A Quick Russian Rush Round
                by Brian Elliott (fx34@cityscape.co.uk)
  Brian Elliott reports on a recent short visit to the Gromov Flight
  Research Institute airfield at Zhukovsky.
  (A slightly amended version of this report recently appeared in the
  September edition of Air World International magazine).
     One of the benefits of working for a major international aviation
 organisation is that, very occasionally, I have the opportunity to
 represent my company at international meetings or conferences.
 Recently, I had the chance to travel to Moscow to take part in the
 Russian Aerospace 95 conference, organised jointly by Flight Inter-
 national and Aviaexport.
     The first part of the conference consisted of two days of pre-
 sentations by speakers on recent developments, and current problems,
 in the CIS civil aviation scene. The third day was to be an Avia-
 export sponsored visit to the research airfield at Zhukovsky, outside
 Moscow, including a guided tour and the opportunity to view a line-up
 of the latest civil aviation products from the CIS.
     Unsurprisingly, the arrangements for the visit changed as the day
 of the visit drew nearer. The advertised tour evolved into a visit of
 around three hours duration which, hopefully, would give time to view
 the aircraft on the ground and in the air before departing for lunch.
      The appointed day arrived with relatively clear skies which
 cheered me up no end, given the memory of the cloudburst on the Sun-
 day at Mosaero 93. However, for some inexplicable reason, our Intour-
 ist coach drivers decided that mid Thursday morning would be a good
 time to take three coaches across central Moscow, rather than go
 round the ring road, and we very quickly became immersed in traffic
 jams. This meant that the time available at Zhukovsky was very much
 reduced and, consequently, there was very little time to view the
 exhibited aircraft, let alone observe what else was around.
     Those of you who have been to Zhukovsky will know that the air-
 field is a veritable treasure trove for both civil and military
 enthusiasts and you will be pleased to hear that the airfield is
 still covered by all manner, and types, of aircraft. Unfortunately,
 most of them appear to be the exact same aircraft.
     Aviaexport had arranged a good selection of aircraft for our
 perusal lined up on a ramp near the engine running sheds with all
 of the aircraft (apart from the Rossiya Tu-204) open for internal
 examination.
     The following is a list of what was on show:
      '3810001' Antonov An-38-100
      RA-74029 Antonov An-74 Tsentro-Spas
      UR-76729 Ilyushin Il-76MD Veteran c/n 0073476275
      RA-96002 Ilyushin Il-96-300 Aeroflot
      RA-10300 Ilyushin Il-103
      RA-54002 Ilyushin Il-114
      (not noted) Myasischev M-101 Gzhel (flew off before I got to it)
      RA-64006 Tupolev Tu-204 Bravia
      RA-64010 Tupolev Tu-204C Aeroflot
      RA-64014 Tupolev Tu-204 Rossiya
      RA-42423 Yakolev Yak-42D c/n 4520424216606
      01001 Yakolev Yak-54
      RA-00001 Yakolev Yak-112 c/n 00-002
     So what else was there? From where we were standing you could see
 most of the aprons at the western end of the airfield and there was
 little change from Mosaero 93 apart from some re-registering from
 SSSR- to RA-. As we drove in, the first aircraft we saw were a number
 of Tu-134As, two carrying United Nations titles RA-65097 & 604, the
 third being an Air Force machine '01' red, and the fourth being RA-
 65026 of Volare. Also still present was the unmarked TU-134UBL carry-
 ing what appears to be a Su-27 radar nose.  One new aircraft present
 was an Air Force An-24 '05' r which carried a pointed nosed pod
 (similar to a guided missile pod) under the starboard front door.
     The Sukhoi ramp was relatively full with a number of demonstration
 aircraft present including the Su-24M which appeared at Farnborough
 '40' yellow, Su-28 '302' blue (which was also at Farnborough) and
 SU-30MK '56' blue & '603' outline. Two other aircraft on this ramp
 were, what appeared to be Navy Su-25UTGs, both unfortunately with
 their noses covered. All three of the Test Pilots Su-27/30s '595',
 '597' & '598' were parked alongside a taxiway together with two
 Su-27s both marked '05' red. Shortly before we left for lunch, the
 star item of the day appeared with the airborne arrival of SU-34
 '42' blue now carrying the wingtip ECM pods carried by the Su-30/35
 series.
     Surprisingly, given the apparent lack of movement of aircraft on
 the ground, there were a number of arrivals and departures during
 the hour that we were there. A based Su-24 took off and performed an
 aerobatic routine, two L-39s '16' yellow and '84' white departed, and
 a Mi-26 RA-06141 in the colours of Mi-Avia lifted off and flew round
 the far side of the airfield. The MiG-31 demonstrator '374' blue also
 taxied out and departed while a couple of Il-76s were towed out to
 undergo some engine running.
     Elsewhere, the massed ranks of derelict and semi derelict Tupolev
 aircraft seem unchanged with examples of everything from Badgers to
 Blackjacks being visible in addition to the hordes of Tu-154s. The
 prototype Tu-334 was said to be outside, but was not visible, with
 its place in the hangar (allegedly) taken by a Tu-144 being re-
 engined with Blackjack engines for the NASA research programme.
 Flight testing of the Tu-204 continues with RA-64004 & RA-64013 noted.
     Also semi-derelict was the Yak-42LL propfan engine test bed SSSR-
 42525 still carrying the experimental contra-rotating prop engine on
 the starboard side but minus the normal engine on the port side.
    Three Myasischev M-55 aircraft were noted over on the Myasischev
 ramp along with a Buran shuttle craft inside the open sided shelter.
 The ramps on this side of the airfield held the usual large number of
 Il-76s, including one of the airborne command post aircraft SSSR-76451,
 as well as a number of the Be-976 AWAC conversions. Other Il-76s noted
 included UR-86921 and RA-76591 of Artuvera.
     Unfortunately, we were confined to the one ramp and so the forest
 on the Eastern side was decidedly off-limits and, unlike Mosaero 93,
 there was no opportunity for air to ground shots. However, careful
 scrutiny of the far horizon revealed the continuing existence of the
 Tu-126.
     Sadly, all too soon, our Aviaexport guide rounded us up and
 shepherded us onto the coach for the visit to the Restaurant Sputnik
 in the town of Zhukovsky. But that's another story altogether...
--- DB 1.39/004487
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