviation fuel or other chemicals under the ground. The former military territory between Spilves and Dzirciema streets was and remains very visible from the dunes which are to the South of Spilves Street. On the other side of Dzirciema Street there was an enormous tractor repair facility where the vehicles of the military were also repaired.