Originally Posted by fastflyer

Lots of memories from my Russia working days in 1992-1994. The Tu-154 had largely replaced the 134, but passengers would still get the older bird on occasion. My primary routing was Moscow DME - SVX Ekaterinburg on Aeroflot. The planes flew like the Boeing 727, on which I had plenty of US experience in the 1980s, but the Russian air force graduates would really drive the Tupolevs aggressively. No soft landings, drifting into a lazy stall over the runway. Bang -- they would land them, and you would know it.