Quoting thomasphoto60 (Reply 2): I was in Nairobi in '82' and I vividly recall a SU crew walking in and being catered to, whilst being checked in (Intercontinental Hotel) |
Quoting pwm2txlhopper (Reply 4): Just as Americans went to the USSR. |
Quoting beachbum1970 (Thread starter): I would think the western style hotels would have been considered quite opulent to the average Russian back in those days. |
Quoting Yflyer (Reply 7): I don't think Aeroflot crews were "average" Russians, though. I believe they had higher status in Soviet society and probably had it pretty good by Russian standards, so they probably had less reason to defect. |
Quoting richcandy (Reply 13): Totally a guess but if you used crew who had husband's/wife's and kids at home then I guess also they are less likely to defect and leave their family in the USSR. |
Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 17): I I know in DC they stayed at the Russian Embassy.In SNN, their big IL-62 used to park right next to us and while we were waiting for our passengers, many of us on the crew (including the pilots) would walk over to see their airplane and visit. We had these huge beautiful cream cakes in FC--usually two were boarded and one was more than enough for the passengers, so we would bring the cake over for their crews. In return, they would give us some killer Russian vodka (perfect for making "Crew Juice" on our layover in PIK) and let us walk around the aircraft. It was pretty dull looking and I remember there were small fans above each of the pilot seats. We would invite them over to see our 747 and they would look at one man in a pilot's uniform (who was a "political officer") and they would all look at him and politely respond "It is not permitted." That was sad because you could see how much they wanted a chance to set foot on a 747.Sometimes we would trade our flight wings for a pair of theirs. While ours were made of a heavy grade metal, theirs were stamped out of tin and were poorly made. But I walked around for months wearing Aeroflot wings on my uniform before an eagle-eyed supervisor caught me.I remember our captain asking theirs how he liked the IL-62 and he responded with "How do you say this in English? It is a piece of s**t." Their crews were very friendly, funny and there were some incredibly beautiful flight attendants.Then the shoot down of KAL 007 happened. That ended the visiting. We would trudge up to do some duty free shopping and we would pass them in the hall and we would just look sadly at each other and keep on walking.The brotherhood of airline crews knows no national boundaries. Get us together and we all talk shop and bore non-airline people to death. |
Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 17): I I know in DC they stayed at the Russian Embassy. In SNN, their big IL-62 used to park right next to us and while we were waiting for our passengers, many of us on the crew (including the pilots) would walk over to see their airplane and visit. We had these huge beautiful cream cakes in FC--usually two were boarded and one was more than enough for the passengers, so we would bring the cake over for their crews. In return, they would give us some killer Russian vodka (perfect for making "Crew Juice" on our layover in stwick (PIK / EGPK), United Kingdom">PIK) and let us walk around the aircraft. It was pretty dull looking and I remember there were small fans above each of the pilot seats. We would invite them over to see our 747 and they would look at one man in a pilot's uniform (who was a "political officer") and they would all look at him and politely respond "It is not permitted." That was sad because you could see how much they wanted a chance to set foot on a 747. Sometimes we would trade our flight wings for a pair of theirs. While ours were made of a heavy grade metal, theirs were stamped out of tin and were poorly made. But I walked around for months wearing Aeroflot wings on my uniform before an eagle-eyed supervisor caught me. I remember our captain asking theirs how he liked the IL-62 and he responded with "How do you say this in English? It is a piece of s**t." Their crews were very friendly, funny and there were some incredibly beautiful flight attendants. Then the shoot down of KAL 007 happened. That ended the visiting. We would trudge up to do some duty free shopping and we would pass them in the hall and we would just look sadly at each other and keep on walking. The brotherhood of airline crews knows no national boundaries. Get us together and we all talk shop and bore non-airline people to death. |
Quoting Interflugmemory (Reply 10): I used to drive around East Germany by myself all the time. Public transit by myself too. You had to have your hotel reservation ahead of time. You had to register with the police in each town. |
Quoting DIJKKIJK (Reply 15): I have read somewhere that SU flight crew used to shop for a lot of western made products during their layovers, which they would sell in the black market back home at a huge profit. Western goods were in very high demand in the USSR |
Quoting Yflyer (Reply 7): I don't think Aeroflot crews were "average" Russians, though. |
Quoting DIJKKIJK (Reply 15): I have read somewhere that SU flight crew used to shop for a lot of western made products during their layovers, which they would sell in the black market back home at a huge profit. Western goods were in very high demand in the USSR |
Quoting beachbum1970 (Reply 6): Think North Korea today. |
Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 17): Sometimes we would trade our flight wings for a pair of theirs. While ours were made of a heavy grade metal, theirs were stamped out of tin and were poorly made. But I walked around for months wearing Aeroflot wings on my uniform before an eagle-eyed supervisor caught me. |
Quoting Interflugmemory (Reply 27): It didn't matter if they typed in EAST Berlin, or EAST Germany, their resevation machines only showed Tegel (West Berlin) flights. Only when we provided them with the SXF code were they able to see flights to East Berlin. |
Quoting Interflugmemory (Reply 32): |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 34): Further to my post on refuelling in Gander. Canadian regulations required passengers to be unloaded, while refuelling, especially important with the volatile Russian jet fuel. I was in the Arrivals Hall, when an IL-86 was disembarked. A very attractive Russian woman approached me, and blurted out, "refugee!" I took her to the RCMP office in the airport, which was standard procedure. She was put in a shabby hotel where the defectors were housed. I ran into her in one of the discount stores in town and had lunch with her. She told me a fascinating tale of intrigue. She bought a return ticket to Cuba, not from Aeroflot, but from a shady character in Moscow. "You can call me Demitri...." It cost her a thousand roubles. She was met at Moscow airport (SVO) and given her ticket and full instructions. When the plane unloaded at Gander, she was to approach an RCMP officer (they showed her a photo of the uniform) and declare herself a "refugee". This one word was enough to give her sanctuary in Canada. Gander became better known in the Soviet Union, than Montreal! It was sort of a "Gander Express". There were four flights a day, two in each direction. Some Russians, who had been working in Cuba, jumped off on the way home. There were defectors on every flight, sometimes four, sometimes ten. The record for one flight was 40. The situation became embarrassing for Canada. Russians, Cubans, East Germans. Every flight had KGB officers on board, but they could do little when 300 people swarmed into the Arrivals Hall. Defectors lost their luggage. Bags were not unloaded. Thus, the amount of carry-on became ridiculous. The Canadian government booked an entire hotel to house the defectors. The Newfoundland government refused to let them stay permanently, so after being debriefed to weed out spies, they were sent to the big cities, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto. You may have guessed what happened in my case. We eventually married, and settled in my home town of Vancouver. |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 34): You may have guessed what happened in my case. We eventually married, and settled in my home town of Vancouver. |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 16): Aeroflot had a tank farm at Gander. |
Quoting WildcatYXU (Reply 37): the IL62 could make it back to PRG from Cuba non-stop, |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 16): Aeroflot had a tank farm at Gander. |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 34): You may have guessed what happened in my case. We eventually married, and settled in my home town of Vancouver. |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 40): forgot to mention that "Demitri" gave her explicit instructions, that if an IL-62M, was substituted for the IL-86, she was to refuse to board. The IL-62M might not stop at Gander. It HAD to be an IL-86. |
Quoting Interflugmemory (Reply 10): I traveled unescorted in Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. In Vietnam (1990) there were guides on the transfers between cities but once in the city you were free to go out on your own. |
Quoting RIXrat (Reply 8): The flight crew's minder was usually the radio operator who was in charge of the coms and spoke English |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 34): You may have guessed what happened in my case. We eventually married, and settled in my home town of Vancouver. |
Quoting BA84 (Reply 34): You may have guessed what happened in my case. We eventually married, and settled in my home town of Vancouver. |
Quoting planespotting (Reply 47): You should win the airliners.net anecdote of the year award. |