Single Engline to Ukraine
Hi Kerosene,
Can't really help you with the VFR to Ukraine but I did make a trip in a Piper Saratoga from EHBK (Maastricht, NL) to UKFF (Simferopol, Ukraine) in 2001.
Back then there was definitely no AVGAS in Ukraine and unlike your Yak18T it won't take MOGAS as it is fuel injected.
We took the route EHBK-LHBP-LRCK, topped up in LRCK (they had to bring the AVGAS from Bucharest by car which was not cheap) and then flew across the Black ses to UKFF.
On the way back we flew UKFF-LRBS and landed with a minimum fuel there; the plan B in case of unfavorable winds would be to land in LRCK and wait a day or two for the fuel.
Then again LRBS-LOWW-EHBK was pretty straightforward.
Once again, I fear that might have been the very first single engine piston flight into UKFF because when we landed they gave us a mini-bus for the crew and a bus for the passengers.
Down to LRBS everything was pretty straightforward, after that we had to obtain an overflight permit by FAX from some coordination center in Kiev and then use the overflight permit number in the remarks section when we filed the IFR flight plan LRBS-UKFF.
If you look at the IFR charts over the Black sea there is no airway below flight level 195 and none of them go straight. We ended up filing for FL 195 and then just told the controller unable to climb FL 195 :-)
Then we asked direct NL (Nikolaevka NDB) and landed happily in UKFF.
I think VFR might be a problem because the Ukrainians are simply do not know how to handle it.
Don't know how things are now but my best bet would be to fly a sort of controlled VFR or perhaps file an IFR flight plan after all.
Like I said this information is quite outdated, but if you have any specific questions, feel free.
OM