Trip Report 2

[Jski]

... in response to Trip Report 2, posted by Streetwise on Nov 22, 2003

It's a hell of a fun flight.  Close your eyes getting in it and you won't notice the inner tires are both mains are bald with tread showing (The outer one's looked nice though). That will keep you from noticing all the lap patches on the fuselage as well :-)

The worst part about that flight was when the Captain and copilot both came aft through the center baggage compartment.  I may be wrong but I don't think the 24 has an FE :-)

It is cheap though :-) and I'll be using it in a couple weeks......

Good luck!

[Streetwise]

... in response to Re: Trip Report 2, posted by Jski on Nov 22, 2003

And the other thing is, they (and Zhulyany Airport) are definitely not CAT 3! Yes, the airport is fog-bound this evening and probably will be tomorrow also. A piece of advice to others; don't depend too much on punctual internal flights especially at this time of year. Allow time on your trip for the overnight train instead. Looks like Simferopol will have to wait until my next visit to Ukraine, if needed.    

Another follow-up meeting tomorrow in Kiev, then back to Riga on the bus (18 hours!!!) for ANOTHER follow-up date before the return flight to Blighty.

[Richard]

... in response to Re: Re: Trip Report 2, posted by Streetwise on Nov 23, 2003

Are you glad you took the bus?  Would you do it differently with hindsight? Like maybe take the bus one one and the plane the other?

Did you price the itinerary with flights all the way and with flying to latvia, bus to Ukraine and fly home from there?

[Streetwise]

... in response to Re: opinion of bus ride, posted by Richard on Nov 23, 2003

Sorry, did not quite answer your question... yes, I did consider flying London-Riga / Kiev-London, but the best air fares are always sold on a fixed-date return basis. So I think the above itinerary would have added at least 200 gbp (300 USD?) to the total. And returning to Riga also brings the possibility of follow-up meetings  from the previous week.

[Richard]

... in response to Re: Re: opinion of bus ride, posted by Streetwise on Nov 24, 2003

Thanks for answering my question. Acutally, you did a pretty good of answering my question the first time.

[Streetwise]

... in response to Re: opinion of bus ride, posted by Richard on Nov 23, 2003

I am ok with the bus ride. It is mainly a question of how much time you have; if time is limited, better take the flight instead. As it happens I had time on my side for a change. The other point is that to get a reasonable air fare, it would be restricted (fixed dates, non transferable) and for any given date the fare constantly rises as that date approaches. With the bus, the price is the same whether you buy your ticket one month or one hour before departure. If it's one of those troips where you must constantly review your plans and re-prioritise as you go along (depending on your progress) you may not be in a position to book the air ticket well in advance. By the time I know for sure that I was going to Ukraine, the air fare had reached nearly 500USD. The bus cost about 80 USD round trip, or 50 USD one way and just buy the return when you need it. The bus also gives you a chance to gather your thoughts (often necessary out there in the thick of it.) However, I would not recommend too many bus rides in close succession unless you want to look will when you meet your date. I would have taken another bus onwards to somewhere like Kharkov perhaps, but no further than that.

[LP]

... in response to Re: Trip Report 2, posted by Jski on Nov 22, 2003

...lol, yeah I remember a Yak three holer I was on to Odessa, the mains were so bad I couldn't believe it. I pointed this out to a fellow Yank I met in line while boarding and he almost had a coronary right there.

Ever flown "ARP 10" airlines outta Kiev? An odd name for a line painted on the side of some twin T prop I couldn't ID. (Looked something like an ATR 42.) Once on board I looked at the safety card and it all became clear: "Aircraft Repair Plant number 10". Gotta luv it...

So, an interview huh? I thought the Pixie was a dead deal?
Or did you find another that quickly?

[Jski]

... in response to Hey Jski...., posted by LP on Nov 22, 2003

:-)  My A&P was screaming in my wallet as I boarded.  It got even better when the seats moved on takeoff.  I'm assuming that wasn't even a 9G design let alone 16G.

LOL...ARP 10 huh.  I'll stay away from those.

Nah, Pixie had some cold feet but we worked it out.  In hindsight I would say that I should have been scared if she didn't have some worries.  Big life changes and decisions to make after an 11 day visit and 5 months of phone calls.  Glad she did and we could work through those issues.  Happier now than ever (Ok, maybe second to the birth of my daughter)

I'm a lot more familiar with my past than I am with my future :-)  Then again, aren't we all?