Russian Pilots

[Typhoon1244]

Uh...why are they both holding the yoke? (Guess they do things differently over there..."make a wish!")

Tu-154 cockpit

 

[T-Gates]

Okay.....my life has reached a new level of sadness....

Not 10 minutes ago, I was looking at the SAME picture, thinking the SAME thing.....

--03M

 

[Gulfstream 200]

they do things UNBELIEVEABLY diffrent.

I have ridden as an "observer" on a TU-154 (or a 145?) charter flight. there was 4 guys running the show - lots of yelling. The "capt" did the yoke, the right seater did the thrust - right through landing. The other 2 guys did radios and charts....and smoked...a lot.

plain a$$ scary. never ever again. never.

they operate with ancient equipment, a harsh enviornment, no operating money, and very large pride.

A freightening combination.

 

[bobbysamd]

Russian flight staffing

I understand that on some Russian equipment there are up to five people up front. Captain, FO, FE, navigator, and radio operator.

That may remind some people of the times when United had three people up front in 737s.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

it's probably still more fun to fly than the FMS equipped RJs on a mid-western route

 

[Skaz]

boys boys boys, come over to this neck of the woods and see what the ruskies get up too.

un-f*ck!ng-believable ,

watched a russian turboprop, a HUGE one, dont know the designation, take - off at Ondangwa in northern Namibia a while back

it smoked so much it looked like a diesel locomotive, used up the ENTIRE runway and then followed a flightpath like a HF radiowave being diffracted by the earths surface .... i.e. it disappeared from view, but kept thundering on

at last we saw it starting to climb out, but not close, at least 3 to 4 miles away

my fiance has had the unenviable pleasure of flying on Aeroflot once, they chained the doors shut !

 

[Typhoon1244]

...a russian turboprop...it smoked so much it looked like a diesel locomotive...

Saw one blast off right here in DFW a while back. (What the heck was an An-12...Russia's answer to the C-130...doing in Texas, anyway?) You're right about the smoke! They had to stop departures on 17R for a couple minutes while the RVR came up!

Then I got thinking about the early Sixties...lots of first-generation 707's, DC-8's, and 727's running around, all with black smoke coming out the tubes. Jeez!

 

[TurboS7]

When I think of Russian I think of HUGE. I saw the Large Russian AN-254 or whatever it is in BGR. Last week to the day I entertained myself watching this huge Russian helicoptor in Crete doing fire supressant. The blades were bending so much I thought they were going to break.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Hey, I've got another question: what the heck is that instrument to the left of the captain's thumb? Looks like it has a LCD of some kind...

 

[Gulfstream 200]

this picture is of a VERY modern TU145. The ones I have seen had none of those "fancy" gauges.

it is truly unbeliveable until you see it. then it is freakin' scary.

I did get a tour of on eof those monster AN-??? cargo jobs once in Germany. You could fit 10-15 people in the "cockpit" room. monsterous.

 

[350DRIVER]

Last trip into CYYZ I got bored so I headed over to the Intl. terminal and just "observed" for a few minutes and couldn't help but notice how the PIA crews stood out. Anyone know much or anything about the way this airline operates.?? The captain and FE ( I think it was an fe) had a pretty long baird. I would assume this was due to religious beliefs but how could they get a tight seal around with the oxygen mask on in the unlikely event of loss of cabin pressurization and having to put the mask on.? Anyone ever flew on them or any experiences with these guys.?? I can't say that I have seen anything quite like this although a few of the FA's were cuties. - I wonder how well they are paid by the govt. It seemed like a pretty old crew...

Maybee they are sharp, I guess I shouldn't make "assumptions" since I have never flown on them

3 5 0

 

[Snakum]

Third-hand fuel to the fire ...

After my stint with Uncle Sam's Hunt Club I did a contract in Central America training a National Guard/Militia unit in American small arms and small unit tactics. One of the old pros did a few tours in Africa in the 70s and 80s and he said the Russian and East German CAS jocks often started loading up on Vodka and Schnaps very early in the morning. He said he's seen them bomb and strafe their own troops, CFIT in severe clear VFR, and do a hi-speed taxi straight into other aircraft. By his estimation the Eastern European pilots killed more of their own than the rag-tag rebel du jour armies.

I don't know how this reflects on the professionalism and skill of todays Russian civil transport pilots ... but most likely they are all ex-mil and may have even been trained by the very pilots my supervisor was talking about.

Scary ...

Minh