Air Koryo Tupolev 154

I wake up. A morning like many others. At a first glance there is nothing spectacular about it. But wait! I look out of the window and the same view comes to my eyes, the sight of Pyongyang city. The day has come. The day that most of us anticipated most. The day of flights. The day that I am going to hop on 5 flights, on 4 different planes, all of them being my first time. The Ilyushin 76, Ilyushin 62, Tupolev 154 and the Mi-17 helicopter. The 18th day of September 2014. A date I surely will remember, not only for the reasons stated above ;)

Midday came fast. We were already after two flights. We got on the bus after deboarding the Il-62 and moved a coupe of meters towards the Tupolev 154. This wasn't my first encounter of the type. It has previously visited many times Warsaw, and let's not forget about the Polish Air Force planes (101 and 102) that have been stationing at EPWA. One of which later crashed under Smolensk. For some it is the most beautiful plane ever made (I won't argue, it has its looks). It surely is the fastest sub sonic commercial plane made. with a huge amount of power form the three engines mounted at the back of the plane. There have even been situations when it flew the entire flight on only two engines as the third one was broken and they had to transport the plane to its base for a fix. Now, would any western plane be capable (or permitted) to do so? to takeoff, cruise and land without one engine?

We were already familiar with todays route, to Hamhung and back. This time without dinner, only a photo session after arrival and then we hoped on to return to Pyongyang. The B version has different engines than the M one. The sound they make at startup is unbelievable. Until now the I only had the pleasure to see it in flight, landing or departing. And it was fantastic! This day I was to fly on one. To hear it from the inside, to smell it. Worth any hassle! Unfortunately the seats at the rear are much more closer to each other than at the front, giving your knees some pain, so because of that, and to give others the possibility of flying at the end of the plane I returned to Pyongyang in business class. Quiet comfy :P

Now it's time for some (detailed) pictures and videos of the main character of this entry. 

 

Resting in Hamhung

Air Koryo Ilyushin 62

I wake up. A morning like many others. At a first glance there is nothing spectacular about it. But wait! I look out of the window and the same view comes to my eyes, the sight of Pyongyang city. The day has come. The day that most of us anticipated most. The day of flights. The day that I am going to hop on 5 flights, on 4 different planes, all of them being my first time. The Ilyushin 76, Ilyushin 62, Tupolev 154 and the Mi-17 helicopter. The 18th day of September 2014. A date I surely will remember, not only for the reasons stated above ;)

After we have deboarded the Ilyushin 76 we took the bus for a short ride to the plane that was standing next to us. The Ilyushin 62. I have been looking towards this flight for the last days. Once it was possible to get it on the flight to/from Beijing, but since China banned them from flying to their country now only the T204 and An148 do the flights. Also that type was once the backbone of LOT Polish Airlines Intercontinental fleet. It carried the crane to almost every continent! Later replaced by the Boeing 767. Boarding proceeded smoothly and I managed to get a decent seat. Row 28, seat F. The last row, just beside the engines. Oh my god, how great do they sound in real life! even better than on film. Listening to them spool up before takeoff was incredible. During the short flight, everybody could freely move around. While doing so, one thing being easily noticed is the difference in sound level throughout the plane. Up front it is quite, nearly like on a Dreamliner or a A380, at the back, some would say it would be impossible to go through a full transatlantic flight. After the flight, I couldn't go by the opportunity of taking a couple detailed shots of the interior and a cockpit shot. Later, before boarding our next airplane a short walk around the plane and I had to say goodbye to this beauty. Luckily the weather was on our side.

Before boarding

Boarding