F-86 Pilot is About to Ride a Soyuz

[54H60]

Kazahkstan is different too. Camels lounging around semi-wild. Endless vistas, very dry and brown, extremely cold and usually windy. Strange language and alphabet. Mongol faces. Cigarettes everywhere.

Dave

A most important question Dave.......

Any derelict old warbirds around?

If not, a brief description of the aviation scene that you saw would be interesting.

[Dave Hadfield]

I didn't see any derelict aircraft, but there are sure a lot of older ones. There are 2 working An-2 biplanes at the Baikonur airport. And at Domodedovo in Moscow there are dozens of old transport types in a semi-boneyard.

They keep older aircraft working over there because they function -- sometimes better in the cold than western aircraft -- and because their own internal supply of fuel was cheap.

I really admire Russian engineering. It's smooth and efficient without a lot of hoopla.

Dave