VFR flight to St Petersburg - sensible or not?

[walkabout]

Hi,

I'm planning a trip to Scandanavia next summer and thought it would be interesting to fly in to St Petersburg from say Stockholm for a 2 day stay. I've already spoken to the Russian Consulate who've told me how to go about getting permission for the flight, which seems to be a lengthy but fairly straighforward process.

Since then however, I've been wondering about the sense of doing this, in particular the potential security problems and dealing with handling and return flight planning issues whilst on the ground.

Is there anyone out there who flies in to Russia regularly, who can give me some idea of what to expect in relation to a 'western european' experience and what they think of the idea.

Thanks.

W

[cortilla]

Not sure i remeber this correctly, but are'nt all altitudes in russia quoted in metres rather than feet. Might be useful to carry some kind of alternate altimeter which is calibrated in metres.

[Robboflyer]

I think you'll find you need a Russian translator. We flew around the Baltic last summer (see this month's edition of "Pilot") and considered St Petersburg but were put off by the translator requirement.

[S-Works]

most things in flying are not sensible. Sometimes you just have to go for it!

[Whirlybird]

I've never flown TO Russia, but I have spent ten days flying while I was there. And I think the most useful thing I can do is quote one of my companions, who'd flown in Russia several times: "Nothing in Russia ever happens as you expect, but it always turns out OK in the end". If it were me, I'd somehow make sure I had, not just an interpreter, but a native Russian who understood how things work over there, on my side. My memories are that there's loads of red tape, but that someone who understands it can just cut through it all and work miracles. We had a contact in Moscow who did that for us, and if you could find one in St Petersburg...

Other than that, I don't really know, but hopefully you'll get someone who knows more posting on here eventually.

[IO540]

One man to ask is Simon Oliphant-Hope of Eastern Atlantic Helicopters at Shoreham who flew across Russia in a turbine heli on his around the world record breaking trip. In his article he said it cost him £60k to get transit permits.

[J.A.F.O.]

Can't offer any advice but I am with Bose-X on this one.

Imagine gathering your grandchildren around and saying "Well, children, long, long before you were born your Grandfather was quite sensible."

Doesn't make the best story, does it?

[jezbowman]

Global Positioning System?

Russia is a knightmare. I was there in September, flew into Moscow with BA then took the Trans-Siberian across to Irkutsk then down to Ulaanbataar. I had with me my handheld GPS. I had no problems taking it INTO Russia. Fun started at the Russian Mongolian border when we filled in the customs declaration. As a "High Frequency Radio Reciever" it had to be declared. The customs lady initially just smiled and said "GPS?" to which I said "yes". She then said "Can I see your permit?". "My what?".

Basically before you go to Russia you have to apply to the Russian Consulate for permission to take GPS equipment into the country. It has to be an approved device, if it is then you get the permit. At your point of entry, you declare the device and show the permit. Then at exit, you have to show the permit and original customs declaration again and prove you are removing the device from the country.

In short I was lucky - I could have had the unit confiscated, been fined several thousand pounds and even imprisoned! I was let off with a reminder not to take GPS next time!

My point being - if the aircraft has a GPS on board then be prepaired to obtain permits and declare at customs!

[helicopter-redeye]

Say its a COMM, (or an EFIS)??

Would they know?

[jezbowman]

Good question. I'm guessing that there may be some exceptions for aircraft navigation equipment since, technically, you're not importing the equipment, it will just stand airside at the airport. Hence no customs, etc.

On the FAA website there is an interesting VFR guide for pilots considering the hop across the Bering Strait. Amongst other items it talks of a form 'N' which is the flight permission form. I would guess this is Russian protocol and that or a similar form would be required for your flight - but having already spoken to the consulate you may already know that!

http://www.alaska.faa.gov/flt_std/FL...Guide_Page.cfm

Good luck!

[walkabout]

Thanks for the all of the replies.

IO540, I called Simon Oliphant-Hope who wasn't around so I spoke to Jamie, the guy who did all of the flight planning for his trip and was very helpful. They were IFR so he wasn't certain exactly how VFR worked there but thought that it still involved IFR clearances (your routing is security led), so would require an IR which I don't have yet. He also confirmed the high charges - over $1K landing and handling charges for an overnight stay in St Petersburg! And they had to have an official translator (so it looks like you can't just take some nice Russian student you've met in a bar in London!), who acted as navigator and did the R/T although the requirement again seems to be for security reasons.

So I think as Robboflyer discovered for a 1/2 day trip it's a lot of work but probably worth a longer trip at some point.

Thanks again everyone for the help.

[RodgerF]

Small point, especially with regard to all the other issues raised in this thread. Last time I looked AFAIR there is no Avgas in St Petersburgh. Helsinki looked the closest place to plan to get back to.