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MOSCOW TRIP PART 1: 16-22 AUGUST 2009 KEVIN PERRY, IAN ELLINGTON & CRAIG McCORRISTON
Having not done Moscow and the airshow for six years, we decided to give it another go this year, with the realisation that it could be for the last time. as well as timing a trip to Russia with the appeal of the airshow, the other obvious main interest are the Russian-built airliners, which unfortunately, but not surprisingly, are quickly being taken out of service. As well as being old, noisy and fuel-guzzlers, their safety records speak for themselves. From our point of view though... fantastic! So forgive the emphasis to these aircraft in this report, and not on the 'Western crap' which is taking over!
As with most other 'Trade' airshows, Moscow Airshow (MAKS) is only held every two years, and it will be interesting to see how many Russian-built airliners are still in service in 2011, when the next show is on. As things stand now, the IL-62 may well be out of passenger service shortly, if not already (non were seen in service on this trip), with the IL-86 and Tu-134 sure to be next to go. This will probably just leave the IL-96 and Tu-154M in service for the mid-term future (with the older Tu-154B models probably not having much more time left), along with the odd Tu-204, which, as with most recent 'modern' Russian-built types, is a bit of a 'white elephant'. Infact, today, only the new Sukhoi Superjet seems to have a good future, with the other new types (An-70, Tu-334 etc) looking doomed to failure.
Its sad to think that these old classics are on their way out, being replaced by 'bland' western-types, which will certainly take away the appeal of going to Russia for us... so was this for the last time?
Russia has certainly become more 'spotter-friendly' over the years, with much more understanding and tolerance. Compared to our first time there, over ten years ago, which involved hiding among trees and looking over your shoulder to get shots, things are generally much better now, though it will never be as we see it in the west (as with any 'police state'). For example, at Sheremetyevo Airport, there are no problems taking landing shots at the end of the runway, with many people openly doing so, whereas at Vnukovo we were asked to move further away from the airport to take shots.
With this in mind, its probably still better to go on an organised trip to this part of the world, with 'safety in numbers' and help at hand for (most) problems that can arise. As well as the safety-factor, an organised tour will provide airside access and ramp tours, which would obviously be very difficult to try and organise by yourself (as we have tried to do in the past!). Having said that, if you are happy to stay ground-side and visit the (generally) safer areas around the airports, you could certainly do an 'independent' trip without too much difficulty. Some low-cost airlines are also moving in (such as Air Berlin), so the cost-factor for such a trip is also much better. One thing that has got harder though is the visa process (enough said)!
There were several organised tours to Russia to coincide with the airshow this year, with ours lasting for seven days in effect (not including the travelling to/from Moscow). I was to meet up with Ian & Craig in Moscow, after my flights from the Middle East. My trip began in the early hours of Sat 15th, with the one hour drive from Dammam, Saudi Arabia to Bahrain Airport, to catch Emirates flight EK836 at 0350 to Dubai, on an A330. I then connected to Moscow Domodedovo (DME), leaving at 0935 on a B777-300ER, arriving at 1445, with one night to be spent at the AirHotel (located close to the terminal). Quite an easy journey, compared to Ian's 'epic tour'!... train from Darlo to Edinburgh (to meet up with Craig), flight from EDN-London City, train to LHR, hotel, flight from LHR-Vienna, then Vienna-DME (getting in after midnight)!! All that to save about ten quid, compared to flying with KLM from DTV!!
As the title suggests, I will split the tour report up into two parts, to include as many shots, and as much information as I can to do it justice. As with my previous reports, they are more like photo-reports, with not many boring lists of numbers (not being a 'number-cruncher')! We begin with the first three days... with our first visit, first thing Sunday morning, to Bykovo, after checking out of the hotel.
BYKOVO SUN 16TH AUGUST
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Pronnounced 'Bickavo', this i probably classed as being Moscows fourth airport, and was previously used for 'commuter' passenger flights (by Antonov 24's etc), aswell as having a large maintenance/re-work facility for IL-76's and Yak-42's. The passenger flights have now ended, and the re-work facility now seems quiet (if not finished). However, there are still many aircraft present, with other flights still going on. At the time, although the airfield was about to be used as a park-and-ride for the airshow (MAKS), and is also being used as a storage site for unsold new cars, it was still active!
Starting outside the terminal, Aeroflot IL-14 CCCP-91484 is still on display, though not looking so good. Moving out airside, with various stops, we had the first instance of 'dont photograph this one and this one', which was to become the norm on visiting many of the airport ramps... though of course it only makes people more determined to do so! These included MVD Russia (Police) Mil-8's and Yak-40K RF-88301 & Mil-8's, aswell as the MChS Russia (Fire) Kamov's and Mil-26T RA-06285 (another of which was later in the static at MAKS, where we shot inside and outside!!).
The first ramp stop had five An-30's and a couple of An-26's, with a line-up of five Yak-40's. Three of the An-30's were An-30D 'Siberian' aircraft, with new radar and additional fuel tank modifications (of which only six were produced): RA-30053 of Lukiaviatrans (all yellow/purple!), RA-30063 of Novosibirsk Avia (in ex Aeroflot Polar colours) and RA-30075 (in old Aeroflot-style colours). The two An-26's were RA-26002 of Avialesookhrana and RA-26521 of '....... Technologies' (i cant read cyrillic!), while the Yak-40's included RA-87828 of RusJet (looking like Frontier Airlines!) and two AIST-M Airclub VIP aircraft, with RA-87953 painted in a very smart colour scheme.
Close by was a group of seven Yak-42's, with three of them stripped to bare metal during maintenance, and two others in Elbrus-Avia colours.Then in front of the terminal were three more Yak-40's, including RA-87648 of Yak Air Service (which is said to be the oldest airworthy Yak-40), and a pair of Moskovia Airlines An-12's: RA-12193 & RA-12195, looking very smart and clean (recently painted?). Next stop was a distant ramp with four IL-76's, all wfu with two of them in bare metal. The other two being RA-76849 of Aviast, and RA-76491 in full Aeroflot colours (although very dirty and no engines), which is ex Iraqi AF YI-AKP. Alongside were five An-72/74's, including RA-74001 & RA-74003 in ex Aeroflot Polar colours, RA-74047 of Baltic Construction Company, RA-74052 of Yamal Airlines and ST-GFF (operated by 'Green Flag'?), which was in very good condition. On doing some research on this latter aircraft... if you Google it, there is a link to a UN Security Council report, where it is mentioned to have been involved in breaking an arms embargo in Sudan! Lets not be too shocked though... how many Russian-built cargo aircraft have been involved in such 'dodgy activities' (especially in that part of the world)!
The final stop was a large ramp with two more Yak-40's, a few 'GA' and three of the striking red and black Dexter Aero PC-12 air-taxi's (RA-01501 to RA-01503). Their initial plan to order Russian-built Sokol M-101T's (another was present... looks like a dodgy TBM-700 copy!) fell through, and surprise, they bought from the West! As well as the PC-12's, they have also ordered twenty Citation Mustangs. And that was Bykovo done, a great start in great weather! So far I hadn't mentioned the weather, which as usual is really changeable. Day 1 though was great, as we left and hit the Moscow ring-road for our other airport today, Sheremetyevo (SVO)...
SHEREMETYEVO SUN 16TH AUGUST
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Previously the main airport for Moscow, 'Shery' has lost that spot to Domodedovo, with a lot of the major international carriers moving to DME. Having said that, SVO is still a very busy airport with a good amount of foreign carriers as well as a lot of domestic flights. After a quick stop at the technical school on the 'domestic side' of the airport, where only IL-86 RA-86103 and IL-76T RA-76460 are any good for a (half-decent) shot, unless you brave being mauled by the huge dog-like-beast there over the fence for the Tu-154, IL-62 etc!! After passing the very nice Aeroflot IL-18 CCCP-75554, displayed over the road from the domestic Terminal 1 (which we later returned to shoot), we then proceeded airside for our full ramp tour.
The Russian airlines scene these days at Shery includes the following... Aeroflot A319, A320, A321, B767, IL-96, MD-11F & Tu-154M, Aeroflot Don B737-500 & IL-86, Aeroflot Nord B737-500 & Tu-134, Nordwind B757, Rossiya Tu-154M and Transaero B737-500 & B747. As well as these aircraft, the domestic side to the eastern end has a few wfu 'bangers' (Aeroflot IL-62 & Transaero B737-200), the Air Bridge Cargo ramp with their busy B747F's, and a ramp used by RF- AN-72's and IL-76's of the Federal Border Guard ('don't photograph'). To the western end are parking areas and hangars for the executive/company hacks, as well as ramps for the very nice DHL Tu-204C and some other airliners which may be out of service.
After the domestic side, we drove around airside to the International side with Terminal 2, where we stopped by a taxiway for a while to photograph the movements. Then that was the official stuff over for the day, as we then checked in to the very nice Novotel (close to Terminal 2) for the next three nights. However, with a few hours of daylight remaining, it was then off into the terminal and up to the restaurant on the fourth floor, which has a good view of the international ramp/taxiway, looking towards the runway (only 25R in use) and domestic terminal. This was a great place to finish the day off each day, and as well as getting good food and drink, was good protection from the thunderous downpours that often happen around tea-time. Infact, our group pretty much took over the place each day! One down-side at the hotel though... the club at the bottom floor is now aircrew only (and no more 'dancing' girls!).
Day 2 was to be a bit 'hit and miss', with some bad planning, some bad weather, but still plenty of good aircraft! The group was given different options today, with two coaches taking different people to different places. We had chosen to do the visit to Chakalovskia and head straight back to Shery, while others were also doing Chernoye, Dolgoe Ledovo and Monino. The plan then changed, with those only wanting to do Chakalovskia, also having to do Monino, because of the way the numbers worked out. However (and to cut a long story short), after doing Monino & Chakalovskia, we then had to return to Monino to meet the other coach and take some of that group back to Shery (while the rest went onto Chernoye). This resulted in so much wasted time, and a lot of unhappiness, as effectively the half day at Shery was cancelled by the time we got there (which was to also have a knock-on effect into Day 3... more later).
Anyway, of the two places we didn't do today... Dolgoe Ledovo is a chopper base, while Chernoye is an An-2 and Mil-2 re-work facility which we have visited previously. The best aircraft present this time being two Cuban An-2's (although just painted yellow with no registrations or titles, and a Cuban flag on the tail). So we were still satisfied not to have bothered with the visits. Of the two visits we did complete today...
MONINO MUSEUM MON 17TH AUGUST
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The Central Museum of the Air Forces can be described as both incredible and disappointing (if that's possible!). It has an amazing collection of aircraft types, but, and not surprisingly, its very sad to see the condition a lot of them are in. Obviously, a lack of money prevents the aircraft, and the whole place from being maintained in nice condition... maybe it needs a visit by the President... I'm sure that would result in a good clean-up! Entry costs total 450 Rubels (200 for entry & 250 for camera permit).
Inside, priority is given to the military types, whereas the airliners are all 'parked' at the end in a cordoned-off area, often in long grass. Those types present include an An-8 (twin-prop), An-10 (rare pax version of An-12), An-12, An-22, An-24, IL-12, IL-18, IL-62, Li-2, Tu-104, Tu-114, Tu-124, Tu-144, Yak-40 & Yak-42. In particularly poor condition is the IL-18 (with paintwork totally faded), the Tu-124 has a lot of the upper fuselage burnt-out (after a fire in 2002, when apparently a group of kids got inside and lit a 'camp fire'!), while the An-22 was retired here after being damaged in 1987 (following a heavy landing at Addis-Ababa). The Tu-144 here made the first operational flight for Aeroflot on 26/12/75, carrying cargo between Moscow & Alma-Ata (that's a glamorous 'freighter'!), before being retired here on 29/2/80 after 320 flights. Also present among the many 'freakish' types is a Mil-12, the largest helicopter ever produced. Although only two were built, so as with so many Russian-types, it was another 'white elephant' (but a freakin large one, which I'm told used An-22 fuselage sections!).
As was said, we hadn't planned to do Monino, after having done it twice before. However, we hadn't done a 'digital shoot' before, and the weather was dodgy on both previous occasions, so we didn't mind that we 'had to' do it again! Anyway, now we have the digital shots... but still in crap weather! I don't think there'll be a fourth time!
Another bit of interest while we were there was a few Russian AF aircraft on approach to nearby Chakalovskia, flying reasonably low over the museum: RA-65991 Tu-134A-3 (with 'stinger' tail), 12 Red An-12 and '87200' (no prefix) Yak-40 of the Beriev Design Bureau. With half-decent shots of these, it was then off to Chakalovskia, a major airbase also known as 'Star City', and a real highlight of the trip...
CHAKALOVSKIA MON 17TH AUGUST
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Having described Monino museum as both incredible and disappointing, I could also say the same about this place! Or maybe amazing and frustrating would better describe it?! As previously mentioned, at other airports we were told 'don't photograph this one and this one'... well, here you are told 'don't photograph any of them, any of them, any of them and any of them'. It's very, very frustrating, but then we knew to expect this after visiting previously.
Where to begin? Well, from first entrance to the last stop... and for me the best was visible at the start, close to our entrance gate. Parked among the trees close to the end of the runway are the aircraft tasked with providing an airborne command post platform for the countries political and military leaders in time of major emergency. Similar to that of the USAF E-4B NEACP (National Emergency Airborne Command Post) aircraft, operated by the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB, the Russian AF use the IL-86 for this role, operated by the 8th SPAD/VzPU here. Its not that long ago that these aircraft were unknown to the public outside of Russia, and are still very rarely photographed. Four aircraft were converted for this role: RA-86146 to RA-86149 (with RA-86147 not present today... see later!), and have been variously described as an 'IL-80' or 'IL-87'. However, most reliable sources use IL-86VKP 'Maxdome' (in fact the aircraft just has 'IL-86' painted in the usual place). The nickname used is an obvious referral to the huge SATCOM fairing located on top of the forward fuselage, with other major modifications being two large electric generator pods mounted on pylons under the inboard wings, and at the rear, a housing for the VLF trailing wire (as on the E-4B). Also, in addition to other large blade antennae and canoe-shaped fairings, the aircraft also have a retractable refuelling probe fitted below the cockpit on the left side. Of the four aircraft, two are still painted in old Aeroflot colours, while the other two seem to have been fully modified and painted in a newer scheme. These two have also had all the pax windows removed (as part of the protection against nuclear explosion), including the portholes in the doors. In fact, all doors have also been removed with the exception of the forward left and rear right pax doors.
Upon entering the base, a member of the security police boarded the coach and watched like a hawk to ensure we were following the strict instruction of no photography, except for the few aircraft that were 'allowed' (officially!). As we drove past the 'Maxdomes' visible through the trees, the road then entered airside, passing lines of special Tu-134's (with 'stinger' tails) and IL-18/20/22's, followed by Tu-154's and IL-62's. Frustrating as hell! As well as these types, the airfield also has an abundance of An-12, An-24, An-26, An-72 and IL-76's. There was also a few Mil-8's present, along with a line of fighters in the distance, and further still, at the other end of the runway, an active An-22 parked-up! More frustration! However, on passing the line-ups we could see a Tu-154 and an IL-62 were getting ready to leave, so hoped that we could maybe get some shots when we got around the other side, which we were subsequently able to, with the IL-62 taking off for a spot of circuit-bashing!
Driving around the end of the runway towards the ramps where we could shoot, the road passes VERY close to the ramp with the 'Maxdomes'. With frustration now at boiling point, and the guard in 'ultra-alert' mode, you just have to accept the fact that you 'aint gonna got any shots'! So driving by these rare as hell aircraft, perfect for a shot in the sun, we could then also see that there were two specially modified IL-76's behind them on the same ramp! These turned out to be the two aircraft also modified to for the same 'Maxdome' mission: RA-76450 & RA-76451, which have the designation IL-76VKP (or IL-82), and have similarly huge fairings on top of the forward fuselage, as well as the nose windows blanked out. It's not known if these are still in service, alongside the 86's, or if the 86's have replaced them?
Upon reaching the first ramp where we could get off the coach, we were told which aircraft we could photograph, with various Tu-134's and Tu-154's getting worked. These included Tu-134A RA-65927 (ex Gromov Air) in a nice VIP scheme, and very nice Tu-154M/LK-1 RA-85655 of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (which has also been used as an Open Skies mission aircraft!). A nice touch on some of the 154's and other types is the application of the unit badge of the 223 Flight Unit (8ADON), which operates most of the transport types here. Also present, at the end of this ramp were IL-22 RA-75901 and two IL-18's: RA-75478 & RA-75496, with the latter thought to be active. From this ramp we then drove to another which had a couple of An-12's and three An-72's to shoot, before moving onto the next with more An-72's and IL-76's, including the very nice IL-76MD Flying Hospital RA-86906 in the new colours with a 223FU badge and Red Cross on the tail. From here it was back along other lines of aircraft and back out the way we came in, past engineless IL-86 RA-86112 in Atlant-Soyuz colours, and of course the 'Maxdomes', looking even better in the sun just to torment us one more time! However, after tormenting us during two trips to Russia now, who was about to have the last laugh...?!
So from here it was back to Shery (via the unwanted stop at Monino), and straight up to the restaurant for a few shots to finish the day off, with just a few aircraft to mention being photographed... RA-87353 Yak-40 Lukoil-Avia, HL7764 B777-200ER Korean Air and LZ-BOQ B737-500 Air Italy/Bulgaria Air (all white with small logo on nose).
The following day was to be our last chance to photograph at Shery, and even though we had booked and paid for another visit, we made a last-minute decision to stay here for the day (as the weather was great) to get landing shots. It turned out to be a good choice, even if we had decided to miss out on the base visit to Tver, which was one of the main reasons we chose to go with this group! Tver is the home base for the amazing Antonov 22, but having been before (so would maybe only photograph the same aircraft?), we decided to sacrifice it. That and the fact it's a long six-hour coach trip there and back! As was mentioned earlier, today's decision also came after missing out on getting landing shots here the day before, after wasting so much time on the coach. As it turned out the group that went to Tver had a fairly successful visit, getting landing shots of an An-22 coming in, and getting inside another. Another very nice aircraft present was an Angolan AF An-72! Though actually that would have meant frustration for us, as it couldn't be photographed (hidden behind trees)! As well as Tver, a few of the group also made another visit, to the helicopter base at Klin.
SHEREMETYEVO TUE 18TH AUGUST
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So as mentioned, today turned out to be a 'do-it-yourself' day, and after going back to shoot the IL-18 outside Terminal 1, we headed to the end of the runway to get landing shots of aircraft on finals for Runway 25R. As mention earlier, there was no problems with this... the police are obviously used to it now, and don't care. We then spent a good seven hours here, in great weather, before heading back to the terminal when the threatening clouds rolled in around 1600. Not including Aeroflot western-types, highlights from the landing shots were... (a list of numbers!)
RA-85832 Tu-154M Rossiya, RA-64024 Tu-204C DHL, N834MH B767-400 Delta, VP-BKP B737-500 Aeroflot Nord, N189DN B767-300 Delta, EP-IBK A310-300 Iran Air, PH-CKB B747-400ERF KLM Cargo, D-ANNC A320 Elite/Blue Wings, RA-85779 Tu-154M Rossiya, RA-85135 Tu-154M Aeroflot, OK-NEP A319 CSA, P4-NAS A321 Air Astana, OH-LXL A320 Finnair, RA-85637 Tu-154M Aeroflot, VQ-BAL B757-200 Nordwind Airlines, TC-JFD B737-800 THY, VP-BIM B747-400ERF Air Bridge Cargo, RA-96008 IL-96 Aeroflot, VQ-BBT B757-200 Nordwind Airlines, VP-BKU B737-500 Aeroflot Nord, EI-DTU B737-500 Transaero, RF-76325 IL-76TD Federal Border Guard (No titles), VP-BVU B737-500 Aeroflot Don, TC-JPH A320 THY, HA-LOP B737-500 Malev, RA-85665 Tu-154M Aeroflot, OK-MEL A319 CSA, VP-BGX B747-300 Transaero, VP-CAE Gulfstream 450 Crocus Group, RA-65052 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord, RA-85627 Tu-154M Aeroflot, EW-276PJ CRJ-200ER Belavia, RA-85643 Tu-154M Aeroflot, RA-85769 Tu-154M Rossiya, SX-BKG B737-400 Olympic, VP-BYU B737-500 Aeroflot Don, PH-BXC B737-800 KLM, YL-BBQ B737-500 Air Baltic, VP-BRN B737-500 Aeroflot Nord, RA-85644 Tu-154M Aeroflot, F-GRXM A319 Air France, VP-BZC Gulfstream 550, VQ-BAK B757-200 Nordwind Airlines, VQ-BDQ MD-11F Aeroflot Cargo and RA-86141 IL-86 Aeroflot Don.
Then back at the terminal, best of the shots included: RF-26272 An-26 Federal Border Guard (No titles), RA-46692 An-24RV UTAir Express (All pale blue!), B-6089 A330-200 Hainan Airlines and RA-86113 IL-86 Aeroflot Don. It was then back to the Novotel for the final night, with MAKS the following day... for Part 2...
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