The first flight out of Ulan-Ude this morning was the one our group was due to catch, and yes, we were due to fly on an An-24! Was I excited? You bet I was! I was awake before the alarm went off at around 4AM, as with usual Russian efficiency, we were due to get to the tiny terminal at least two hours before our flight was due to depart at sometime between five and six (I really don’t remember the time). We caught the hotel KGB security guard asleep in a chair in the lobby, still wearing his old suit and tie from the day before. He woke up with a start, cleaning his milk bottle bottom glasses in attempt to see what all the commotion was about.
Again we dragged our western wheeled baggage through the dusty and cobbled streets to the airport. If we didn’t attract attention on the way in the day before, we certainly did at this ungodly hour. We still couldn’t see our mount, as the ramp outside the terminal was empty, so our aircraft must have been parked in the gaggle of An-24s and An-26s we wandered around the day before.
It was finally time to go to the departure lounge, which really meant walking from the spacious terminal into a much smaller room where there were not enough seats. Our bus arrived at last to take us to the aircraft. Well, bus is stretching the description, as our transport was a pair of very old tram like carriages pulled by a tractor! Anyway as everyone barged through to be first to board this contraption, the wise amongst us knew the age old adage “last on first off”. It made sense as most of us wanted a window seat and the flight was a free for all.
We took the bumpy ride to IRAero An-24B RA-93934 looking pristine in the dawn light. Annoyingly when we stopped the front trams doors opened and ours in the second one stayed firmly shut. Panic kicked in but Steve spotted the emergency door handle; a quick flick of the lever and we are able to reach the rear side steps almost at the front of the line where the stewardess was holding everyone back. Now the scene looked more like a rugby scrum with everyone pushing and shoving and no British queue anywhere in sight.
RA-93934 was one of the last to roll off the Ulan-Ude production line, and here she was sitting at her birthplace ready for us. We were finally allowed to board and I managed to bag a window seat and settle down for a flight I’d always wanted to do. We spooled up and trundled along the bumpy taxiway and before we knew it we were airborne, and in no time we were cruising over Lake Baikal as the sun rises. “The Pearl of Siberia” as the lake is also known is the largest freshwater lake in the world and contains a staggering 20% of the world’s surface fresh water. This magical flight was over far too soon as we descended into our next adventure that would be Irkutsk.
Again we needed to walk only a short distance to our hotel, although this time it proved a little tricky across a very busy fast road with no pavements. We had a little time before we were due to go back for our tour and Steve remembered that there was an An-24 mounted on a roundabout somewhere close. We went for a walkabout but the old ARP403 Rework Factory was now closed and we couldn’t even find any roundabouts - maybe it had been taken away and scrapped? We decided to continue our wander to peek over the wall at the nearby Military Technical School, where I felt like a spy shooting candid photos of Il-76s and Tu-22s.
It was finally time to go to the airport, so we put our lives at risk again crossing the road and entered via the old terminal. While Olga disappeared to sort out our paperwork we hung around looking suspicious while marvelling at the old architecture in this building. Ten minutes later a large man in an even larger hat that looks like a boat walked quickly past us with Olga, red faced and almost running, in tow. This didn’t look at all good! The man who was supposed to show us around wasn't there and to cap it all off the airport had lost our paperwork! After another tense 30 minutes it seemed this man would now be our guide. He obviously wasn’t impressed and we suspected that he was looking forward to another day in the office with his feet up.
Irkutsk Airport is laid out very strangely. The main ramp outside the terminal was only being used by Russian jet equipment and a couple of Airbus’ were parked on a remote ramp towards the runway. The An-24/An-26 ramp is up a hill even further from the terminal next to the rework facility, and there is also a military ramp at the other end of the airfield.
By the time we actually got to the An-24 ramp all the aircraft that were parked when we landed had flown away… bugger! We decided we should shoot the An-2 and Mi-8s that were parked near this location, and this was where we hatched our cunning plan. Steve instructed us to take as long as we could shooting these few aircraft in order to stall “Mr Boat Hat” as he was obviously just trying to hurry us up so he could get back to sitting in the office. We were hoping some An-24s would fly back in while we stalled for time.
The ruse worked to an extent as a couple arrived and we asked to go to shoot them. Begrudgingly he agreed but told us we needed to wait for the passengers to disembark and be bussed away. Of course this was fine by us as the more we delayed the more chance we'd have to capture some more arrivals. After filling out boots with the current crop of Antonovs we directed our attention to the stored airframes in the ARP403 rework facility that were enclosed by a fence. “No” stated our pissed-off guide, “the facility is closed”. We lost the will to live at this point, resigned to the fact that we had been well and truly screwed over.
Suddenly a van arrived and a man called Anotoli jumps out and dispatched our long faced guide back to the terminal. Everything now changed, and it seemed that Anotoli was supposed to be our guide in the first place. Calm was again restored when we asked him about the rework facility, and with a quick chat with the man in the hut, the gates were opened and we were given ten minutes. We didn’t need to be told twice and off we scampered like children in a sweet factory.
As our new host was far more amenable we asked about shooting a couple of civilian Anotonvs parked at the end of the military ramp, where we explained that we would shoot away from the top secret An-12s and not be naughty boys. Everything was paradise as he agreed and we complied. We ended up shooting on the whole airfield thanks to our new friend and left with full CF cards and smiles on our faces.
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