All aboard the USSR's epic Tupolev Tu-154 Two flights on the aircraft that helped define Soviet aviation. A photo series
The Tupolev Tu-154 was the most massive passenger jet ever constructed in the Soviet Union. The first flight by a Tu-154 was in 1968. In 1970, mass production got underway, and a total of 1,026 planes came off the assembly line before the model was put to rest in 2009. Until the late 2000s, the Tu-154 remained one of the primary aircraft for medium-range flights in Russia. In recent years, however, Russian airlines have been abandoning these planes, mainly in favor of aircraft with better fuel efficiency and smaller flight crews (every Tu-154 needs two pilots, a navigator, and a flight engineer). In Russian hangars today, there are fewer than a dozen remaining Tu-154s, and in air fleets around the former USSR, there are just a few more still. Photographer Andrei Volkov accompanied two Tu-154 flights aboard the airline Belavia, flying from Gomel to Nyagan and Noyabrsk, together with oil company workers from Belarus and western Ukraine.
An old Kraz fueling hose at Gomel airport, before taking off for Noyabrsk.
The flight engineer conducts a preflight inspection of the aircraft.
The flight technician prepares the plane for takeoff at Nyagan airport.
At cruising altitude after leaving Nyagan.
At cruising altitude over Noyabrsk.
The keys to various hatches and doors on the aircraft around the flight engineer panel.
A clock. The Tu-154 has several instruments that are used rarely, if ever, and many systems are redundant. The various instruments that display the speed of the plane, for instance, are made up of five different parts.
The plane's captain, en route to Nyagan.
The crew discusses the approach vector into Nyagan: without a functioning instrument landing system, it was necessary to land with beacon-tracking. The navigator now uses a tablet to access the necessary maps. Before, he had to carry on board a suitcase full of paper maps.
The navigator reads the verification checklist before the landing procedure.
The flight engineer monitors the engines.
The navigator sets the navigation system before taking off from Nyagan.
The co-pilot.
The approach into Gomel.
Passengers landing in Nyagan.
Flight attendants serve lunch.
Landing.
Technicians prepare the plane for a short layover in Nyagan. During the winter, for longer layovers, all fuel, food, and water are unloaded from aircraft.
The taxing and takeover runway in Noyabrsk.
