The Russians Are Here!!

[airboatr]

The Condor, at Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI) . yesterday
I was able to get out on the tarmac for a picture, and then drove around the airport for different angles, of this very large aircraft.

It was scheduled to depart at 0600 today, so I went back this morning in hopes of getting a video of it taking off. No luck,
There were issues discovered during the preflight inspection, A bad tire (Tyre) for one, so they've pushed the departure back to 2000 Zulu today.
Hopefully the weather will not be a problem.

[Airspeed]

Good shots, Joe
They carry spare parts for them in the USA, or do they have to fly a (well done! ) TYRE in to fix it?

[airboatr]

I have no idear, Mike
Anyway, it tookoff about 40 minutes ago.
I had gone around the north side of the airport for a nose shot, just in time to see it rolling down the runway.
... Maybe I'll catch it another day.

[blanston12]

Do you know where it's supposed to depart to?

I live near Moffett Field near San Jose California (Former Naval Air Station now operated by NASA Ames Research Center), there is often an AN-124 parked there, I wonder if this is the same aircraft.

[airboatr]

Hi Joe,
I have no idea where it went. I'm miffed I missed it go.

I was told two stories about its departure time, both were wrong. Can I safely say if I would have asked its destination I would have been given the wrong answer?

..
Ah well I did get the opportunity to have a picture with it.

The # on the ac is RA-82044.
Flightview didn't list the flight..

[gordon-in-aberdeen]

His Jo, pics

I saw one of these landing in Prestwick about two months ago while I was on my way to sunny Belfast on business. A suggestion from one of my mates was they were probably being used to ferry in the replacement helicopters coming in from abroad to replace the Pumas that are now banned in the North Sea because of safety fears, this was subsuquently possibly confirmed about a month ago. We were driving home one evening when two huge low loader artics passed us heading north to Aberdeen taking up both lanes of the road, each with a civilian variant of the AW101 Merlin shrink wrapped in white plastic like they do with expensive cars on the back, not something you see every day even up here

[DaveB]

I took these in 2006. Nothing remarkable other than I watched it land and unload at RAF Brize Norton





Seeing one of these at a civvie airport is one thing.. I was quite flabbergasted to see it at an active RAF airfield.
ATB
DaveB

[airboatr]

Seeing one of these at a civvie airport is one thing.. I was quite flabbergasted to see it at an active RAF airfield.
ATB
DaveB

No standards

Cold wars don't mean anything and the victor of space races are given to the lowest bidder.



Nice pictures you got, that bird has it's nose stuck up in the air though. Those Cheeky b@st@rds

[DaveB]

Sadly.. I didn't hang around long enough to see what was off-loaded

ATB
DaveB

[GHD]

I hate to say it, but it isn't Russian, it is Ukrainian