Russia II (2019)

Russia II 2019

A large group of aviation enthousiasts with 14 different nationalities joined 4Aviation on the visit to the 2019 edition of MAKS at Zhukovsky in Russia. The 2019 event was marked by asesome displays in brilliant weather conditions.

Additional photos; Aaron Paxton

Maps were disabled by the visitor on this site. Click to open the map in a new window.

28 August 2019

The fifth 4Aviation tour to visit MAKS at Zhukovsky started on Wednesday 28 August 2019 for the majority. The 2019 group consisted of 46 people with 14 different nationalities and several had travelled to Russia before the main part of the group arrived. With many flying on their own on this day, only a relatively small group of people gathered at Schiphol for the Aeroflot flight to Sheremetyevo. With Aeroflot serving food and taking the check-in luggage for free we were more than happy to fly to Russia on one of their A330s.

Arrival was on time and at Sheremetyevo several others joined the party after which a coach took us to our hotel in the city of Moscow. After meeting even more people of the group in the hotel lobby the day ended after a quick meal near the hotel.

29 August 2019

On Thursday (29 August) the day started with breakfast in the hotel. Our coach arrived on time to bring the group to Zhukovsky for a day ‘inside’ at MAKS. It is not a secret that photography at MAKS from the inside is rather challenging because of the backlight. Still, we always plan to visit the show terrain for one day. This gives all the option to witness the static display and for some air show photography. Furthermore many people on the 4Aviation had chosen to buy a ticket for the media platform. This is positioned south of the runway and a lot better for photos. Not cheap at all and access and transportation is not well organised, but still an interesting option.

On this Thursday almost all of the group stayed inside and some headed for the media platform on this day already. The lay-out of the show was very comparable to previous editions, with the military static display consisting of heavy bombers, fighters and helicopters. Some trainers (Yak-130 and Yak-152) completed the picture. Besides that a number of civilian aircraft was present. Decent static photography was difficult again. Today was a trade-day, so the air show started in the afternoon. The most remarkable part of the show was the formation of four Su-57s, one Su-34 and one Su-35S. At the end of the day the coach took us back to our hotel, with the ride not taking as long as expected.

30 August 2019

Friday 30 August was earmarked as a museum day. While a smaller group went to Zhukovsky for either the media platform or the south side of the river, the major part of the group chose to start this extremely sunny day in the museum of Monino. Although rumours about the museum closing or moving have been surfacing for years, the museum is still open. Apparently the plans to move or close it have been shelved again and that is a good development. The collection in Monino is unique and huge and there is no other museum in Russia that comes close to it.

We spent a couple of hours enjoying and photographing the collection before moving to the Central Armed Forces museum in the city. The collection of aircraft here is interesting as well, but it is a bit harder to get decent pictures of them. Besides the remains of the U-2, flown by Gary Powers, that was shot down over Soviet-territory in 1960, the inside of the museum contains a lot of interesting non-aviation items. The third and final stop for this Friday was a visit to Park Pobedy, the Victory Park, in Moscow. On the terrain of this park two aircraft collections can be found. Another full day, spent in glorious sunshine.

31 August 2019

On Saturday (31 August) the group had two means of transport waiting in front of the hotel in the morning. After collecting the breakfast bags (it was too early for breakfast) the ones that went to the media platform today took a different ride than the larger group that was going to spend a day outside near Zhukovsky. The group that went outside ended up at the correct location in time, after some creative queues-evading manoeuvres by the coach drive, only to come to the conclusion that the morning fog was not going to clear up in 10 minutes. In fact, it stayed around until noon-ish, resulting in the first items of the display schedule being cancelled. The time south of the river was well spent anyway, since it provided the opportunity for many on the group to get to know each other better.

Once the fog made way for clear blue skies again the air show kicked off and all enjoyed an impressive number of displays. This varied from the civil SSJ100 to a MiG-15UTI to the solo displays of the Su-35S and SU-57. The display of the Navy pair of Su-30SMs was awesome! There was even room for a ‘Western’ aircraft, with Airbus displaying its A350. Around 5PM the show was over and the group ended the day in the city again (either close to the hotel or nearer to the city centre, only a couple of stops by metro from the hotel).

1/2 September 2019

For Sunday 1 September a second day along the Moskva river was scheduled. There appeared to be less traffic than the day before, so we ended up at our desired location early in the morning. The weather was a fine as it could be, so the full show was flown today. That meant another day of tail sliding Flankers. Today’s display featured many Flankers; Su-35S solo, the Su-30SM pair display, the Russian Knights with four Su-30SMs and the Falcons of Russia with four Su-35s’. In addition several other items flew, including the Beriev 200, two teams flying the L-39 (Russ and the Baltic Bees), Yak-130 and quite a large number of helicopters. With passenger boats docking nearby, and opening up their bars, it was a very enjoyable and comfortable afternoon in the sun.

What followed was the last night in the hotel. Check-out on Monday morning (2 September) was around 10 AM. On the way to Sheremetyevo the conclusion was that MAKS lived up to the expectations again and that this year’s edition was blessed with great weather! All in all a great experience again and we will certainly be back in 2021 again!

Aaron Paxton kindly provided us some photos of his visit to the media platform on Friday 30 August. This gives a good impression of the kind of photos that can be made from that facility.

Russia II 2019

Russia II 2019

Random feedback

Terms

Fly to

Contact

Russia II (2019)

Russia II 2019

Russia II 2019

Share this entry

Random feedback

Terms

Fly to

Contact