Belarus Aviation Tour
See Part 1 here
Our next flight is the star of the day, Ruby Star Aviation Antonov-12BK
Reg: EW-275TI
Manufactured: 1970, 46 years old
Video
It involves 5 people to operate this beast.
2 Pilot, 1 F/E, 1 Navigator and 1 radio controller
A real team work to operate this plane.
The flight engineer sits in the middle while captain sits on the left and first officer sits on the right.
The navigator sits underneath the cockpit in the unique glass dome area and radio controller sits behind the cockpit.
Our routing today which is from Minsk to Minsk around 5,000 feet in pentagon shape.
Me with the radio controller Dmitri.
In the pressurized cabin located right behind the cockpit of An-12…
View outside the window, 2 massive Ivchenko AI-20L engines
The main cargo hold with benches on.
About 20 minutes after takeoff, the cargo door is suddenly lowered!
You can see trail of black smoke coming off its 4 prop engines.
With a safety net in between the cabin and the door.
It was an amazing sight to watch the An-12 flying low around the country side of Belarus.
Many of us enjoyed a sandwich and drink with the pleasure of this view….
Soon after 1.2 hours, it is time to land back in Minsk
One lucky passenger manage to find space underneath the radio controller to watch from the navigator seat during the landing!
Please see the video footage on takeoff, cruising and landing
Our 3rd flight of the day is also another rare model, the Antonov-26B
Reg: EW-328TG
Genex Ltd
Built 1983
Flight time 1.2 hours.
Sistership EW-259TG parked side by side on the ramp.
Video
Please see the video for complete takeoff and landing footage with amazing Antonov propeller sound!
Cockpit of the An-26B.
3 men flying up front include 2 pilots and an engineer.
I presume this is both navigator and radio controller?
A group photo in the cargo hold.
Time for a nap on the long bench.
Over the countryside at 6,000 feet
Our group after landing.
Please see the video for complete takeoff and landing footage with amazing Antonov propeller sound!
After that our group were transported to Boravaya Airfield in Minsk, it is an air park with huge collection of Soviet aircraft, both civilian and military. I strongly recommend anyone visiting Minsk to spend time here!
Joy flight inside this An-2
EW-361AB
The cabin can fit 9-10 passengers.
The cockpit of An-2. It require only one pilot to fly.
We did several loops over the city at an estimate no more than 2,000 feet. The low setting sun and slow flying made the flight feel very romantic!
Our last flight of the day is a joyflight on the Russian helicopter Mil-2
It can fit seven passengers with one in front and six at the back
The Mil-2 was very noisy as somehow we didn’t have the headphone so it was a disaster to our ear 🙂
Overall, I’d prefer the An-2 as it has slower speed and beautiful sound.
Conclusion
It was Aviation Megafun in one amazing day in Belarus. Everything went so well from visiting the aircraft repair plant 407 to flying on Yak-40, An-12, An-26, An-2 and Mil-2. It is truly a treat for any aviation enthusiast!
Special thanks to Boris Vlassov and Merlintour for his superior organisation of the tour.
The next Belarus Aviation Tour is in October 2016 with a special farewell to Belavia Tu-154
See you in Minsk!
How could I possibly get on this TU-154 farewell flight? what kind of prices would I be looking at?
You can get more info on http://merlintour.fr/tour/39