Flying in Russia

[Jinkster]

Does anyone know anything about flying in Russia (preferably Moscow area?)

Info required on Licensing, does anyone have a web address for the russian CAA or email as my Russian is limited....

Jinkster :)

[acuba 290]

GA is very problematic. Moscow i think mostly prohibited for GA anyway.For example to land in Pulkovo, Sankt Petersburg you'll pay about 350$, but there is no 100LL AVGAS there:). For Moscow, you can try to contact 2nd Moscow Airclub, maybe they can tell situation
[email protected] (http://www.pprune.org/forums/[email protected])

[IO540]

Is an interpreter still required to be carried if VFR, but not if IFR?

[Jinkster]

I have contacted AOPA(Russia) but no reply as yet....

I understand there is restricted airspace around the Moscow city centre area - probably due to terrorism!

:hmm:

[Whirlybird]

jinkster,

I did some flying in Russia a few years ago, at Stupino Airfield, about 100 kms from Moscow. Ask me about it next time you see me at Sheffield.

[effortless]

I have contacted AOPA(Russia) but no reply as yet....
I understand there is restricted airspace around the Moscow city centre area - probably due to terrorism!
:hmm:

It is a legacy from the cold war. Moscow was the most defended city in the world bar none. Maggie loved their "Galosh" defence system. Gorby thought she meant condoms which were very thick in Russia then.

Mind you, Mathius Rust shook em up with his Cessna.

[Jinkster]

Ahh will do Whirls!!!!!

:ok:

[acuba 290]

Mathius Rust shook em up with his Cessna.

i think they invited Rust;) Who knows whats happend to him at the moment? Does he alive actually?:)

[Whirlybird]

Ah, found it. Here's the link to my old thread about flying in Russia. http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=67737&highlight=Russia

[Ultranomad]

Jinkster, as a person who spends some 5 months a year in Russia (and there right now), I guess I have the freshest info :-).
As to licensing - it's officially quite bad, your license will not be validated or converted; so, you will either have to fly with an instructor, or pass the full set of licensing exams (your current flying hours *will* be recognized); Still worse, the Air Code of Russian Federation currently prohibits non-citizens to be PIC. This prohibition, however, will be repealed very soon, within months.
On the other hand, flying clubs with their own airfields are often very willing to bend the regulations rather far beyond the usual minor things.
Don't even try to write to Russian CAA - in the best case, you will not get an answer for several months if at all, in the worst one, this may attract additional attention of the authorities.
As to what aircraft you can expect to fly at a flying club - the most ubiquitous are Yak-18T (4 seats, yoke, semi-aerobatic, retractable gear, variable pitch, 360 hp) and Yak-52 (2 seats in tandem, stick, aerobatic, retractable gear, variable pitch, 360 hp, very similar to T-34) and various locally produced uncertified aircraft; in principle you could also get your hands on such types as Cessna 150, Cessna 172, Tecnam Golf, Diamond Katana, Mi-2 (turbine-powered light helicopter), I-3 (advanced aerobatic, 2 seats) or even An-2 (a 10-seat biplane yet still within the limits of SEP/ASEL license), L-410 (a Czech small regional turboprop), or Yak-40 (a 1970's regional jet) - yes, at a flying club! However, expect to pay a lot, especially around Moscow. In fact, flying clubs of the Moscow region are on the average 50% more expensive than elsewhere. Personally, I am in St. Petersburg and will be glad to get you in contact with local flying clubs - from a "guerilla" club in the middle of a forest to one at an airport with ATC.

acuba 290, no, Pulkovo is not as expensive as you think. Right now, light aircraft can land there for 500 rubles (some US$18.50, or less than 15 euros). 100LL is much easier to get than it used to be, but the prices are outrageous (60 rubles per liter, almost 2 euros); however, Soviet/Russian-made planes fly well enough on mogas, which is 3 times cheaper.