The promised time to introduce me an abroad had ended. The pilots from our fastest wide-body aircraft in the world, IL-86, began to lose skills because of lack of work and some of them returned to Tupolev-liners in this 1998 . The navigators from Il-86 were all approved for international flights and also returned, so I was asked to wait again.
I remember that the former co-pilot IL-86, and now the commander of the Tu-134, was Nikolai Nikolaenko. We have established a great relationship with him. We flew always very beautiful and I am proud that over half a year we had never had no misunderstanding! The crew we had was very good: I wrote about Sanka -the man without any nerves, was our co-pilot.The mechanic on-board was Vyacheslav Leonidovich. We have very good relationship!
Once we flew to Nizhnevartovsk in winter and in the night. We flew quickly for 3.5 hours and it began a fog on the approach to Nizhnevartovsk . I considered the fuel, and I was very glad that additional tanks allowed us to wait over the airfield. It was clear that the fog for a long time, but we hopped for a short-term improvement in the visibility, and have the time to land. The governance was with me, and I struggled with sleep, cutting circles over Nizhnevartovsk. The fuel remained for 40 minutes, and swe flew 4 and a half hours on the Tu-134A! I had never flown on the Tu-134 so long And more than 30 minutes had remained !
The same winter we must fly to Surgut and I had to be checked by Sergey, our squadron navigator
I knew Sergei for a long time when I was "taken away" in Moscow, and I had flown there for the next signature. I had the next day off and decided to fly to Leningrad. But from Moscow to Leningrad I could fly with them, who did not know me and through Archangel to Leningrad with our crews.If directly it would spend 1 hour and save as much as 3:00. Serge saved it for me!
A very nice man, Anatoly Budnic came to me in the evening. We had already 8 years familiar in the stock exchange business. We were very tight familiar It was his company helped me in buying an apartment and always helped in financial affairs. Anatoly came to me not alone. The bag of money was with him . The money was too much. The money were new and de Fawlty was not expected. Anatoly wrote me Power of Attorney and paid me for this bag. I had to hand that bag into a waiting armored car, and in the morning he took me to the airport, and waiting for that time as the clearance for cargo was received without problems. I safely with this bag of money reached Surgut and gave it to waiting for us guys at the ramp from the armored personnel carrier. The deed was done, and we had divided the money earned for all from the crew.
Sergey was very surprised, but took the money, but said about the performance of the flight that were not the comments for me and vacancies to fly abroad either. (The elk is too small and not enough for everybodyl!)
Then, a few days later, I was summoned to the commander of the detachment, and announced that since December I begin to enter in abroad, and then that Sergei and told me to not only carried the contraband. Did it matter to the events later, but I thought that his "horizon is mislaid"
My entering did not take place in December, but the entering of Lukin Vitaly Konstantinovich was started in commanders . Entering "1a", as I dubbed it. Vitaly K. flew as a commander Tu-134, and then IL-86 as co-pilot, and again he had to recall flights to Tupolev.
At the entering we were sent to Domodedovo, where we flew 5 days with disgusting winter weather, with fog and snowfall, with multiple failure situations and even thunderstorms in the South! Not only this, so also in the approach in Sochi, the dispatcher did not give us a clear command and I was sure that we gave the way to Tu-154 turned away from the runway/ But the dispatcher had made a mistake and our approach looked like attacking an eagle on its prey.
We strongly believe the dispatcher. But the dispatcher is a man like we are.He can make a mistake also!
I remember, that we approached in Minsk. That was at night, we were given to take of 1,800 meters and I while still a young and inexperienced repeated: "Roger(Understood)to down 1500." The dispatcher is swallowed it and it was well that he said that we had crossed these 1800 (our height is visible on the radar screen). Poor passengers nauseated! After that I had a rule : If there are doubts about a predetermined height in at least one member of the crew asked again the dispatcher!
I also remember that we climbing after take off in Arkhangelsk in a very poor visibility in stratocumulus clouds have almost converged with the AN-26, taken off in Vaskovo. We were given the same height as him. I ask again, but the controller,being in the voltage, could not say anything more than... 40 seconds!
In general, on the back way , I had migraine and I had to eat some pills dipyrone. We flew in the holding pattern near Domodedovo before landing in a gusty wind and snow.
Dima C. came to me and we "flew" again with him a little..
Dima C. was my friend. He started to fly on Ruslan An-124 in the same time I was
decommissioned in 2004.
The white shirts were finished and we flew home.
The entry program "1a" had been successful, and soon we had to check in navigation. Actually, that was more for Vitaly Konstantinovich, but as I was navigator. I suppose that on this check I had to look good.
We flew to Kiev. The weather was winter and shitty. The piercing wind, drifting snow and cold. Shit!
Kiev was another country and we were paid diem .The best way of using them, as you know,it is buying alcoholic products that were in the shops for the crews, more than two times cheaper than in our traditional stores.
I remember that Kiev only became in abroad. The local border guards had been testing Zhivtno-Blokytnuy Pride, suddenly started talking with me in Ukrainian, when I tried to ask them in Russian, where was the store with alcohol.
They were dressed in Soviet-type overcoats , but on the head was wide-brimmed hat, like Dunno had, but only green (Dunno have had the same, but blue).
They did not know English also . We went to the ADP, in the hope that the people there did not forgot Russian.
The weather was windy and snowy, and we went to ADP , being escorted by them. The next gust of the wind, ripped off this hat from one border guard , and he tryed to catch it.At this time, the tractor was moving too quickly and too close to us.The border guard rushed for his hat exactly under the wheels. I catch him I almost pulled a border guard from under the wheels. The Ukranian border guard even Russian language remembered! But he did not tell his main secret about the dislocation of the shop, We found it ourselves!
We had already flew back . Our Sergei was checking us, the same Sergei whose "horizon is mislaid".Sergey had busy work. And I'm flying. We already landed in Pulkovo taxi to the apron and shut down engines. And the silence ...
The flights are in, basically, normal, and even humdrum. Less often gray and even less brilliant. Grey flight (my classification) is when you do everything right, but at the limit of its capacity and in the case of the introduction, you can even make a mistake. Did not sleep well enough, or can not eat, and maybe on the wrong foot rose. Brilliant (also my classification), when it's all very nice, in style.
When it's so quiet, I remember the end of the piano concerto, when the hall was silent , and then burst into applause.
It seemed to me that the flight was performed brilliantly, but instead of applause, I suddenly heard the voice of Sergei, who inquired very loudly, too loudly, even hacking - "and where is reticulation?"
Until 1998, when we have not yet installed GPS, navigator always wrote reticulation to the crew, which was the estimated time, the angles and distances to the turning points. It was believed that this contributes to mutual control of the crew, as the pilots were just repeaters of the navigation system, which was operated by the navigator. Personally, I had always such reticulation, but in the presence of on-board GPS and a lack of desire in Commander, I did not write. I did not write in vain. The navigator of Squadron needed it. It was again bad.
And I realized that the quality of my work depends on the availability of vacancies to fly in abroad.
If there were no vacancies - I'm good, If there were vacancies - I am bad! It was back proportionality. Just fit into the "The elk is too small and not enough for everybody"
It remained to fly in abroad for two years. The Chapter 3 of ICAO comes into force. The Chapter3 is about the noise, signed back in the 80s. After all, even in the bad dream no such a mess and could not imagine! Our Tu-134 started fly yet in Brezhnev' s time, in the 70s, and did not satisfy this law now.
Once we were sent with Andrew P to make a mission . We had to fly from Murmansk to Moscow Sheremetyevo. And the two crews. When the first crew was flying, the other was resting, and when the other flew, the first was resting. Only two flights per day. Flying to Moscow is lasts for two hours. So, between the pairs of flights were about 6 hours.
Actually, I'm not very fond of travel, but flying with Andrew, as well as to communicate with him was very pleasant. The co-pilot was Borya, we got acquaintance with him in the flying club, the same Boris who broke his leg during the first parachute jump. Since that time he hate parachute jumping. So that trip had to be a useful and enjoyable.
Boris was still on the plane, and we go with Andrew and lively talk, and snow crunches underfoot, and the terms is dazzling white snow, and not our Leningrad slush, and so happy. During the conversations we had not noticed icing and then, at the same time we fell. There was not injury.
We fly to Moscow in the morning, . The weather was not good but we landed. But in Murmansk the weather was quite bad, non-flying and we flew to the alternity, to Saint-Petersburg. The time was getting late and we got some sleep in the hotel. But soon the weather became better and we were in the air again.
We gave the plane to another crew, and we went to rest. We did not want to sleep and communicated with Boris, we flew in the evening only.
We had flew. , The weather in Moscow became very bad. On that day, on March 10, 2000, Yak-40, with the famous Artyom Borovik,fell down after takeoff. The plane was iced. We stood in the line for holding position for a long time, probably, about an hour. We were there poured by the anti icing fluid, and as usual I wanted to sleep. Finally, we took off.
We landed normally. The cyclone had gone to Peter, In Moscow was cold and sunny the next day .
We have fulfilled all the job and the next day returned home.
Andrew and Boria I saw a day before. Andrew is the commander of Squadron of Tu-154, and Boris flies as a commander on my native 134-m. I make them navigational calculations, and my signature flying with them.
Andrey Pylaev is the captain on A-319-320. Boris is the captain on the An-148