Good for you ea200 Khorog it is. Have a short ride in a fast machine:


Open House!

Great video indeed. Are we allowed to ask what is the Pam Ayres connection? :)

Can you post the unclipped Polikarpov picture?

I found this one on aviadejavu
dated 1928.
Also on alamy

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0fe4348d6.jpeg

A similar environment but more recent

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....337afe1d01.jpg

Are we in Asia?

Are we in Arabia - possibly Oman?

Yes, we are in Asia, not Arabia

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2aead3fe1b.jpg

More clues needed I see...
On approach
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e1109f2331.jpg

Afghanistan?

Flying on behalf of The United Nations?

that desert type is fairly distinctive - it sort of reminds me of bits of Outer Mongolia

I'll try Sheberghan - Afghanistan?

Hi all.. I'm on the other side of the world from most of you right now, so the 24 hour rule is helpful. I just woke up, poured my first cuppa, and most of you are probably heading off to bed - or have already done so.

Well done O Ops! -- Sheberghan it is! I thought it would take longer as there are / were many similar places in Afghanistan (the pix are from 2007) but noting the terrain (slopes on the edge of a desert) likely helped a lot. Here is another view on arrival. We always had to verify (quickly and accurately, both before and after landing) whether the greeting party were "ours" or "theirs".

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7f13896401.jpg

Take it away O Ops!

Thank you Grizzled. Your visits to this airfield in the nature of little bit of discreet diplomacy perhaps? India Two Four thanks for pointing me in the right direction....

Open House.

Yes, discreet is the right word -- and always a logistical quagmire...
As you say, India Four Two sighted you in, and interestingly, Asturias comment was right on as well: when I was sorting some of my photos, I found some that I thought were from Afghanistan but they were actually Mongolia!

What could you do, if it were "theirs"?

That's why I said "both before and after landing". This is certainly not the place for discussing how one ascertains / confirms that the people on the ground waiting are the people you were expecting, but, as people who have operated in certain environments could confirm, there are ways to do so. If, for whatever reason those waiting turn out to be other than those you were expecting, and "antagonistic" (for want of a better word), the situation could well deteriorate quickly. What you could / would do at that point would depend very much on the specific situation and your (or your organisation's) protocols. Nuff said on that.

'Tis Open House!

This is one that wasn't around for very long but has associations with a famous flyer or two -- the straight road runs right through the site as far as I can tell

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ef921fdcf1.jpg

These brave lads operated out of there for a while

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....36857e68bf.jpg

Is the Officer, middle front a member of The Imperial Russian Air Service ?