Originally Posted by
cockpitvisit
This isn't Mil-26 (the largest helicopter ever to enter production). This monster is called "V-12", came from the same design bureau and never entered service. I believe only 1 or 2 prototypes were ever built.
The helicopter was initially intended to transport ICBMs to deployment sites.
Are aircraft in Monino really in such a good condition, or did you do a lot of photoshop to make them look nicer?
Great trip report, interesting to see that old Soviet airplane seats on the Yak-42 are still alive and kicking
The aircraft in Monino are actually in a pretty sad state, which is really rather unfortunate. The Tu-144 is in very impressive condition, which is due in no small part to the volunteer work that's going into restoring it - it was mostly stripped of parts and even instrument panel components in the lawless 1990s, and there's been a concerted effort by a group of dedicated volunteers, who are constantly low on money and donations, to get it back into a presentable state. Currently, visits inside are only allowed during special "open house" days - Victory Day, and a few others that they tend to announce on their website. The queues are apparently absolutely insane, but are well worth it - the condition of the plane is slowly getting to being better than Sinnsheim's, but it's taken like 15 years to get to this point - people working every weekend to just fix bits and pieces of it. Take a look at this forum - page is in Russian, but the pictures over the last five years alone are worth it.
Restoring the Tu-144
Unfortunately, the other planes aren't nearly in as good a condition, and I suspect one of the reasons people don't get to go into them (except on open house days) is due to their deteriorating condition.
Originally Posted by
worldtraveller73
Oh my gosh. This trip report puts my Alaska summer mileage runs to shame. The hidden secrets of sour cherry juice no less.
Enjoy the trip and the freedom of time and ability to travel to these outbound places. Sooner or later, it all catches up with you and even a trip to Hawaii is sometimes hard to pull off!!
Absence of cherry juice is an incredibly grave flaw, and I agree with P that this is not an acceptable situation on any airline, much less an East European one.