I was there on June 29th. I called on the 28th and asked them about the details. I am also vouching for the accuracy of S. Palmer's article.

They said that I could just show up, and gave me all the details about how to get there. Afterwards they asked me if I had Russian (or CIS) citizenship. I told them that I didn't. They said I needed the permission of the museum's director to visit the museum. When I showed up on the 29th they did not take me for an American and charged me the local price, which is about ten times cheaper than what foreigners pay. Tours in Russian are 500 roubles. I decided not to fork out the 500 rubles. I simply found a group of one American guy from PHL, one guy from the Netherlands (I think) and their translator, along with the guide. I helped out with some technical terms when the translator didn't know them. BTW. Were these two guys FTers?

The collection is quite extensive, but is in dire need of some investment and looks much worse than it did in the 1980s, when my dad visited. They recently had a fire, which destroyed a hangar full of WWI-era planes and other interesting stuff. They're rebuilding it now, but who knows what will go in there. Some bums set fire to the Tu-124 fuselage one winter, when they tried to find some place warm to sleep (according to the museum guide).

HOW TO GET THERE

I would not recommend taking the train. It takes too long because it's not direct. I took a "marshrutka" (minibus) from Щелковская metro station (Shchelkovskaya) at the eastern end of line 3. The ride from there takes about 30-35 minutes and costs 45 rubles.

When you arrive at that metro station, exit in the direction in which you were travelling (toward the front of the train),

Turn right and go upstairs to the street. A bus station (Автовокзал) will be on your right.

Walk along the main street next to the bus station to find minibus #362. Double-check to make sure that it says "МОНИНО" as one of the destinations. The ride costs 45 rubles. The only drawback is that you'll have to wait until most seats are filled. The middle of the day can sometimes be a problem.

When you get to the last stop, walk through the main gate (if you're on foot you don't need to show any documents) and keep walking along the main road until you reach another checkpoint and a fence. Turn left, walk around, following the fence until you are on the same main road, but past the closed-off area. Keep walking for another few minutes until you see a sign about the museum. Turn right, and walk to the airfield. The tickets can be bought on the left where you see the sign "KACCA". You can then enter the field with your tickets. The trip works the same in reverse. You be better off taking the train back if you're travelling back around midday.

I've made a google map of how to get there