Tips for Moscow, Almaty, etc

[JohnnyP]

Gentlemen,

Have an upcoming trip to Moscow-Almaty-Moldova. Probably a few nights in each place.

Never have flown in that area----Any guys that have been there have any tips, etc? (mainly on the flying side of things)

Will be using Universal for filing, handling, etc.

Thanks

 

[X man]

moscow, Almaty

Hay Gringo

Flew to both spots in 95, corporate VIP stuff. Moscow I am sure is updated, more modern, they use meters instead of feet, so have a conversion available, and Russian controlers in the old days were a bit on the cowboy side.

Almaty is beautiful, stay at the Moen Pick hotel, it was brand new in those days. Large mountains immediately to the east, plains to the west, one runway, a bit rough like most of the runways in that region. Pretty girls, okay food, would be nice time of the year, maybe a bit on the warm side. The locals use wood and coal to heat their homes, so you can get low visability in the mornings from chiminey and wood burner smoke, believe it or not.

Wish I was going with you. I do not believe they have added a runway at
almaty, but who knows.

X man

 

[Thedude]

Hay Gringo

Almaty is beautiful, stay at the Moen Pick hotel, it was brand new in those days.

Never heard of that hotel in ALA. There are currently on 2 western style hotels in ALA, the Intercontinental and the Hyatt. The Interconetenal has a pretty good breakfast and the rooms and beds are nicer than the Hyatt. A Regency is supposed to open sometime next year. We use the Tien Shan Grand Hotel as an alternate hotel but they haven got it together on running a hotel yet and I think part of it might still be under renovation even though it just re-opened in Oct. Eating in any of the hotels is very expensive and beer starts at $7. One popular hang-out is SoHo. The food is pretty good and reasonably priced and have live bands every night and not to mention all of the good looking girls that frequent the place. Just don't be like some of the Fed-Ex a-holes and be rude to everyone just 'caue your a pilot. Seen it happen, one guy almost got his ass whooped by a local but then again he deserved it.

 

[Bus Driver]

Johnny P,

I can’t help you with Moscow or Moldova, but it sounds like a fun trip.

The weather in Al-maty has been perfect all summer and the city itself is beautiful. I’ll agree with The Dude that The Intercontinental is slightly
better than the Hyatt. The runway is 13000’+ and a little rough, but not bad. All the taxiways are closed but #1 at the approach end of 5, and there is a turnaround at the end of 5. Read the NOTAM’s, they will close the airport for VIP traffic. The GS works about half the time, and if I remember correctly, a LOC only approach is not authorized. So brief the VOR approach also. They will not clear you for the approach until you report established.
Kazakhstan uses the Russian metric flight levels on the EA High Chart.

A couple of things might be a little different for you:
“Line up and take off” for “Cleared for takeoff”
“Descend to 4000 meters on normal” means 4000 meters on QNE
The standard approach is a QFE approach. On the approach plate you will see 2 altitudes below the transition level, I think they are 400 and 800 meters, if you are given either of these altitudes request a QNH approach. One of the major rules of aviation is “never descend below field elevation.

I hope this helps and let us know when you’ll be there.

Bus

 

[mushroom]

The controllers in Almaty actually speak English very well, though accented. All you have to do is ask for the QNH and you can fly a regular approach. It has been my experience that they ALWAYS keep you high for the approach (when approaching from the China side of things) and getting down and being on speed is a struggle, at least in a 747. Not sure what kind of plane you are flying or how well it can plummet on demand, but it might be advantageous to ask for lower any time you can. They will give it to you almost all the time as long as you have the terrain clearance.

Speaking of terrain, of course, just be mindful of the Tien Shan mountains to the south and east of town. Flying towards 20,000 foot peaks close to town is not my idea of fun.

On the positive side, mountain-wise, you might want to rent a car and driver for the day while you are there (not too expensive) and drive up to the Chimbulak ski area in the hills. HUGE Olympic-sized outdoor ice rink (Medeu), scenery, hiking, etc. Alternatively, you can stay in town and take the little cable car up to the area by the big T.V. tower (Koktobe). A nice view and there is some stuff you can walk around and see there. Also, if you are looking for souvenirs, etc., find the Barakholka market. You can get things cheap there. There's also a huge green market where you can get everything edible...if you are a fan of horse sausage, that's your place.

Overall, I like Almaty a lot. The people there seem very friendly, many of them speak English, the food is good (just gotta be adventurous and know where to look for it), the city itself is quite green and park-like. Though it does seem a bit deserted since the capital moved to Astana. You kind of walk around thinking that everyone is out of town on vacation or something. Have fun.

 

[mxflyer]

russia

Gentlemen,

Have an upcoming trip to Moscow-Almaty-Moldova. Probably a few nights in each place.

Never have flown in that area----Any guys that have been there have any tips, etc? (mainly on the flying side of things)

Will be using Universal for filing, handling, etc.

Thanks

Cleared for a visual does not mean to desend...only align with runway

 

[JohnnyP]

Cleared for a visual does not mean to desend...only align with runway

Really?...Well this will be an interesting trip then!.....Leaving tomorrow morning, Moldova 1st, then Moscow for a few nights, then a town in Kazahstan (not Almaty this time).

 

[Thedude]

Cleared for a visual does not mean to desend...only align with runway

Never, ever , ever heard cleared for the vis outside the US

 

[GVFlyer]

I've been into most of Moscow airports: Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky. It's generally pretty easy, but you may not get the handling you expect. For instance, the last time I went into UUEE, I was sent out on a vector away from the airport and on that heading, pointed away from the airport, I was cleared for the ILS approach. On final I was given some kind of unrequested PAR guidance.

Bone up on flying meters and QFE. Insure that your EGPWS is updated for the airports you're flying into.

Remember when you're flying the ILS 05 at Almaty, that like Jackson Hole, you are pointed directly at a mountain until you turn final. I have received false localizer signals so I generally rely on the FMS's GPS sensors to get me on the right final.

Moldova has a lot of airports and you didn't specify which one, but I bet you can see them all at night from the glow of Chernobyl next door in the Ukraine.

Be careful out there.


GV

 

[falconpilot]

Ive been to Moscow recently... You will never here cleared for the visual...

Use the Jeppesen cheat sheet for meters to feet. If the sheet doesn't go high enough the conversion is 1 meter = 3.2808 feet..

Ask for QNH they will give it to you, but you have to ask.. Depending on your aircraft you might have the handy dandy button the changes things to meters on your altimeter..

If you do not have that function. I suggest setting both altimeters to QFE and use the cheet sheet or the conversion I listed above. I found it to be less hassle. I would just look at the sheet and round to the closet hundred and put that in the ASEL. The language barrier isn't really a problem in Moscow. Ferras does a good job handling your pax and the crew. Moscow is very expensive, but its neat to see.. Enjoy..