Russia

[gapper]

This topic has probably been hashed over lots, but I haven't seen anything.. Is it possible to fly to Russia via Alaska by small private aircraft? I know they have lots of piston aircraft (AN-2 and such). If anyone has done this it would really really good to hear about the journey.. How about hearing about anyone doing ferry flights by this route?

[Nark]

Bering Air in Alaska has expertise in this.

Give them a shout.

[KAG]

I've done it ferrying a King Air back from south Pacific. We went to Petropovolask (SP), Adak for Gas, then cleared USA customs at Ancorage.
A GPS with the proper data cards is a must, and some cash to bribe Russian customs is also helpful - we had neither.

[Expat]

This should be an interesting journey,,, I wish I had the time to do it.
I saw an interesting old soviet movie, about American pilots flying all kinds of planes to the USSR during WW2, in eastern Siberia. There was romance involved, as all staff at the receiving base were women. Quite a few planes were flown then to the USSR:

http://www.soviethammer.info/blog/42200 ... iet-union/

[Beefitarian]

Absolutely,you need to get some kind of permit from their end and you need to bring your own 100LL.

[oldtimer]

I do not know if the rules for a private aircraft are different from our commercial operation but I flew into Anadere once. We had to clear out of US customs in Nome first, we had an interpreter/handler along and had to clear back into the US through Nome. on departure, we originally filed to Nome but our clearance came back to Anchorage. We changed that when airborne and landed in Nome. US customs said that was a good move and that kept us out of jail, more or less. Russian enroute controllers spoke good English but the local controllers only spoke Russian. The Russians only accepted US dollars, sometimes in large quantities. Pay for everything, fuel, weather, custons, flight planning. Procedures are a bit different. Check different web sites for up to date info. It is not just a file and fly like we are used to.
Since our company was originally planning a number of trips in, we, the pilots, had to get a Russian visa which required an AIDS test.
Flying into Russia can be done but do your homework and get the rules correct. Russian gulags are not fun places. But things have changed a lot in recent years and I think some of the rules are more relaxed.

[Panama Jack]

I saw an interesting old soviet movie, about American pilots flying all kinds of planes to the USSR during WW2, in eastern Siberia. There was romance involved, as all staff at the receiving base were women. Quite a few planes were flown then to the USSR:

http://www.soviethammer.info/blog/42200 ... iet-union/

From the sounds of it, it was a survival necesity with those cold Siberian temperatures.

[trey kule]

Try googling and then contacting the Alaska Airman's Association.
They have a whole route laid out and know all the proper procedures. there originally was a bit of an issue as Russia does not have PPLs, but that got squared away, and they have a whole route you can follow...or did have.

Enjoy. Not really a big deal other that to say bin der, dun dat.

[vova_k]

Russia does not have PPLs

Really ? I got mine in 1997 in Russia...

[trey kule]

Really?
You do not know what the meaning of the word "originally" is? Or are you making the claim Russia has always had ppl's and it was never an issue?

[akoch]

Well, it was not called a "Private Pilot License", just a Pilot License. And no, it was not an issue. Though the rules and the experience itself of course were very different.

[trey kule]

Ok, I took a moment to look it up

Go to: http://alaskaairmen.org/index.php

Then scroll down the left hand side until you see Russia VFR route. Click on it.
A bit out of date, but it has contacts if you want to follow up.Send them an email if you are serious.
As far as "I got a Russian ppl in 1997....but, well, it was not actually called a ppl", I really dont know how to comment. When the Alaska route was esablished in the early 2000's , the ppl was an issue because Russia had no equivalent license. They did provide validations to foreign licenses, but that is not the same thing.

Seems like if some people asked how many leaves a four leaf clover had,
they would get 10 answers about including how dog pee on clover changes it color, but not that of the dog, though someone would probalby post they had a dog once,and had a red coller.

Anyway, the Alaska Airmans association, is, in my opinion, a better place for info thn what you will get here.

[vova_k]

As far as "I got a Russian ppl in 1997....but, well, it was not actually called a ppl", I really dont know how to comment. When the Alaska route was esablished in the early 2000's , the ppl was an issue because Russia had no equivalent license.

It's not correct. First of all, real Russian PPL's exist at least since 1997 (my is #13)
Second, there are a number of obstacles for foreigners flying to Russia in a private aircraft, but a pilot license was never a real problem

For an additional information you can contact Russian AOPA at mail@aopa.ru

[niss]

In Soviet Russia, Bearing Straight cross You!!

[jpilot77]

In Soviet Russia, Bearing Straight cross You!!

[Beefitarian]

vova we should grab a 182 and go get these dogs.

[trey kule]

Beefie..been done..Two words...
Mathias Rust..one of my aviation heroes.
Young ones here probably dont know who he is , but google him. Even the Russians saw the humour in this.

[akoch]

Even the Russians saw the humour in this.

LOL you are giving too much credit to those ruskies

[trey kule]

I am very aware of the political consequences of his flight, and subsequent purge of air commanders in Russia, but the average Russian, like the average Canadian endures in spite of the government, and not because of them..The local humour was to name Red Square as the third international airport in Moscow..The actual name escapes me now, but the locals really did see the humour in it.

[Beefitarian]

I like what he did. Especially at the time. I read about what he has done since on wikipedia and he sounds worse than most of the internet dummies you'll meet.

[akoch]

It was fun, people laughed. Until then I'd never seen a Cessna in my life. I remember looking at it and wondering - how a so poorly built airplane can fly, never mind a considerable distance. Admittedly I was not much into aviation back then.

The plane was detected en-route, but no one wanted to take responsibility to take it down - the line-level guys manning the air defence were not complete morons, luckily. Rust was flying very low and slow, and did not fit any threat profile that would trigger air defence. The guy essentially found a nice gaping hole in the systems and processes, which was embarrassing to those big shots with big hats.

Now, is not it the same thing as some of those guys do daily to move the green vegetation between the US and BC?

[Panama Jack]

The local humour was to name Red Square as the third international airport in Moscow..The actual name escapes me now, but the locals really did see the humour in it.

For a while after the incident, the Red Square was jokingly referred to by Muscovites as Sheremetyevo-3. (Sheremetyevo-1 and -2 are two major airports near Moscow.)

[Beefitarian]

Now, is not it the same thing as some of those guys do daily to move the green vegetation between the US and BC?

Kind of, except he wanted to become famous and the weed guys just want to become wealthy. Other wise yes.