TU-154
 

Hey i just want to know a bit more about this plane____, can any pilot give more info? I like to go to the manchester AVP on mondays to see the Belavia that flies in.

What is its safety record?

NB: A bit of editing to calm the animals.

The only experience that I have of being on a TU-154 was a bad one. It was substituted in for our Air 2000 757 (Yes, it was a few years ago) and had the feel that it was held together with sticky tape! Add to that the surprise of steam of some sort coming down from the roof panels during flight and you can begin to imagine what most people were thinking.

But hey, it got us there safely which is what a lot of these things do all over the world every day.

I think you will find that the only 154's allowed into the UK now are the M series as the older variants were not Stage111/Chapter 111. I always suspected that one or two of the operators of the older models would just add an "M" sticker on the side of the TU-154 sign and keep flying them in and hope we wouldn't notice;) (After all tracking down all the varying registrations of the CIS states is tricky as airlines came & went)
If you want to see some fine examples visit somewhere like Sharjah in the UAE, but take some ear defenders. They make a great whistling sound on start up - somewhat akin to the DC-8.

Callum, trick to do is to look through this TU154 accident list, eliminate hull losses due to environment (weather related, terrorism, accidental shoot downs, etc) or pilot error and see what you have left that can be levelled against the aircraft itself. Then do the same for any western type designed at the same time (you will not go far wrong I suspect with the B727) and see what you have. It is a crude methodology and yet hopefully allows an objective view of the TU154 safety record. Point is, the TU154 was designed for crude USSR airfields and must be an incredibly tough design even if, as The Steed describes, the interiors are, shall we say, less than inspiring.

Recent PPRuNe discussion here.

The Steed, have also experienced the 'steam' effect you describe, most memorably while boarding a Sibir TU154 (I believe the actual aircraft destroyed by a suicide bomber a month later :eek:) at DME one hot humid Moscow summers day. Air con was obviously working overtime and stepping into the cabin from the steps was like walking into a wall of fog. It was impressive how each vent was kicking out a little cloud. Presumably the humidity control on the air con is crude or hard to adjust.

cabin pressure was also a problem on 1 flight on a Balkan Tu154 - left me deaf for a couple of days

Flown in them a few times, in each case the abiding memory was of a painfully slow rate of climb.

Funny you should mention that Paulc.
The caterers caught door 1R on a Balkan 154 one day where I worked.
I asked an engineer who looked after MD-80'sto take a look and the Balkan F/E made some temp repairs with a lump hammer or similar.
The captain asked to use his radio equip (L/F ?) to call Sofia for advice.

Thought he would depart low level and burn the fuel or tech stop, but no - having checked with ATC he kept his original plan and went back at 37,0.

I had a bad feeling I would be hearing something on the news on TV that night.

Rugged planes!
Even heard of one being flown with just two engines - no pax.

Amazing gear retract systems on them, and the ability to reverse thrust whilst still above the runway is pretty interesting.

I'd trust the 154 a lot more than the less solid looking 134.

Trident could (and did) do that.

I remember reading about a Brit who was on board a 154 in Ulan Bator or somesuch end of the earth place, waiting to depart when a guy, dressed in overalls, walked up and down the cabin clutching a large, greasy piece of equipment.
A few minutes later the captain announced over the PA that the equipment that had just been paraded throught the cabin was necessary for the onward flight and if the pax wished to continue the journey, they should consider stumping up about $100 each to buy it!
Here's a pic of the thrust reversers deployed before the wheels are fully in contact with the runway
http://www.pbase.com/glenns/image/55158289.jpg

The "steam" in the cabin is condensation from the dry cold air pumped out by the cabin environmental system I should think.

Last saw it when boarding an L1011 at a hot steamy mid-Atlantic airfield, and also (and more markedly) in a Tu134 many years ago.

Here's another one:-

http://paulcoulthread.fotopic.net/p43892584.html

although I think, in this case, it might be the registration that would put me off!
Dusseldorf, September 20th, 2005 and one of the best-sounding airliners you would ever hear!

Was the 154 actually certified to use reverse thrust while airborne like the Trident was?

Since this *is* the Spotters' forum, I should point out that a side-view of the rear of the fuselage (jetpipe of the no.2 engine) is a recognition point for distinguishing the 'M - it has a straight, vertical face, whereas the older versions had a 'scalloped' look.

Plenty of both the 'M and 'B-2 variants still active in the Moscow area!

Rhys.

hey everyone thanks for the replies and interesting stories. The fact that the 154 can use reverse thrust before touchdown is strange, wouldnt it lower the final approach speed and make the landing bumpy?

Wonderful pictures but I am afraid it's a commercial site and, therefore, not allowed on PPRuNe. Sorry.

Thread creep:
 

I experienced said "steam" in a Cubana An-24.

It was almost thick enough to hide the cockroaches - I kid you not...

Unfortunately, I've never yet had the opportunity to fly on a 154 (or indeed any Russian type); my abiding memory of the type goes back to the mid 1980s, when most of the old "Eastern Bloc" airlines, like Malev, CSA, LOT etc, were still flying them to LHR. I recall seeing one Malev aircraft come in ... it was like watching something come out of a time warp, in that you saw a cloud of black smoke first, out of which emerged the unmistakable shape (drooping wings) of the 154. It was a great sight - and how I loved those six wheel main gears.

Time is running out, of course; what's the name of that crowd that does the North Korean tours again?!! ...

Once had the 'delightful' experience of a Balkan Bulgarian Tu154 LGW-Plovdiv back in the late eighties for a ski holiday.

The mirror in one of the toilets was wedged with a folded up sick-bag to stop it rattling (empty sick-bag, I hasten to add). A split in the off-white fabric in the cabin ceiling was covered with an Elastoplast, and the carpet between the seats was one long piece of material (my friend in the next seat pulled his legs back after having stretched out, only two find he had about four feet of carpet in his lap).

Best of all was the food - pickled gerkins with everything - and a half-bottle of wine per pax (which we all drank to calm the nerves). Never seen so many missing rivets on an airliner - before or since - but we got there and back, which is more than can be said for many 154s.

Last one I saw in the UK was at MAN a few years ago. Could hear it and see the black smoke trail even before I see the landing lights or the fuselage!

TU154 At Stansted now
 

Hey there,

Funny that I should come onto PPRUNE and read this thread, 5 minutes after a TU154 has just landed at Stansted today at around 1721LT.

Crossing the runway as I write to the posh side of the airport.

Flew in as ERG5105, REG - RA85809.

No idea when its leaving.

Punch:ouch:

I seem to remember hearing about this one last week. Apparently it's bought in a football team for a match, and should leave on Thursday.