Air Koryo Antonov 24

This flight is the second part of the Pyongyang-Sondok-Pyongyang journey. I flew the first leg on the Tupolev 134. As mentioned in the T134 entry, our group was split into half and we changed planes on the return leg. Thus I ended up flying the An24 for the first time in my life. But first we waited for the 134 to depart - during the time we had an opportunity for it to taxi meters in front of us and later takeoff leaving a cloud of dust behind it. When it was gone, we started boarding our plane. I was looking for a spot from which I could capture the entire engine with my GoPro. Unluckily the spot for it has been already taken so I was left with what I got. The engine nacelle can be entirely seen in the picture, but the fan not so clearly. Never mind. Seated in row 8 I prepared for takeoff and had a quick look around the plane. As we where not allowed to make any footage from the departure (the same reason as during the landing on the 134 - military stuff) I tried to get as much as I could from the experience. One thing said - I dislike the plane. It made my feel dizzy and the only thing I wanted is to get out of it. All the vibrations (the more to the front the more you get them), all the sound (which didn't please me at all) and a specific smell. Additionally the food we ate before the flight - well it wasn't top notch even for the local standards. A friend of mine got sick from it.
Overall I could say that the flight went smoothly, without major problems. I don't like the plane and surely will not hunt for it in the future. Well, any old plane is good, so who knows :P maybe someday I'll feel like flying on it again. Photos and videos below.

Arriving in Sondok

Taxiing in Sondok

Air Koryo Tupolev 134

The next day we had a trip to Sondok planned. Two planes, the T134 and the An24. Half of the group took the first one flying from Pyongayng and on the return segment we swapped. This way everyone could experience both planes with more then enough space. I've been assigned on the 134 on the first flight. The type was once very popular in Poland with LOT. The 134 used to fly on most European routes together with the 154 later on. And so was the Ilyushin 62 later for the intercontinental routes. I was able to experience all of them during my short stay in the DPRK.

Back to the flight on the 134 to Sondok. It wasn't a long flight. 45 minutes or so. We moved from our stand without even taking parking blocks away. Backtracked the runway and we're ready to go. The pure power can be felt from the very beginning. The sound together with the frames vibration make a combination that is hard to compare to anything else. But we're off in the air now and there is no coming back. It is beautiful that sitting in the back you can look into the engine and when the gear is down you can see the wheels. The interior is a very classical, russian one with seats folding down to the front (in the same style like on every other plane built in those years). The windows have no blinds and some seats, although imposingly the most comfortable and most important (emergency exit rows) are in fact the most injury making and least comfy that you can find on the entire plane.
Shortly after the landing (during which we have been not allowed to make any video or photo footage due to military reasons) we have had a photo session with the plane (and later the An24). You could grab a shot from basically any angle you wanted to. Same thing happened when we returned from lunch in the city before our next flight (this time on the Antonov). We have been also allowed to photograph the 134s' departure as it flew as the first one. The sound, the smoke, the distance.. Mmmm, something unbelievable! Have a look for yourself on the video and photo footage from that day. A video review is available at the end.