Eternal outskirts of Moscow and beyond (LOTS of pics!)

[Skorohod]

i was going to go with a street tire but i like doing spontaneous off road short cuts too much

Last weekend i did a little bit of dirt roads with mud, grass inclines and sand on those tires. And i was surprised how well they can handle such conditions! Not for hardcore offroading of course, but well suitable for shortcuts. I'm glad with my tire choice. Hope you will too!

did you clip the hairs off the new tires again?

Nah, gonna wear them unshaved

 

[Skorohod]

In a summer 2022, on our way to Bashkiria we decided to visit memorial builded in a place of Gagarin and Seryogin plane crash. We already visited place of Gagarin triumph earlier, now we gonna see the place of his untimely demise.


01. First thing you see - is a "Divided star" stela.


02.


03. On a granite slab nearby - two sets of plaques. One set is a about a triumph of Gagarin.


04. One of the plaques is in Russian.


05. The second is in English. It's not just for tourists - foreign astronauts visit this place to pay their respects.


06. Second set of plaques is about Gagarin and Seryogin demise.


07. One in Russian.


08. And second in English.


09. The Divided Star and the bottomless skies.


10. This is the alley from this monument to the next one.

 

[Skorohod]

11. The latest addition to the memorial complex - is a pedestal for a plane.


12. The works are underway, some paths are going nowhere.


13. I heard that plane in question would be the MiG-29. Why not the MiG-15UTI, same as crashed here? I don't know.


14. A little to the side from pedestal - is the actual crash site.


15. "The monument of history. The place of death of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, the first pilot-cosmonaut Gagarin U. A. and the test-pilot Seryogin V. S. in the year of 1968. Guarded by the state". What's with insignia on top of the plaque - i wonder myself!


16. There is always fresh flowers.


17.


18. "In the march 27, year 1968 on this palce in a plane crash died the first pilot-cosmonaut of the world, the Hero of the Soviet Union Uri Alexeevich Gagarin and the test-pilot, the Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Sergeevich Seryogin"


19. There is a profiles of Gagarin and Seryogin on a stela.

 

[Skorohod]

20. And what's up with this birch tree?


21. Whoa!


22. "This birch tree is one of the 14 trees cutted by the falling plane of Gagarin U.A. and Seryogin V.S."


23. "The Birch"

 

[Skorohod]

24. Just in a couple of kilometers from the crash site - an old empty village Andreevsky Pogost. The old cemetery, a church and a little museum - is all that left.


25. Actually, museum is no more too - a little wooden shed burned down some years ago. But here still remains the MiG-15UTI (trainer version of the fighter jet), the same type as crashed!


26. "MiG-15UTI March 27 of year 1968 the last flight of the first cosmonaut of the planet Earth U.A. Gagarin and his flight mentor V.S. Seryogin"


27.


28. It was a simple, easy to fly jet trainer, one of the "flying school desks". That doesn't helped two experienced jet pilots to survive.


29.


30.


31.


32. The MiG-15UTI and the church of Andrew the Apostle.


33. The church of Andrew the Apostle, which was built in a XIX century.

On our further way to Bashkiria we decided to cheer up a little and visit the Civil Aviation Museum in Ulianovsk city. Next time i'll tell you about our visit to such museum and will show some photos, of course!

 

[Skorohod]

Today i've assembled a new electric distribution box for my garage. Before it was a mess - lights switched by breakers instead of normal switch. Breakers for a sokets was rated for 32 A (which is higher current than in a main box of the whole garage building).



Now it's properly built - protection relay, normal switch for a lights and dedicated socket for battery chargers with a limit of 6 A.





But the main reason for the rebuild was installing a VFD for my big-ass fan. With a power consumption of 240 Watts and considerable noise it was not suited for a constant ventilation.



This fan was a leftover from some old construction on my parents house. This winter i've put it to work and installed it in my garage (with the epic fall with ladder and bruising my behind badly during that process).





Epic fail! That fan is one-phase only:




So i'm going to replace it with a proper fan with 3-phase motor. Distribution box came out nice, though.

 

[A-DamW]

Nice job on the distribution box/VFD Skorohod, I have really enjoyed following your adventures and pictures from the comfort of my home, beautiful!

 

[goatman]

you have more power in your garage than my house, i only have 120v/60amp service coming in
do you harvest Chaga off your birch trees to make tea?

 

[Skorohod]

Nice job on the distribution box/VFD Skorohod, I have really enjoyed following your adventures and pictures from the comfort of my home, beautiful!

Thank you! I've stashed some photos from 2022, so more will come soon!

 

[Skorohod]

you have more power in your garage than my house, i only have 120v/60amp service coming in

We have three phase input with 16 Amps breaker on each phase, it's roughly 3.5 kW per phase or 10.5 kW total power. All that is divided between 50 individual garages and common infrastructure. Since it's not the USSR (when garage life was important part of a culture and kind of the man's club) it's is rare ocasion when more than 2-3 garages would occupaied with people actively working with powertools in the same time. So 10 kW is more than enough!

In rural houses it's no uncommon to have 16 Amps breaker and only one phase. So 3.5 kW is all you can have. But powergrids and transformers is always in a upgrade process and with depopulation of small villages more and more people in its own houses can have more power (from 5 kW and up).

In the city, if your building doesn't have a natural gas line, you can expect at least 10 kW one phase power input per apartment to power you electric stove. That is more than enough too.

In your case you have roughly the same power as many rural houses in Russia with 24 Amps breakers on one phase 230 V input. Not great, not terrible!

do you harvest Chaga off your birch trees to make tea?

In short answer - i do not. But i'm do not mind to elaborate!

My first encounter with chaga mushroom was in Bashkiria, i was 6 years old or something about that. There is a tall birch tree right beside the house (my father plant this tree with his brothers somewhat in 1960-s) and of course there was a chaga on the trunk, with a size of a small melon. What is that, i've asked? "This is a parasite mushroom", i've been answered. So chaga for me is a symbol of something malignant, definitely not for the food!

I've drank a birch juice though. When i was a kid, right in a Moscow. Friends of my parents had kid same age as myself, once in a spring we walked in a vicininty of his house and he show me how to drink it - just a jab of an awl to the trunk and you can drink it right of the bark. A little barbaric method to get a drink, i may say. It was a sweet clear liquid with a little sour, like a diluted lemonade. It was one and only experience with birch juice.

 

[Skorohod]

In summer 2022, after our visit to Gagarin place of demise we continued our way towards Bashkiria. In the early evening we've been in Ulyanovsk city. Ulyanovsk, formerly known as Simbirsk is famous as a birthplace of Vladimir Ulyanov (hence the new name) aka Vladimir Lenin. The other fame of Ulyanovsk is UAZ (Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant), the birthplace of legendary Bukhanka.

But we was after some other goal. We stayed at night in a hotel of Ulyanovsk airport. First thing in the morning we went to Ulyanovsk Museum of Civil Aviation History!

Its official name is quite mouthful - "Головной отраслевой музей истории гражданской авиации" or ГОМИГА in abbreviation. It's a little funny abbreviation when you said it aloud, the closest thing in English would be something like "homo amigo", a source for a some juvenile humor.


001. When you walk from a hotel to a museum - you can immediately see that you on a right path!


002. The most of the walk is through this nice birch alley.


003. Designated place for a smoke.


004. The sign on the bottom us saying "drive to a parking lot is temporarily restricted".

So people park their cars all around museum, there is a lot of space. The museum seems to be quite popular - that was a summer wednesday morning and all parking space was occupied by cars with a number plates from a lot of russian regions even before museum opening time.

The price of admission is about 100 roubles (roughly 1.5 USD) and there is a lots of discounts for kids, elders, disabled people or war vets.


005. "Do not rotate the propellers!" sign says.


006. This Husqvarna lawn mower is not a part of exhibition. I guess.


007. And this is the only non-flying exhibit of museum - brutal airfield firetruck named AA-60. It's build on a chassis of a Minsk Automobile Plant named MAZ-7310. Originally designed to haul TBM rockets it's equipped with a monstrous V-12 diesel from T-34 battle tank. And in this case it can haul up to 12 thousands liters of water.


008. This view from one of museum inner roads can summarise what you up against.

The small silver dot in the sky in the center top of a picture - is not an optical abnormality, it's a light aircraft. Museum basically placed on a Ulyanovsk airport land, so when you walk between planes you can hear all kinds of aviation motors sounds from above, the gently roar of turbufans and the hummning of smapll piston engines.


009. B737-800 flying above permanently earthbound old Soviet helicopter of Aeroflot national airline. There is some harsh poetic symbol in this.


010. The Diamond DA40 Diamond Star light aircraft flying over museum.

 

[Skorohod]

011. This is a nice summer morning. Light is a little harsh to take nice photos is only complaint.

Immediately to the left from museum entrance is a tent. Lets walk in and see what's in there. And inside was unfinished exhibition, but not without some interesting nevertheless.


012. It's the famous "black boxes", which is actually a orange spheres.


013. "Мечта", "a dream" is only caption provided (if you do not count "do not enter" sign). It's a light biplane glider, it's all i can get. Tryed to google it, no luck.


014. This is AK-1 - one of the oldest soviet passenger aircrafts from early 1920-s. A century ago!


015. There is none of actual planes survived, so unfortunately it's only a mockup.


016. This is a legendary У-2 (U-2 in transliteration, but not the famous reconnaissance plane from 1960-s). This simple light biplane was used as stealth bomber during WWII.

"From the depths of hell in silence
Cast their spells, explosive violence
Russian night time flight perfected
Flawless vision, undetected!"

017. Yak-12M, light piston engined aircraft. I'm probably heard and saw them from the distance in my childhood - kindergarten i've attended was only couple kilometers from Tushino airfield.


018. D-30KP - is an inportant turbofan engine. Still hauling Il-76 airlifters.


019. That spiral-shaped thingy inside - is probably a mixer for a streams for low-pressure and high-pressure ducts.


020. Behind D-30KP you can see more engines.

Museum is clearly suffering from lack of funding and understaffed. I'm really hoping it would overcome all difficulties and times of prosperity is ahead.

 

[Skorohod]

Time to go back from tent to summer morning!


021. An-2 - basically a flying pickup truck. Can haul up to 1500 kilograms of cargo or 9 passengers anywhere with minimum comfort.


022. Takeoff and landing speed are very low - about 60-80 kph, almost within a city speed limit.


023. Big chunky wheels can endure any rough terrain.


024. And with all that it's not a small plane like other "flying jeeps" like Piper Cub. It still can haul 9 people or 1500 kg with range over 500 km and cruise speed of 200 kph. There is almost 20000 of An-2's totally produced.

It was a very important aircraft for a vast USSR with many remote unpaved airfields. The only viable replacement for now - is a Mi-8 helicopter.

 

[Skorohod]

An-2 was designed by Antonov bureau in the middle of 1940-s, in the post-war years. And only decade later the same bureau proposed a replacement - a cute An-14 nicknamed "Пчелка" ("a little bee").


025. The little bee is a little shy.


026. An-14 was equipped by two piston engines.


027. It's amongst a few exhibits which innards is open to visit!


028. Sometime there is a line of people to visit a pane. I took this picture of AI-14 engine while i've waited for my turn.


029. Welcome to the little bee!


030. It's a very small plane. Like a compact van.


031.


032. It's a one man crew aircraft. The right seat is for passenger!


033.


034.

 

[Skorohod]

035. If it's not a flying pickup truck like An-2, it's a flying 7-seat Lada Largus!


036. There is only 340 An-14 was build. A little bee doesn't fit in this world.


037. An-24 - is a much larger turboprop, which can handle unpaved airfields on a regular basis.


038.


039. It's still in demand for local airlines with no substantial replacement. All hopes is for new Il-114.


041. Small turboprop plane on the background - is a M-101T, a late design of Myasishchev bureau.


041. Only 26 of those was made.


042. And this is Czechoslovakian L-29 Delfin, light jet trainer.


043. The combat jets was getting more complicated and pricey to built so this "flying school desk" was in demand.


044. Another light turboprop from Czechoslovakia - L-410. The same class as An-2 but far more advanced. Never repeated the success of An-2 though, only 1200 was built.

 

[Skorohod]

045. And this is incredible contraption from Poland!


046. Mielec M-15. It's a crop duster.


047. It's a biplane.


048. A turbojet biplane!


049. The plump parts between its wings - tanks for agricultural chemicals.


050. The one and only turbojet biplane crop duster.


051. It's so peculiar, it has a prominent nickname. The Belphegor!


052. Someone put a dents on a tails of this beautiful demon.


053. From a side it looks like a helicopter. But it isn't. It's still a turbojet biplane crop duster Mielec M-15 "Belphegor"!

 

[Skorohod]

054. And what about helicopters? There is some. But only of Mil' bureau. Like this Mi-1.


055. It's a piston engine light heicopter from late 1940-s. Painted in soviet road police colors. And looks like every today modern helicopter!


056. And this is Mi-2 - a further development of Mi-1. Designed in early 1960-s, has turbine engines.


057. Despite its model numbering this Mi-4 is from early 1950-s, disigned before Mi-2.


058. It has piston engined lodged in odd angle in the front, crew cabin above it and passenger cabine behind!


059. Torq from the engine passed to the blades through shafts between crew and passenger cabins.



060. And this winged giant is Mi-6. Mi-6 and Mi-26, which is its future development still hold records for heaviest helicopter ever created.


061. Mi-8 - is the An-2 of helicopters. It's everywhere!

 

[Skorohod]

062. Yak-40 - a soviet business-jet for a people. Designed in early 1960-s. This one is taking its morning shower.


063. This is a straight-winged tri-jet for a domestic airlines.


064. It has a moniker "the interceptor of a jet-fuel" for its relatively high fuel consumption.


065. Another Yakovlev bureau tri-jet - Yak-42. It's the first exhibit yet i've actually flown as a passenger! I remember it quite comfy, with a convenient stair door in the back. And the sound of its early high-bypass turbofans - harsh, like a circular saw.


066. Il-14 of Ilyushin bureau. Last of soviet piston-engined airliners.


067. It was quite popular for arctic and antarctic routes even in a turbine era.


068.


069. It is relatively small airliner, but still quite impressive in a close range!

 

[Skorohod]

070. Il-18 was a very popular turboprop.


071. This is the second exhibit i have flown. Just once. It was noisy and slower than turbojets, but that's it - all other comfort features was the same.


072. Operated same time as Tu-104 (one of the first passenger turbojets in the world) Il-18 took a fame as more economical, long-range and easy to operate airliner.


073.


074. Il-28 was an early jet bomber. Some of those was painted to Aeroflot livery and used to carry post and train pilots for new jet liners, such as Tu-104.


075. Il-62 was the turbojet long-range airliner.



076. The flagship airliner of a soviet fleet for some time!


077. Equipped with four hevavy low-bypass turbofans in the back! Il-62 and British VC-10 was the only airliners with such layout.


078. With a "clean wing" it was a beautiful, streamlined maschine.


079.

 

[Skorohod]

080. Another Il-62 in a museum collection.


081. Three Ilyushin's - Il-18, Il-62, Il-14!


082. The first soviet wide-body airliner - Il-86.


083. "I want to be a Boeing" was its moniker.


084. Can't actually agree on that monicer - Il-86 was quite original. Post-war Tupolev airliners draw from Boeing much more through Tu-4, which was copy of B-29. And this Ilyushin bureau airliner from the 1970-s - doesen't.


085.


086.


087. And this is one of a museum star exhibitions - almost century old, the early Tupolev's ANT-4 bomber from the 1920-s!


088. This one has livery of the arctic explorers and ski for a chassis.

This is all for today, but tomorrow i'll conclude my tale about a visitation of Ulyanovsk Civil Air museum!

 

[fechter]

Those are awesome pictures.
I’d love to see that in person.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[amberwolf]

Xerox.

 

[Skorohod]

This is all for today, but tomorrow i'll conclude my tale about a visitation of Ulyanovsk Civil Air museum!

Yesterday forum engine had some problems, so i'm delivering my promise today!


089. Tu-104 - one of the first passenger turboet liners in the world. Opened a new era to soviet domestic airlines.


090. There was three peoneers - de Havilland Comet, Tu-104 and B-707. Comet was the first and was plagued with a lot of growing pains. Tu-104 was the second and B-707 third that entered the service (and most successful commercially).


091. Powered by only two Mikulin AM-3 engines - one of he most powerfull engines of that era. The price was fuel consumption and a small service time periods (only 100 hours of the time between overhauls).


092. Tu-104 was designed with a deep unification with Tu-16 bomber. Tu-104 and Tu-16 is no longer in service, but the China still has the H-6 - variant of Tu-16 with a lot of upgrades.


093.


094. And that is a first long-range flagship airline of the USSR - the magnificent Tu-114!


095. Same as Tu-104 was a deeply re-engineered variant of Tu-16, this is based on a disign of a famous "the Bear" - Tu-95 strategic bomber.

There is a lot of odd things in this design: it's still a fastest turboprop in the world, with a swept wing, equipped with a two co-axial counter rotating propellers on the each of four engines. As a technological oddity it could compete with a Polish Mielec M-15 "Belphegor"!

The vibrations and the noise was excruciating, some passengers was almost shell-shocked after a long flight with their heads ringing for several days after.

 

[Skorohod]

But the most intriguing exhibit is not Tu-114 (rarity on its own with only 32 planes ever build). Tupolev bureau was in a hurry to deliver a passenger flagship and for a case of stalling of production devised a plan "B". This was only two of those in the existence - basically a "vanilla" Tu-95 bomber with a passenger cabin instead of bomb bay. Tu-116 was its name, and one of them became an yet another unique exhibit of Ulyanovsk museum!


096. The one and only (quite literally) Tu-116!


097. Tu-116 and early Tu-95's was build with a glass cabin for a navigator right in the nose. The views from there should be astonishing!


098. In the modern Tu-95 this place is a radome for the top secret electronic stuff.


099.


100.


101. There is a door with a ladder in the back - another difference from the Tu-95.


102. If the Tu-114 was uncomfortable, then what was the noise in this "ultra-narrow-body" airliner?


103.

 

[Skorohod]

104. And this is the Tu-124 - "downsized" variant of Tu-104. The engines was a low-bypass turbofans, for the first time in the history of soviet civil aviation.


105. This time its passenger cabin was open for visitation. There is something odd in a design... there is no luggage racks above seats!


106. The crew's cabin is also lacking big-ass overhead console like in modern planes.


107.


108.


109. A way to a Narnia!


110. It would be so cool to fly in one of those glass navigator cabins as a passenger!


111. Beware the gyroscope! Do not haul this unit until the gyromotors is in full stop!