Great images Robert. Do you know the reason for the visit?

Frakky, I’m much obliged. Thanks:D

I’m told that the Volkspolizei in East Germany used to prosecute their motorists in a similar fashion. If true then its another alarming parallel I guess:(

Very good news for Airbus. I’m sure that there will be many more customers coming forward in the future. 🙂

I don’t know…..take my eyes off the ball for a 2.5 week Xmas/New Year hol with close friends in Germany, and look what happens! The great images just keep on coming.

Special thanks to Neil, civilspotter and all for those Tupolev and Ilyushin pics.

I was lucky enough to fly on an Interflug IL18 from LGW back in the late 80s. Back in ’82 I was employed by a company called Air Ecosse based in ABZ. Sometimes I would try to get home to CBG for my 5 days off and usually used Dan Air into LGW, or BA into LHR on staff travel. On one truly memorable occasion I was offered the chance to get a ride on an Aeroflot Tu134A which was doing an empty positioning sector to LHR, and then on to SVO. You can imagine my excitement, but the best was yet to come! About 15 mins or so out from LHR I was taken by a C/A back to the flight deck and the F/O asked if I would like to sit in the navigators seat in the glazed nose for the landing! What an experience, and one I have never forgotten.
During my career, the best ‘Eastern Bloc” crews to work with were Aeroflot, CSA, Malev and of course Interflug. The worst were Tarom who carried ‘security staff’ whose main task seemed to be denying us access to the flight deck to brief the crews. If you did get to one of their crews, they were very quiet and never seemed to smile…but then again I guess they had very little to smile about.

i certainly would..
but would you fly in this?….

Yes, tomorrow! I would have no hesitation whatsoever in doing so. Russian airliners are IMO no more dangerous than those built by anyone else. With the large numbers of them that have been operated over the years, routinely in some of the worlds worst operating environments where Airbuses and Boeings fear to tread, these aircraft and the crews who flew them in Soviet times and the crews who fly them today, have my total trust that I will arrive safely at my destination. Over the years I have accumulated more than 40 flights on them and I’m still here! BTW I have flown 2 sectors on Air Koryo Il62M, one on a Tu134A and one on an An24. I highly recommend it to anyone:D

I fully understand what you are saying and I may not have made myself totally clear. I didn’t mean to imply that you were implying that the Soviets reversed engineered Western designs, although of course they did with the B29/Tu4 bomber. Throughout my 28 year aviation career, which sadly came to an end on Dec 21st , I have so often come across references to “Soviet copying”, “Soviet spies in Filton and Toulouse” “VC10ski” “Those Russian death traps” etc, etc, it just browns me off;) In terms of safety and integrity it is very rare to find evidence of any Soviet airliner crash involving fatigue or design induced airframe failure. The dreadful crash, in dubious circumstances, of the Tu144 in Paris is a very public exception to this.

I have been very lucky to have had much to do with Soviet/Russian airliners and their crews. As you say, the Tu154 really does look like it means business, but then again I think they all do. Although the 154 is not my favourite, if you have never been part of the pushback crew on a Tu154B and heard all 3 spool up at close quarters, then you just haven’t lived! In 1985 I spent 3 days at the Interflug technical school at SXF learning weight and balance and ground handling procedures for the Tu134A and IL62M. They were a great bunch of guys there and very professional. I worked for Aeroflot at LHR for 12 months in ’93 and took the opportunity to see their operation close up in Moscow during my induction course there. I just wish I’d had the opportunity to sample the Tu114.

I only endorse the part of Distillers post as indicated, apologies for any confusion. I take your point on board. However as I said, the WikiLeaks situation is just an example of the point I’m trying to get across. Leaving aside the ‘tussle’ with the Swedes, and the ‘headless chicken’ type actions of the US over the organization, I still stand by my view that there is the possibility of the WikiLeaks situation being used by the unscrupulous to clamp down on certain types of activity on the net and in other areas of the media, thus resulting in further curtailment of individual rights. There’s nothing conspiratorial about that at all. Anyhow, I’ll have to leave my ‘corner’ undefended until 4th Jan as I’m offline until then. Happy Xmas to allcon 🙂