" The It's not possible Romania Tour 2009 " 27-31 May 09 Ade Hairsine
A week in Romania
military spotting was to be my high light of the year BUT the Romanian AF
cancelled the Press tours we were on about 3 weeks ago, You cam imagine what
was said and thought about that !!. We still had our flights booked and paid
for so we decided to go as we had arranged some other tours on airfields in
the country besides, Our trip started last Wednesday evening after getting
back from the TLP in Belgium that morning, We drove to Luton for a near 3 hour
flight to Bucharest Baneasa with Wizzair. No stops were made on the way down
but starting the log at Luton. The name of the tour will be explained later in
the log
Luton
27-05-09
Biz
G-EDCM Ce-525
G-EVLN GULF-4
G-HARK CL-604
G-KSFR CL-300
G-MATF GULF-4
G-OLDT LEARJET
G-RRAZ EMB-135
G-SABI Da-900
G-SNZY LEARJET
G-TSJF Ce-525
A6-ZAB GULF-3
CS-DLD Da-2000
CS-DMW Be-400
CS-DRJ BAe-125
D-CVJN LEARJET
EC-JYR GULF-5
EC-KPB Ce-560
EI-JJJ BAe-125
JY-RJA CL-601
N93AE GULF-4
N221DG GULF-5
N448QS GULF-4
N504MS Da-50
N605TX CL-605
N534QS GULF-5
N710AW Ce-750
N744XP BAe-125
N800BN CL-604
N887WM BD-700
N900JG Da-900
N910Q Da-900
N923CL GULF-4
N1090X CL-604
OE-HFC GULF-200
OE-INC BD-700
OE-INX CL-604
OE-INI CL-604
SP-ZSZ CL-300
TC-CAR BD-100
VP-CFA EMB-135
VP-CFR Da-900
VP-CNR GULF-5
VQ-BLA GULF-5
XA-BAL GULF-5
XA-CPQ GULF-5
YU-SPA Ce560
ZS-AOL GULF-5
5N-BGV GULF-2
Airliners
G-BYAU B-757
THOMPSON
G-EZBA A-319
EASYJET
G-EZDJ A-319
EASYJET
G-EZDV A-319
EASYJET
G-EZIK A-319
EASYJET
G-EZJX B-737
EASYJET
EI-EBX B-737
RYANAIR
EI-REH ATR-72 AER
ARRAN
EI-REL ATR-72 AER
ARRAN
HA-LPA A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPM A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPQ A-320 WIZZAIR (Our ride to Romania,
A difficult "Q" to read but i walked under the wing anyway)
HA-LPS A-320
WIZZAIR
HA-LPU A-320
WIZZAIR
PH-XRE B-737
TRANSAVIA
After an
uneventful 2h 50m flight had passed we landed in Romania and as luck would
have it we were sat on the good side to log quite a bit whilst taxing on to
stand
Bucharest
Baneasa 28-05-09
A night arrival
in the dark did not hinder our logging as all bar one Blue Air B-737,s were
there in one line that we taxied past and we parked very close to the GA and
Biz Jet parking area, The logging begun
YR-BAA B-737
BLUEAIR
YR-BAC B-737
BLUEAIR
YR-BAD B-737
BLUEAIR
YR-BAF B-737
BLUEAIR
YR-BIA B-737
BLUEAIR
YR-BIB B-737
BLUEAIR
YR-BIC B-737
BLUEAIR
(YR-MDJ) MD-80
White
YR-SBK Sf-2000 CARPATAIR
YR-BNP Bn-2 ISLANDER
YR-(E)AN Ka-26
YR-PAF An-2
YR-PVF An-2
EI-DUU CRJ-900
MYAIR
HA-LPK A-320
WIZZAIR
HA-LPL A-320
WIZZAIR
HA-LPO A-320
WIZZAIR
HA-LPQ A-320
WIZZAIR
HB-AFL ATR-72
FARNAIR EUROPE
N707LG B-707
(Ex Indonesian AF, A-7002)
N933AS MD-83
OM-NGP B-737 SKY
EUROPE
(3D-MDJ) MD-80
YR-RPG Ce-560
YR-RPR Ce-560
YR-DIP CL-604
I-ERJE LEARJET
TC-TMO Ce-560
(5N-BEG) B-727
(5N-BDP) B-737
107 Mi-17 Police
110 Mi-17 Police
(334) Ec-134 Air
Ambulance (Read as 234 ?)
(736) Mi-8 Police
(Read as 734 ?)
Others
YR-CBB SA-365
YR-ECI Ec-135
F-GXKG A-109
N213SE SR-22
Req,s
YR-FGS Ec-145 ?
YR-SBK
(YR-???) An-2
Yellow Fuse
(YR-???) An-2 No
Wings
(YR-???) An-2 No Wings or Tail
(YR-???) Bn-2
????? B-737
????? B-737
????? MD-80
????? MD-80
????? MD-80
????? MD-80
????? MD-80
????? MD-80
Airport Industrial Estate
204 IAR-93
The only Blue Air B-737 not here this morning was YR- BAE which is ex
British Midland G-SFBH so we were not that bothered about missing that one,
Having got the Hire Car we moved the few miles North to the main airport for
the city Otopeni
Bucharest Otopeni
28-05-09
Nothing civil was noted here as views with from
the outside are not great but a good amount of military aircraft were read
off, Of the 35 or so IAR-330 Puma,s based here we managed to read off the
following
25 IAR-330 PUMA (Mis-Pole for 28 ?)
28 IAR-330 PUMA
41 IAR-330 PUMA
63 IAR-330 PUMA
65 IAR-330 PUMA
78 IAR-330 PUMA
80 IAR-330 PUMA
93 IAR-330 PUMA
107 IAR-330 PUMA
Other ramps were
(YR-BEA) BAe-146
(YR-BEB) BAe-146
(YR-BR?) BAC 1-11 (Could br YR-BR, E, H, or I ?)
And a line some stored An-24,s and 26,s also
here were three C-130,s but the air force has five
(1801) An-24
(1802) An-24
(1912) An-24
(5022) An-24
(5024) An-24
(207) An-26
(307) An-26
(707) An-26
Left Near the airport terminal when the museum
moved closer to the city centre is an H-5
the Chinese built IL-28
(405) H-5C
The only other thing of note were two aircraft
of the civil side a Tarom A-310 (I don't need then anyway) and a BBJ is
striking dark colours which i am trying to find on the net. Back into town
next and passing Baneasa again we saw an AF C-130 parked
Bucharest Baneasa 28-05-09
Not much to log here other than a "Herk" which
we did not read off in the end
???? C-130 Romanian AF
Bucharest Air Force Museum 28-05-09
The museum stands in a military area in the city
but access is ok once you find a car parking spot. The museum has three
hangars two open with displays and a restoration hangar which is not open
but just about everything can be seen thought the gaps in the doors and the
windows etc
Gate Guard, Pole Mounted
15 IAR-823
Outside
002 IAR-93
01 IAR-828
03 Mi-8
05 Mi-8
018 MiG-19
15 L-29
15 ZLIN-526
35 YAK-52 (c/n checked as 866414)
45 IAR-316
47 IAR-330
52 YAK-23
67 MiG-29 "Sniper"
86 IAR-316
105 IAR-28
112 IAR-93
130 Bn-2 ISLANDER
140 L-39
246 MiG-15
442 Mi-17
444 MiG-17
502 MiG-17
709 Mi-8
711 MiG-21
714 MiG-21
1120 MiG-21
2007 MiG-21
2543 MiG-15
2573 MiG-15
2579 MiG-15
??? ZLIN-526
8201 "UAV / MISSILE"
Main Hall
14 YAK-23
2713 MiG-15
Civil
YR-ACR AERO-43
YR-ICE IAR-813
YR-ZLA ZLIN-226
YR-909 SILIMON IS-3D GLIDER
1959 / 1970 Hall
10 MiG-21
750 MiG-19
904 MiG-17
In and around the Restoration Hangar
Outside
727 MiG-15
Inside
090204 Mi-1
05 L-29 (Fuse only)
114 IAR-316
(66) La-9
?????? IL-10
?????? Mi-2
?????? Mi-4
?????? ??? (Fuse only covered over)
Missing from a December 08 log was
114 IAR-93
Moving West from the city towards Craiova we
passed Bals and its small collection of An-2,s
BALS 28-05-09
A little run down to sat the least and i don't
think many of these will fly again but its just at the road side and
cannot be missed unless its dark but even then it would have to be very
dark to miss the "Junk Pile" here.
YR-DAN An-2
YR-PSA An-2
YR-YAV An-2 (Ex 47 Romanian AF)
Arriving in Craiova and getting a hotel ended
the first two days on our Romanian tour.
Friday started
with a tour of the Avioane Craiove Factory which is located next to the
airport in Craiova and connected with the runway with about a 1/2 mile taxiway
Craiove
Avioane Factory 29-05-09
We were given a
full tour of the complex excluding the "Military Test Hangar" which is still
under the control of the Air Force, We were told "It is not possible to go in
there" ( No-1). Noted in the factory on our tour where all the IAR-93,s and
J-22,Orao were built were the following
Inside
IAR Test Hangar
239 IAR-93
??? IAR-93
718 OAR-98
IAR Hangar
Storage Hangar
The Hangar is a
work shop doing contract work and stored in a fenced off part are the
fuselages of 63 aircraft all on racking never to be finished and all will be
scrapped. The aircraft were never finished because its was a joint project
with Yugoslavia, the fuse was built here and the rest in Yugoslavia the engine
was a licensed built Rolls Royce Spey. All the J-22,s were ordered by the
Yugoslav AF but not delivered because of a disagreement between the two
countries
88 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
89 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
90 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
93 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
94 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
97 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
98 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
99 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
100 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
102 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
103 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
104 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
107 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
108 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
109 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
110 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
111 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
112 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
113 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
115 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
116 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
117 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
118 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
119 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
120 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
121 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
122 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
123 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
124 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
127 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
128 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
132 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
133 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
134 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
135 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
136 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
137 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
138 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
139 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
140 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
141 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
142 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
143 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
144 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
145 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
146 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
147 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
148 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
149 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
150 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
153 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
154 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
155 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
156 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
157 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
158 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
159 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
160 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
161 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
162 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
163 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
164 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
165 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only) *
From the list
published in EMOOS the following were missing
130 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
131 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
151 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
152 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
165 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
And
90 J-22,Orao
(Fuse Only)
Was added to the
list as its not in EMOOS
None of the
IAR-93 listed in EMOOS were seen
Outside
?????? DC-9 (All White)
?????? DC-9 (All White)
We did ask in we
could go inside the compound but were told "It is not possible to go in
there". (No-2). We left as happy as we could be having taken lots of photos of
the compound and reading off the one's marked "*" above. On the other side of
the airport is a storage area which contained retired MiG-21,s and the
IAR-93,s of the Romanian AF ** BUT ** we could not see and MiG-21,a over
there. Things did not look good for the MiG's and all we could see of the
IAR-93,s were about 10 or 12. We had a tour on the airport on Saturday morning
and it was only Friday morning so with a few W & R,s still to do around the
town we set off chatting about the MiG's
Craiova
Town 29-05-09
Down in the town
about 4 miles form the airport is the an technical school working with IAR,
Here are the following
16 MiG-21
YR-EIB ZLIN-
"YR-FEL An-24
(Real id YR-AMX)
????? ??? Poss
the fuse for YR-ZLB
YR-ZLB ?? Wings
only
Another location
in the town has a MiG-15, It did have two but one has gone for scrap
Craiova Town 29-05-09
746 MiG-15
A little way South of the town is the GA field and here are some more
An-2,s, 5 Of them
Craiova Town 29-05-09
YR-AOT An-2
YR-PAS An-2
YR-PBB An-2
YR-PBI An-2
YR-PBU An-2
Other bits here were
YR-VLA WILGA
And Micro lights and Gliders
YR-175 SZD-32 FOKA
YR-318 ?
YR-355 IAR-28
YR-516 IAR-29
YR-1526 ?
YR-1549 ?
YR-3190 ?
YR-3320 ?
YR-3660 ?
YR-3710 ?
We asked to take some photos of the An-2,s The answer was "Yes but It is
not possible" ( No-3) to have the registration of the Aero club Craiova
name in the picture !! Why ??, We don't know ? . We left !!
Some way down the road towards the Bulgaria boarder in the small town of
Perisor and here is yet another IAR-93
Perisor 29-05-09
109 IAR-93
In the middle of the village at the side of the road, You cannot miss it
even in the dark. The last call of the day was Deveslu some miles South
East of Craiova, Here are 30 MiG-21,s stored out on the closed airfield
and awaiting their fate this area is now an Army barracks and we asked to
go in (You don't get with out asking) BUT (Yep you guessed it !!) "It is
not possible" (No-4). So looking from the outside found only 28 in view
there were
Deveslu 29-05-09
Quite a frustrating place with no good views found and the Romanian Army
still actively driving all over the base even on a Friday evening. A hill
approx two miles from the Mig,s gave us the only good view, The Sun was
low behind us and the logging begun
(411) MiG-21
(412) MiG-21
(413) MiG-21
(414) MiG-21
(415) MiG-21
(501) MiG-21
(503) MiG-21-M
(503) MiG-21-PF
(504) MiG-21
(505) MiG-21
(507) MiG-21
(508) MiG-21
(510) MiG-21
(609) MiG-21
(705) MiG-21
(1717) MiG-21
(3910) MiG-21
4109 MiG-21*
4707 MiG-21*
(4711) MiG-21
(4712) MiG-21
(5117) MiG-21
(5904) MiG-21
(8006) MiG-21 (Id by colours)
(8102) MiG-21
8103 MiG-21*
Just of of sight near some hangars were these five, Pity
12 MiG-21
20 MiG-21
807 MiG-21
9614 MiG-21
And an
116 IAR-93
Read off *, Yes
two MiG-21,s serialed 503 what a headache we read one but which??, The rest
were nose on to us and nothing could be read off these. Looking on the net at
photos of Deveslu aircraft have not moved round since the 2006 press tours so
we are happy to take what we saw. So that was the day over, Back to the hotel
in Craiova still talking about the MiG-21,s we were hoping were still there,
Thoughts went from no they are gone to 50% they are still sat on the field but
out of sight.
Craiova
Town 30-05-09
D-Day arrived and
we went to the airport at 09-00 as arranged to find our contact, As we arrived
there was Police and security all over the place, The Romanian president was
making a surprise visit to the town !!, Come back at 15-00 our man said. So
with nothing else to do off we went to wait for 6 hours, We went back to
Deveslu to have another go at the Mig,s there but were unable to get any more
info or find another viewing point so back to Craiova for some food and a
coffee or two.
At last 15-00
came and our guide was found we were taken onto the airport to look at the
stored jets. The sixty stored Mug-21,s had indeed gone all scrapped about two
years ago (What a bummer !!!!). Every cloud has a Silver lining and the
president arrived in a nice mil chopper and a Beech-200 and Carpet Air
SAAB-200 was also seen
201 SA-365
YR-RAD Be-200
YR-SBN Sf-2000
Stored
005 IAR-93
006 IAR-93
110 IAR-93
111 IAR-93
115 IAR-93
117 IAR-93
118 IAR-93
119 IAR-93
159 IAR-93
161 IAR-93
162 IAR-93
163 IAR-93
180 IAR-93
181 IAR-93
184 IAR-93
202 IAR-93
203 IAR-93
209 IAR-93
212 IAR-93
213 IAR-93
215 IAR-93
216 IAR-93
217 IAR-93
218 IAR-93
220 IAR-93
221 IAR-93
222 IAR-93
223 IAR-93
224 IAR-93
227 IAR-93
228 IAR-93
229 IAR-93
230 IAR-93
231 IAR-93
233 IAR-93
234 IAR-93
235 IAR-93
237 IAR-93
238 IAR-93
240 IAR-93
241 IAR-93
603 IAR-93
604 IAR-93
605 IAR-93
All the IAR-93,s
are going to be scrapped very soon so we may have missed the MiG-21,s but we
did get most of these
The IAR-93 were
nearly all there but these 15 were all missing,
110 IAR-93
150 IAR-93
151 IAR-93
152 IAR-93
154 IAR-93
155 IAR-93
156 IAR-93
157 IAR-93
158 IAR-93
160 IAR-93
182 IAR-93
201 IAR-93
205 IAR-93
206 IAR-93
207 IAR-93
Hangar
The IAR,s could in here could be some of the
one's missing above
449 MiG-17 or 19 ?
The Mig-17 or
19 is a "First Sighting" nobody else has seen this aircraft before that we
know of, One up to us then !.
007 IAR-93
??? IAR-93
??? IAR-93
??? IAR-93
??? IAR-93
In a hangar close to where we parked the car
were five more IAR-93,s and a MiG-17 or 19 ?, One of the IAR-93,s we think
is 007 which is believed to have been scrapped pre 2006 so that is one back
from the dead. We did ask to go in the hangar to have a good look at what we
could see but We were told "It is not possible to go in" So with our visit
here concluded here we set off back towards Bucharest and another look
around the city
Bucharest Otopeni 30-05-09
Another look here to check the Puma,s found
06 IAR-330
28 IAR-330
41 IAR-330
53 IAR-330
61 IAR-330
63 IAR-330
64 IAR-330
66 IAR-330
80 IAR-330
93 IAR-330
94 IAR-330
106 IAR-330
Another five going in the bag, Other bits seen
YR-ABB B-707
YR-BRI BAC 1-11
Civil side
D-A??? CRJ-900 Lufthansa
TC-??? B-737 TURKISH A/L,s
?????? B-767 Biz
?????? BBJ
Another look at
Bucharest
Baneasa 30-05-09
107 Mi-8 Police
108 Mi-8 Police
110 Mi-8 Police
??? Mi-8 Police
??? Mi-8 Police
And into the
city for another museum which when we got there was closed
Bucharest
City 30-05-09
Seen from the
outside was a Puma
47 IAR-330
Inside are a
good few bits, One for next time
On the way back
to Baneasa a navigational cock-up with the sat nav gave us another IAR-93 in
the city
Bucharest City 30-05-09
208 IAR-93
Back at Baneasa we logged these whilst waiting
for out ride back to Luton
Bucharest Baneasa 30-05-09
YR-BIA B-737 BLUEAIR
YR-CAA Be-200
(YR-HRS) BAC 1-11
YR-RPG Ce-560
EI-DUM CRJ-900 MY AIR
G-GEDY Da-2000
HA-LPE A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPK A-320 WIZZAIR (Our ride home)
Others
YR-CBB SA-365
N390GS Ce-340 (Mis-Pole)
Again after a near three hour flight it was
back in to Luton and seen here
Luton 31-05-09
Biz
G-HARK CL-604
G-SABI Da-900
G-SJSS CL-605
G-TSJF Ce-525
A6-RJA GULF-5
A6-ZAB GULF-3
A9C-MTC EMB-135
CS-DFC Da-2000
CS-DKA GULF-4
CS-DLC Da-2000
CS-DMR Be-400
CS-DSB Da-7x
CS-DUF BAe-125
CS-DXX Ce-560
D-AAAM GULF-5
D-AIND CL-604
D-AJJK GULF-5
EC-KPB Ce-550
N18CJ GULF-4
N211HS GULF-5
N441QS GULF-4
N550RP GULF-5
N605TX CL-605
N800BN CL-604
N800FR RB-390
N838JL BAe-125
N887WM BD-700
N900JG Da-900
N933EY BD-700
N962SS GULF-4
OE-HAF Da-2000
OE-HRM CL-300
OE-ILI CRJ-200
OE-INC BD-700
OE-INT CL-605
P4-JET Da-50
SU-SMA Ce-680
TC-ARD CL-604
TC-ISR CL-300
UR-CCC Da-50
VP-BNO GULF-5
VQ-BLA GULF-5
VP-BZE Da-7x
VR-CRB LEARJET
YL-NST BAe-125
ZS-AOL GULF-5
Airliners
G-BYAX B-757 THOMPSON'S
G-EZIC A-319 EASYJET
G-EZIR A-319 EASYJET
G-EZIT A-319 EASYJET
G-EZJF B-737 EASYJET
G-EZJS B-737 EASYJET
G-EZJU B-737 EASYJET
G-EZJX B-737 EASYJET
G-FDZA B-737 THOMPSON'S
G-OJEG A-320 MONARCH
G-OZBP A-321 MONARCH
G-OZBS A-321 MONARCH
G-THOG B-737 THOMPSON'S
EI-EBD B-737 RYANAIR out 07-30
HA-LPB A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPC A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPH A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPL A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPM A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPN A-320 WIZZAIR
HA-LPR A-320 WIZZAIR
OO-DLU A-300 DHL
The only thing left to do now was to go
home but with a small diversion to Mildenhall
RAF Mildenhall 31-05-09
Visiting
07-7172 C-17
58-0103 C-135
58-0109 C-135
59-1455 C-135
61-0284 C-135
Based Aircraft Seen
64-14859 C-130
69-5825 C-130
69-5831 C-130
87-0023 C-130
87-0024 C-130
88-0191 C-130
58-0086/D C-135
60-0328/D C-135
60-0331/D C-135
61-0306/D C-135
62-3519/D C-135
62-3565/D C-135
63-7979/D C-135
63-8008/D C-135
63-8025/D C-135
63-8879/D C-135
RAF Lakenheath 31-05-09
Nothing seen but the Gate Guard
(54-2269) F-100 Marked as "63319/FE-319"
And that was it our Romanian Press Tour 2009
which promised to be very good and at the end fell almost flat on its
face but at the end of the day we did miss quite a bit inc the MiG-21,s
at Craiova but we got off our backsides and did something we all thought
was well worth while doing. The
total for the trip was appx 220 military aircraft plus the bits in the
UK and plus the civil bits noted so its not that bad when its added up.
Here's hoping for 2010 and the press tours come on again. My
thanks as always to the guys with me Dave A, and Andy S for all
their hard work that went in to
The end of "The It's not possible Romania
Tour 2009".