St. Petersburg - Pulkovo (ULLI/LED) - 2008

[Cossack]

Request info

Hello everyone,

Next saturday I will be going to St. Petersburg for 3 months to study, and although there probably will be a lot of studying, sightseeing and, off course, vodka going on, I would also like to do some spotting. I would like to know if spotting is allowed/accepted in Russia? If so, what are the good spots at Pulkovo? Any do's or don'ts?
Also ANY additional info about anything manmade that flies/has flown in or around St. Petersburg is welcome, no matter if it's military or civil, in a museum, you name it!
Thx very much!

Greets, Maikel

[Cossack]

It's been a while already and it was already dark when we arrived in St P, but I still managed to see some aircraft on the 2nd of February.

D-ANKQ A319 Germanwings
RA-85171 Tu-154 Rossiya in hybrid c/s
RA-85667 Tu-154 Aeroflot
RA-85759 Tu-154 Kras Air
VP-BTT A319 Rossiya

The Germanwings is the one we flew in from Cologne-Bonn, though I'm not too sure about the registration, I forgot to check it properly when we got out in St P and I can't find anything about this reg from here.

The question from above still stands by the way, ANY info about anything "aviation" in or around St P is welcome.

Greets, Maikel

[Piet Luijken]

Hello,

There is a Navy Museum with a I-16
http://www.saint-petersburg.com/museums/navy-museum.asp

At the Academy of Civil Aviation are some preserved aircraft
http://www.academiaga.ru/index.php?id=5&lang=1

There is a Hind somewhere at a factory.

According Airliners.net there are some St Petersburg spotters, try them by mail, see this page:

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.s ... ersion=6.0

have fun.

[ErwinS]

At google earth you can find some really nice airfields around St.Peter.
Pushkin AB with IL-18/20/22's
Gorelova AB with many stored Mil-8's
Levashovo AB An-12/26's.
And some more further from St. Petersburg.

Don't know if you can spot at these airfields. I'm planning a trip in the summer so maybe someone has more info about this.

[mart]

I for one would be interested in your logs.
If you have any logs such as above, or pictures, please do post.
Thank you very much

[Cossack]

Thanks very much for the replies! I spotted the I-16 in the Navy Museum hanging from the ceiling. I hope I will have the time to check out the stuff further from the center of the city, but they're keeping us very busy at the university (as they should off course!)
If I see anything, I'll let you know!

Bye for now, Maikel

[Cossack]

I've been quite busy with studying and posing as a tourist when not studying (among which was a visit to the aviation museum at Monino, near Moscow, which was really cool ) but now it's time to put the St. Petersburg topic back on top!

We had some pretty good weather here last friday (04-04), a good day I thought to check out the airport. On average there are some 10 flights either departing or arriving in an hour, I saw the following between 14:00 and 19:35:

4K-AZ03 A319-100 Azerbaijan Airlines
D-ABBM 737-800 Air Berlin
D-AILK A319-100 Lufthansa
D-AILS A319-100 Lufthansa
D-AIRX A321-100 Lufthansa, retro c/s
D-ANNA A320-200 Blue Wings
EI-CDD 737-500 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
EI-CDE 737-500 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
EI-CDF 737-500 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
EI-CDH 737-500 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
EI-DBF 767-300ER Transaero
EI-DZH 767-300ER Rossiya
ES-PJR Jetstream 31 Avies
F-GFKY A320-200 Air France
G-EUUU A320-200 British Airways
I-BIKO A320-200 Alitalia
LN-KKB 737-300 Norwegian
LN-RMR MD-81 SAS
LY-AVT L-410 Avies (?)
OE-LFK F70 Austrian Arrows
OH-FLM Challenger 300 Jetflite
OH-MOL Challenger 604 Jetflite
OK-MEH A320-200 CSA
P4-AMH BAe-125 ?
RA-24243 Mi-8 Kompavia?
RA-42335 Yak-42D Tatarstan Airlines
RA-42336 Yak-42 ALK - Aviatsionnye Linii Kubany
RA-65034 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65043 Tu-134A-3 Primair? (no titles)
RA-65093 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya
RA-65109 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya
RA-65113 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-65622 Tu-134A UT Air
RA-65759 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-65777 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65901 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65904 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya
RA-85171 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85187 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85638 Tu-154M Aeroflot
RA-85765 Tu-154M Aeroflot
RA-85771 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85779 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85794 Tu-154M Yakutiya Airlines
RA-85797 Tu-154M Dalavia
RA-85800 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85832 Tu-154M Rossiya
RA-85834 Tu-154M Rossiya
RA-85836 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-86094 Il-86 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
RA-87244 Yak-40 Aviastar?
RA-87334 Yak-40 Bylina
RA-88180 Yak-40 Severstal
SP-LIE ERJ-175 LOT
TC-JPC A320-200 Turkish Airlines
UN-B5701 757-200 Kazakhstan
VP-BFZ A320-200 Ural Airlines
VP-BHA 737-500 Sky Express
VP-BHP A319-100 S7
VP-BJV 737-300 KD
VP-BTQ A319-100 Rossiya
VP-BWM A320-200 Aeroflot

And on saturday (06-04) between 12:10 and 17:00:

D-ABDD A320-200 Air Berlin
D-AILU A319-100 Lufthansa
EI-CDE 737-500 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
EI-CDF 737-500 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
EI-DZH 767-300ER Rossiya
EW-46483 An-24RV Belavia
F-GKXI A320-200 Air France
HB-IPV A319-100 Swiss Air Lines
HB-ITF Gulfstream IV Gama Aviation
I-BIKL A320-200 Alitalia
N105BK F900 Springway?
OE-LVM F100 Austrian Arrows
OH-LVE A319-100 Finnair
OK-MEI A320-200 CSA
OY-KHU MD-87 SAS
P4-LVF BAe-125 ?
RA-09006 F900 Gazprom
RA-12957 An-12B Kosmos
RA-21500 Yak-40 ?
RA-24100 Mi-8 American Medical Clinic
RA-46528 An-24RV Aeroflot Nord
RA-64504 Tu-214 Rossiya
RA-64506 Tu-214 Rossiya, with small Pulkovo titles
RA-65034 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65043 Tu-134A-3 Primair? (no titles)
RA-65093 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya
RA-65109 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya
RA-65144 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-65759 Tu-134A-3 Rossiya
RA-65902 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65932 Tu-134A-3 S-Air
RA-85171 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85187 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85494 Tu-154B-2 KMV
RA-85552 Tu-154B-2 Rossiya, full Pulkovo c/s, std?
RA-85553 Tu-154B-2 Rossiya, full Pulkovo c/s, std?
RA-85662 Tu-154M Aeroflot
RA-85753 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85767 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85770 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85771 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85779 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85800 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85801 Tu-154M Kras Air
RA-85807 Tu-154M Ural Airlines
RA-85823 Tu-154M Samara Airlines
RA-85832 Tu-154M Rossiya
RA-85834 Tu-154M Rossiya
RA-86070 Il-86 Rossiya, old, pre-blue tail Pulkovo c/s
RA-86092 Il-86 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
RA-86106 Il-86 Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with small Rossiya titles
RA-87244 Yak-40 Aviastar?
RA-91015 Il-114 VBG
SP-LGF ERJ-145 LOT
UR-BVY 737-200 AeroSvit, std?
VP-BDN A319-100 Aeroflot
VP-BHP A319-100 S7
VP-BOU 737-300 Sky Express
VP-BPD 737-500 Transaero
VP-BTQ A319-100 Rossiya

That's all for now, hopefully the weather will improve, I have some free afternoons coming up and certainly want to visit the airport again soon!

Greets, Maikel



(Edited several times to add credits to the internet account and tidy things up)

[Cossack]

Hello everyone, another two logs from mother Russia. I left out the Rossiya jets I already mentioned before and other, apparently, regular visitors.

09-04 between 16:00 and 19:20:

D-AILI A319-100 Lufthansa
D-AILS A319-100 Lufthansa
F-GRHY A319-100 Air France
G-EUUI A320-200 British Airways
HB-JRA Challenger 604 Rega - Swiss Air Ambulance
I-BIKB A320-200 Alitalia
N773HR Hawker 850XP Hortitsya (2 seconds later I noticed an empty vodka bottle next to me of the same brand (I was not the one who left it behind by the way...))
OE-GAK Ce680 JetAlliance
OH-LKE ERJ-190 Finnair
OY-KHM MD-82 SAS
RA-11310 An-12 Gromov Air - Irkut
RA-64039 Tu-204-300 Vladivostok Avia
RA-65127 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65576 Tu-134B-3 ?
RA-65607 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65781 Tu-134A Aeroflot
RA-82075 An-124-100 Polet
RA-85204 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-88295 Yak-40 Yak Service
TC-JMD A321-200 Turkish Airlines
VP-BFN 737-500 Sky Express
VP-BQU A320-200 Aeroflot
VP-BWG A319-100 Aeroflot


And on 13-04 from 19:30 till 20:30:

D-AIQN A320-200 Lufthansa
EI-DDY 737-400 Transaero
OE-HNL Challenger 300 International Jet Management
OH-SPB Challenger 850 JetFlite
RA-26673 An-26 Letnye Proverki i Sistemy
RA-42438 Yak-42D Gazpromavia
RA-65033 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65103 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65722 Tu-134A-3 Sirius Aero
RA-85646 Tu-154M Aeroflot
RA-85683 Tu-154M Kras Air
RA-87517 Yak-40 OAO "Bugul'minskoye Aviapredpriyatiye"
VP-BST Challenger 604
VP-BUB 757-200 Uzbekistan Airways

That's all for now folks, if the weather stays as good as it is right now I might pop by the airport again later this week...

Greets, Maikel

[canberra]

Awesome logs, Maikel. Thanks a million for sharing!

Seems you don't have to much trouble hanging aound at the airport.
Is The Militsiya not around or they just don't care? Are you taking photos aswell?

Sad to see also LED have lost active Tu154B's, can't be many flying around then

/Michael

[Cossack]

So far I have had no problems at all there, apart from an inquiry by a guard from the nearby Toyota-dealer, who was satisfied by my answer in Russian about what I was doing, and wished me a good day. I'm usually in a spot quite out of sight, though the airside Militsiya must have noticed me. I've also walked past a Militsiya car on Pulkovo-1 with my binoculars in plain sight, no problem.
I don't take any pictures, don't have a camera with me, but I have made some films and pictures with my mobile phone. I have also seen people using their video camera at the airport, though at the time, there seemed to be no Militsiya around.

Indeed too bad about the Tu-154B's, just one active example in all this time, but I must say, all the Tu-134's and Il-86's make up for a lot for me. It's such an incredible sight to see a smoketrail in front of the runway before you can see the airplane itself! Takes me back to childhood memories of those Tu-134's at Schiphol...

Greets, Maikel

[Cossack]

Hello everyone,

last sunday I was at Pulkovo again and spotted yet again some interesting stuff. Unfortunately I missed the first airplane I saw, which was taking off when I was on the bus to the airport, a rather smart looking red-white-blue An-72/74... I did see the following on 20-04 between 14:15 and 18:50:

D-AAOK Challenger 604 Cirrus
D-ABDQ A320-200 Air Berlin
D-AIQU A320-200 Lufthansa
D-AIPZ A320-200 Lufthansa
D-AIRF A321-100 Lufthansa
D-ANNA A320-200 Blue Wings
EW-46483 An-24 Belavia
F-GFKZ A320-200 Air France
G-EUXL A321-200 British Airways
G-GSSO Gulfstream 550 TAG Aviation
HB-IPU A319-100 Swiss Air Lines, with "Airline for all fans" titles
I-BIKD A320-200 Alitalia
OE-LVB F100 Austrian Arrows
OH-LEN ERJ-170 Finnair
OK-GEB A320-200 CSA
OY-KBO A319-100 SAS, off course in retro c/s
OY-KHN MD-81 SAS
P4-ALE BAe-125
RA-04107 A109? I could not see the entire helicopter, just the tailboom...
RA-27017 Mi-8 Rossiya
RA-42344 Yak-42D Biznesaero
RA-65083 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65116 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65716 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65756 Tu-134A RusLine
RA-65781 Tu-134A Aeroflot
RA-65901 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-85337 Tu-154B-2 Ural Airlines
RA-85494 Tu-154B-2 KMV, doubled the amount of Tu-154B-2's of today, even though it was the same one I saw earlier...
RA-85660 Tu-154M Kras Air
RA-85765 Tu-154M Aeroflot
RA-85785 Tu-154M Rossiya
RA-91014 Il-114 VBG, appeared next to prop-less sister RA-91015 mentioned on an earlier date
SP-LIF ERJ-175 LOT
VP-BAS Hawker 800XP
VP-BFM 737-500 Sky Express
VP-BFN 737-500 Sky Express
VP-BFU Premier I
VP-BJW 737-300 KLD
VP-BMH BAe-125
VP-BQV A320-200 Aeroflot
VP-BTO A319-100 S7

I left out the earlier mentioned Rossiya stuff.RA-09006, RA-21500, RA-87244 and RA-88295 seem to be residents at Pulkovo. With exams almost over, forecasted good weather and still a few days left here, I am almost sure I will be able to post some more later on. Again absolutely no trouble at all with the Militsiya or airport security. (Apart from a strange smile from the girl behind the x-ray machine, cute as she was, I forgave her instantly ) Also lots of people were taking pictures, both in a day out and a spotting kind of way...

Greets, Maikel

[Cossack]

Hello everyone!

On the 25th of april I went to a rather unusual place to spot. Or rather, I did not go there to spot, but ended up doing it anyway. At the Peter and Paul fortress in St. Petersburg is a helipad, which was in use today:

RA-24100 Mi-8 AMC/Baltiskiye Avialinii
RA-25775 Mi-8P Baltiskiye Avialinii

Today, 26-04 I saw the following at Pulkovo between 10:30-13:45:

CS-DRD Hawker 800XP NetJets Europe
D-AGWA A319-100 Germanwings
D-AIQL A320-200 Lufthansa
EI-DXY A320-200 Rossiya
EK32008 A320-200 Armavia
LZ-YUM Challenger 600S Air Lazur
OH-LXE A320-200 Finnair
OY-KBR A319-100 SAS
RA-01900 A109E
RA-24477 Mi-8 Baltiskiye Avialinii (Later also seen at the fortress)
RA-30075 An-30D Myachkovo Airlines
RA-42541 Yak-42 ALK
RA-65005 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65062 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65079 Tu-134A-3 Sirius Aero
RA-65083 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65090 Tu-134A-3 Orenair
RA-65099 Tu-134A-3 Sirius Aero
RA-65108 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65122 Tu-134A-3 Samara Airlines
RA-65557 Tu-134A-3 Itera
RA-65620 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-65728 Tu-134A-3 UT Air
RA-72011 An-72
RA-85007 Tu-154M Yakutiya
VP-BKX A320-200 Aeroflot

Furthermore I noticed a Tu-154B-2 near the southern runway, unfortunately I could not see a registration. On the cargo ramp was a silver/grey L-29, too far away to read. When I arrived, the southern runway was in use, the first time I have seen it in use. I had to move, since I had not expected it to be in use, and when I arrived at Pulkovo 1, where you can follow just about everything that happends on the airport, the active was switched to the northern runway. As usual, I left out the Rossiya aircraft and bizzers which were mentioned before.

Greets, Maikel

[John Creasey]

EI-DXY A319-100 Rossiya

'EI-DXY' is in fact an Airbus A320-212 (MSN525, EX: D-AKNX) formerly of Germanwings.

Many thanks for the regular postings Maikel; they make for very interesting reading.

[Cossack]

Hello everyone,

Whoops! Thanks for correcting me John, I will edit my post right away and will go and stand in the corner of the room and be ashamed of myself for a while for not recognizing EI-DXY as an A320, but not before I have typed my last posting on the activities around Pulkovo!

I went to the airport on my last evening in St P. I noticed an unusual amount of Militsiya around the airport, which probably had something to do with the fact that RA-85843 was on the platform of Pulkovo-1, waiting for it's passenger(s). I was not allowed to go near the VIP entrance on the south side of the terminal (which means I missed an Aeroflot Nord Tu-134, grrrr ) which would normally not be a problem. After a while an officer came to the north side of the terminal and sent everyone standing there away as well. It was the first time ever I had any "trouble" with the Militsiya and, for Russian standards, they were very friendly about it. This is what I did see on 30-04 between 18:00 and 18:50:

EW-46483 An-24 Belavia
P4-MAF BAe-125-1000B
RA-01501 PC-12/47 Dexter
RA-64040 Tu-204-300 Vladivostok Avia
RA-65116 Tu-134A-3 Aeroflot Nord
RA-65716 Tu-134B-3 UT Air
RA-85682 Tu-154M Air Union
RA-85843 Tu-154M Rossiya
RA-91015 Il-114 VBG, had props again!
SE-RBK Ce550 WaltAir Europe
VP-BFN 737-500 Sky Express
VP-BJV 737-300 KLD

Yesterday (01-05) it was, unfortunately, time for me to return home after three months of studying in St P and inbetween all the stuff one needs to do to get on a plane I managed to see:

D-AGWB A319-100 Germanwings, brought our group home
ES-PVD Lj55C Avies
OH-LXH A320-200 Finnair
RA-85658 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
RA-85739 Tu-154M Rossiya, Pulkovo c/s with Rossiya titles
TC-JLL A320-200 Turkish Airlines
VP-BUZ 767-300ER Uzbekistan Airways

I am going to miss those smoke trails turning into Tu-134's...

Greets, Maikel

[Piet Luijken]

Well known Mi-8s RA-25775 and RA-24100.

LET410 LY-AVA

but more importantly, an IraqiAF Mi-8 was parked outside, no serial as usual, but anyone for a c/n?

BTW: I flew over GorelovoAB and according to my pictures the storage contains some Mi24s next to the Mi8s.

ULLP, Pushkin still houses the usual stored aircraft.

greetings