View Full Version : English cokcpit in russian planes
Tu154lover
26th Feb 2009, 18:03
Hello!
I wonder if an airline like Cubana or another non-russian speaking country would buy a used Tu-204/214 from a russian airline, is it possible to "convert" the plane to an english language cockpit? And I also wonder what the non russian custumers do with the Tu-154 with the language? Or is the Tu-154M available with an english language cockpit? And if yes, which airlines use it?
Thanks!
//Daniel
Rainboe
26th Feb 2009, 19:12
Very expensive to change all the decals, instruments, sustems and manuals to a different language. Cubana operated IL62s, IL86, Il 14(?)(- the Britannia lookalike). Easier to get the crews to learn Russian and operate it like the Russians do.
Golf Charlie Charlie
26th Feb 2009, 20:00
Actually Cubana also operated the real Britannia.
Tu154lover
26th Feb 2009, 20:31
Ok, but if you put english decals in the cockpit? Wouldn´t that be a little bit cheaper?
Rainboe
26th Feb 2009, 21:18
What about the Cyrillic writing on the instruments? All the manuals? Then the Russians get very secretive about some of the systems and won't let you know how they work. When we used to fly across Russia in the 80s, we couldn't get any en route diversion weather. They wouldn't let us know, presumably in case we radioed it home, and the RAF and USAF could then presumably launch surprise attacks and know the weather was OK at the target! A bit neurotic all around! What we were told was 'if you have a problem and have to land urgently, we will get you down and tell you where to go, but no, you may NOT have the Novosibirsk weather!'.
They also used to let us know 'we were being watched all the time'. In those days, all there was to navigate by was inaccuratye NDBs all across Russia (no accurate VOR radio stations), and our INS units on the 747 that used to start getting increasingly inaccurate when they couldn't update themselves due to the shortage of VORs. So halfway across Siberia, middle of nowhere, middle of the night, the controller would say 'you are 500 metres left of track- regain course immediately, or we will shoot you down!'. They didn't actually say the last bit, but it was inferred anyway!
The world is a bit different now, but sometimes it seems not.
What was the question again?
Clandestino
26th Feb 2009, 22:54
Aviogenex on Tu-134 and Air Bosna on Jak-42 used Russian labels, Russian manuals and Russian callouts. I'm not sure if it was the worldwide standard, though.
You would have thought, wouldn't you, that there might exist a Lingua Franca in this business like traffic signs and such. Can't imagine the Caravelle having a French cockpit or Dornier's a German one.
As regards Cubana they used a lot of Russian pilots anyway who would have coached the Cuban crews so the issue was probably never an issue.
However to stop bun fights I say adpt Esperanto as the nuetral cockpit & ATC language.
Besides I have a good mind to start a thread in Esperanto just to wind-up the moderator. :E
Rainboe
27th Feb 2009, 13:44
There's an even better language to use that almost everybody in aviation already speaks (to a degree), and is used in all movies and TV we already go and see! It's called English, and it works better than everybody going over to a daft 'invented' language that is spoken by nobody at the moment! Why don't we go over to Latin (if not English) instead of this weirdo Esperanto that absolutely nobody except a few diehards want?