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Cessnas to Russia with Love

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tarp

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Posts
539
At a nearby FBO, they are quietly disassembling a C-150 and an older Skyhawk (I'd say a C-172 K model and about a 1960's era C-150). Going into a Container for shipment to Russia. Some guy (rumor mill only info) paid $50K for the pair, had an annual inspection done, painted over the US markings and is paying the shipping cost from Baltimore. Gonna be in a flight school in Russia. They were VFR planes with Cessna ARC radios.

I had mixed feelings - having my intro flights in a venerable C-150 with 40 degrees of barn doors for flaps, I'm kind of hurt to see another of our number disappear. I've watched a few planes at our field get totalled and this pair makes the fifth and sixth planes that I've seen disappear to a foreign land. I saw two almost brand new C-172's go to Brazil. Saw a nice C-310 go to Argentina (but in some kind of exchange program, the pilot brought a twin Comanche home - just joking the commercial pilot did fly airplanes both ways for two different customers). Then a guy who got his rating at our field, purchased a C-182 and took it to Germany.

The other part of me says good. Free market economics at its best. Every plane taken from our market raises the value of all the other planes left and creates a void for new ones to be built.

So how do you all feel? Sad or glad?

There was one other ominous part to the rumor grist at the airport - one of our number warned that this was just the beginning - that the Russians are now in a position to offer "international" flight training since non-US citizens are going to have such a hard time in this country. First they offered fighter jet rides, then round trips to outer space and now they'll accept cold, hard cash in lieu of an INS passport check??? Do you think the government needs to stop this like computers going to Iraq? And is this a security issue or an economic one? Do we have to create a Florida & Arizona economic incentive program since we may lose all our foreign flight training in those states to Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic?

Just thinking out loud......
 
You do know the cold war has been over for some time now?


I think it's a good idea, America is a huge supplier of small GA aircraft. We all have trained on a Cessna at one time and know how great they are.
 
Russian Cessnas

I have mixed feelings, notwithstanding the end of the cold war. Did I see where some American companies are flying Antonov transports? The Russians are flying U.S.-made equipment, e.g. B-777s. Check this link: www.aeroflot.com/about/b777.shtml

On the other hand, don't forget that the Soviets impounded the B-29s that landed there at the end of World War II and cloned them into TU-4s. In so doing, the Soviets got themselves an immediate ten-year technology upgrade. For what it's worth, it makes you wonder if they will clone those Cessnas.
 
Recently USA handed over a huge aviation market to AUSTRALIA and any other country worldwide,losing money jobs and control over who flys and where. The bad guys could fly in RUSSIA or elsewhere.Anyone with cash can buy a cessna or other ga planes worldwide.Block that and the french will sell more TOBAGOS ,the czechs and others will be more than happy to sell planes.You gave up your flight schools ,tourism etc. without a fight,all you need is to shut down cessna,piper, mooney, lancair and a few others...
 
Don't worry, they will just make more planes! What about the Russians who see Yaks going to USA? My thoughts would be probably more Yaks come to USA than Cessnas go to Russia.

I would be more worried about the Europe sending more planes to USA than old Cessna's leaving the good old USA. European aircraft manufacturers are designing new composite airplanes with the new diesel engines from Germany, such as SMA, that run on either Jet-A or diesel with great GPH. Don't hear anything from Cessna or Piper coming up with new designs of aircraft with composite parts and diesel powered. Diamond has a new design called the DA42 Twinstar that looks pretty impressive. Take a look. http://www.diamondair.com/contentc/twinstar.htm

Cessna and Piper need to get the ball rolling to get with the times.:)
 
don't you think its good for the economy if someone is paying 50,000 $ for beat up cessna 150's ;)
:D :D
 
I don't get it tarp.

Why do you care? I am sure it is just some mom and pop FBO teaching Russian kids to fly. I can't see anyone from the US going to Russsia for basic flight training with all the schools here in the US. Plus, would the training even be recognized by the FAA. No.

We drive use cars, electronics, appliances clothes etc that are not made here in the US, and people from other countries buy our products. It's just plain ol' economy, free trade and desire.

Hell, it might be an American owner living in Russia and hitting a market that is probably few and far between instead of the saturated market of flight instruction here in the USA.

Did you get sad when a McDonalds popped up in Russia?

In this market I can promise you the owner that sold the planes didn't care who what or where the planes were going to.


Now, if you are just sad to see a plane go that you soloed in or flew, I can understand the emotional connection one could have with an old plane.
 
About the only thing that would be awesome to fly in Russia is a Mig 29...I wish I had the 15k to spend.
 
Re: Russian Cessnas

bobbysamd said:
On the other hand, don't forget that the Soviets impounded the B-29s that landed there at the end of World War II and cloned them into TU-4s. In so doing, the Soviets got themselves an immediate ten-year technology upgrade. For what it's worth, it makes you wonder if they will clone those Cessnas.


Yikes! 150's?...the russkies would then be able to leap all the way to 1960's technology! ;) We might end up with a 'magneto gap'! <-----Gotta be old or a history channel watcher to get that one....

Chunk
 

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