He also said the stewardesses were ugly as sin, with thighs as thick as tree trunks.
Some years ago I was involved in the Gorbachev / Thatcher meeting at RAF Brize Norton as one of the aircrew assisting the 4 x Il62 crews. My colleague and I looked after the first aircraft; once the 40-odd KGB security team had been taken to the Gateway Gulag for a meal, we were invited on board...
Yes, rather quaint wood fittings, but superbly warm. Then a rather stern senior flight attendant, bearing a remarkable resemblance to Rosa Klebb, asked whether we'd like coffee. "Yes, please, that would be really nice", we answered - whereupon she turned into everyone's favourite prep school matron, chuckled happily and went to sort it out. A minute or so later a bevy of absolutely gorgeous young ladies appeared with coffee and Russian chocolates, serving us with girlish giggles.
It was a very interesting day; when the catering turned up from Heathrow, it included 2 huge polythene bags with greenery inside. "Perhaps they really do eat cabbage sandwiches", I thought. But it turned out to be 5kg of parsley - someone had got the decimal place wrong as they'd only ordered 500g for garnish!
All were very friendly, although the rather obvious aircraft security chap sitting in the corner in his track suit looked like he wouldn't stand any nonsense. When the USAF navigator (required by the Americans for flying to Washington, their next leg) turned up, there were some appreciative sounds from the flight deck as she was a very attractive young lady who fitted her uniform very nicely indeed. "Surely you have female aircrew in the USSR?", I asked my 'Aeroflot' host. "Da - we do. But not like her!", he smiled.