A Georgia Girl in Germany

After sharing the touristy side of my visit to Moscow, I need to prove that I actually did work while there. We typically worked eight-hour days, plus another three hours of travel time to and from the airfield. I had my laptop with me and worked during some of the bus rides as well, which seemed to make the days even longer. But, it was a wonderful experience, especially since I really enjoy working the international air shows. Now that I’ve been to Moscow, I’ve completed my “Grand Slam” of the four largest international air shows: Farnborough, England, in 1996; Paris in 1997; Berlin in 2006; and Moscow in 2007. Of course, I'll never turn down an opportunity to work one of those venues again! I think Osh Kosh is the only remaining air show of comparable size, although I’m not sure how truly international it is.

Above is a view of the U.S. corral from the top of the C-17’s T-tail. If you look closely, you can see the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds packed between the fences. During the air show’s six days, there were well over 500,000 visitors...some reports claimed as many as 600,000!

When the B-52 Stratofortress arrived at Ramenskoye Airfield, the crew was met by retired Russian General-Lieutenant (three-star) Magomed Tolboyev. Even though a B-52 was on display at the 2003 air show, it was still significant that it was there this year since it was the premier Cold War bomber that was on alert 24-7 to launch against a possible Soviet attack. This significance wasn’t lost on Tolboyev, who made a toast with the B-52 crew. He is considered a national hero who has flown more than 60 types of military aircraft, including as a test pilot and research and development pilot. Some compare his living legend status to that of Chuck Yeager in the United States. The most unique aspect of the toast was that the glasses were placed on the ground before Tolboyev poured the cognac into them. He explained that this tradition recognizes the importance of the ground to flight -- essentially, what goes up will come down, and should come down safely to the ground.

The U.S. contingent had one aircraft that flew demonstrations during the show: the F-15 Eagle. I thought it was interesting how, after a few days, the Russian pilots changed their aerial demonstrations to match portions of the F-15’s -- showing that their aircraft could perform the same maneuvers. Of course, the Russian demonstration aircraft also showed off the edge-of-the-seat piloting capable with vectored thrust engines, which always leaves me in awe. Part of me thinks the Russians only fly those maneuvers to show that they can...not because the maneuvers are part of a normal flight profile.

These were the “crash phones” at the tent along the flight line where the demonstrations were managed. I don’t know for sure, but I can imagine that these are the same phones that every Soviet citizen had in their homes years ago when communist rule dictated that everyone have the same furnishings.

Here’s another view of the crowds interacting with the U.S. crews. Fortunately, we had a few translators who helped with international relations. At one point, I remember someone asking one of the B-52 pilots how much the bomber was worth. After answering, the gentleman apparently asked if he could purchase the bomber! Of course, it wasn’t for sale, but the dialogue caught the ear of a nearby reporter and led to this article: Excuse me, I'd like to buy your B-52.

This is the infamous Tupolev Tu-95 “Bear” strategic bomber, missile carrier and reconnaissance plane built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It’s powered by four counter-rotating turboprop propeller engines, and remains the fastest propeller-driven aircraft to go into operational use. At the height of the Cold War, the bombers flew regular missions along the U.S. East Coast, as well as Pacific missions against U.S. forces in Alaska and Asia. Naturally, U.S. fighter aircraft would fly to intercept the Bear -- from such places as Alaska and Iceland. The Tu-95 was originally intended to drop nuclear weapons, but was later modified to perform a wide range of roles, such as the deployment of cruise missiles, maritime patrol, and even for use as a civilian airliner.

This aircraft is what many U.S. pilots refer to as the “B-1-ski” since it closely resembles the U.S. B-1 Lancer bomber. It’s actually a Tupolev Tu-160, nicknamed “Blackjack” by NATO, but known in Russia as the “White Swan.” It’s very similar to, but supposedly more complex and with more payload capacity than, the B-1. It was the last Soviet strategic bomber design and the heaviest combat aircraft ever built. It is capable of cruising at 1.9 Mach for hours.

One of the Russian aerial demonstrations was unique in that it included formation flying by two different airframes: the Sukhoi Su-27 “Russian Knights” and the MiG-29 "Strizhi" aircraft.

Other Russian aircraft that flew aerial demonstrations include the Mikoyan MiG-35 Fulcrum-F, the Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum, the Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback (static display photo below), the Sukhoi Su-30 Flanker and the Mil Mi-28 Havoc helicopter.

There were quite a few Russian airframes on static display, many of which (to my untrained eye) seemed more useful for civil, commercial or recreational aviation. However, one exception was the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker.

Another exception was the Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber and strike aircraft. The Su-34 also flew aerial demonstrations each day during the show.

The Patrouille de France, or the “The Cavaliers of The Sky,” aerial demonstration team also put on an awesome display of skill. We often ate lunch at the same time as the French demonstration pilots...one day Coney and I even shared a table with some of them. Notice the blue, white and red smoke of the French flag trailing the French Alphajets during their routine.



Interestingly, the French use trainer aircraft for their demonstration team, rather than operational aircraft like the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that the “traditional Russian soda” is called kvas, and that it’s readily available in public places. This is one of the many water-buffalos I saw filled with the fermented rye bread water (no, it's not carbonated). The line of people standing between the kvas tank and the Coca-Cola umbrella were all waiting for kvas.

Even though it was an “air show,” the Russians had this missile launcher on display. I suppose it was there to show that the Russians have the capability to launch missiles into the air against enemy aircraft. I didn’t see a sign indicating what type of launcher it was, but I imagine it was a relatively premier launcher.

Russian women are something else. I couldn’t believe how many women I saw walking around the air show wearing heels. And not just any heels, but high heels! And not just visitors, but also the female reporters who I worked with, the female police officers (who also wore super-mini-skirts as part of their uniforms!) and the females who worked with the aircraft! These two women simply stunned me -- I’m used to seeing women in jumpsuits like these ready to get dirty with a huge toolkit beside them. The heels seemed so out of place -- and not very functional!

At the end of the day, police officers on horseback rode between the displays as the crowds began to disperse.

Another thing that was unique about the Moscow Air Show, compared to the other international air shows, was the amount of trash littering the ground. We tried to keep the U.S. corral clean, but it proved to be a losing battle with the strong winds that were blowing across the flat land, especially when we ran out of trash bags by early afternoon. It was really bad on the three public days when the crowds were so large (during the initial three “trade days” it wasn’t as crowded since that’s when most of the business deals were conducted among industry representatives).

But each morning when we arrived back at the air field, the ground was clean, thanks to army conscripts who policed the area after everyone left. We saw them marching in formation as we left each day, getting ready for their evening tasks.

When we entered and left the airfield, we drove past a boneyard, of sorts, with old and aging aircraft. The Russian officials didn’t like that we took photos of these dilapidated aircraft, but we managed to snap off several photos nonetheless. I’m not an expert on Russian (or former Soviet) aircraft, but I’ve identified these aircraft as best I can.

Above is a Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack (definitely not air show display quality), and at right is a Tupolev Tu-144A.

These are the true “boneyard” photos: including a collection of aged fighters such as the Sukhoi Su-27 at left and the Sukhoi Su-28 below right.



A green and brown Sukhoi Su-25, among others.

A blue-patterned Sukhoi Su-34 and a green MiG-21.

A group of additional fighters bid us farewell as we left each day.

If you want to see more of the aircraft that were on display at the air show, check out this web site: airliners.net.

Labels: Russia, Travel