"Sovetsky Soyuz" is in danger - one more flying Ilyushin IL-14 may become a history. Help needed!
This is a translation of the original post from vulkan_avia - "Советский Союз" в опасности - одним летающим Ил-14 может стать меньше
As huge is our country so many problems it has. The story written below I should have published earlier, but it was unclear, whether so much attention need to be drawn to the matter. We hoped for the best, but it got worse. That's why I believe this matter needs the widest acknowledgment. Please share this post in your social network and among your friends.
This story is happening right now in St. Petersburg, Russia. There he lives - an Enthusiast, Alexander Alexandrovich Poddubny, that managed to save an airplane Ilyushin IL-14 modification P and keep it flight worthy condition. There is only one more airworthy plane of this type and it belongs to our team. Neither in Russia nor anywhere else in the world you will find a flying IL-14. And at the very same moment it is threatened to become confiscated and sold on an auction. Bailiffs gave the owner two months to settle an obligation in amount of 1.2 mRUR (about 40 kUSD or 30 kEUR). And if he does not succeed than the plane will be auctioned. This liability arose from nonpayment of the transport tax, that amounts to annual 470 kRUR (about 15 kUSD or 12 kEUR p.a.). As the owner suspects the current escalation of the problem might be the result of activities of some intermediaries wanting to sell the plane abroad, i.e. it has been "ordered". The brokers attempts to buy it were in in vain, thus they chose the way of a raider seizure. In a negative case it will most probably be done like this: the plane is being assessed at a ridiculously low price and "right" people buy on an auction. Then the plane goes over the border and Alexander is left without the plane but with obligations. Even if he is misjudging the actual motifs and there are no raiders, that won't mean any good as well - the machine will be simply scrapped.
IL-14 "Sovetsky Soyuz" RA-0543G on an airfield Gorelovo. 2012. This plane of mod. P (passenger) has a usual "Aeroflot" livery with words "SOVETSKY SOYUZ" painted on it's side. The later has been left after shooting in some cinema.
Inside the cabin
Alexander Alexandrovich (San Sanych) Poddubny
A long time ago, when I was not yet personally acquainted with San Sanych, it was his airplane example that inspired and enabled me to dare a restoration of IL-14 in Tushino. At the time I've only knew one thing - in St. Petersburg there is one IL-14 flying. The only one in the world at the moment. So, it is possible. Starting to work on our "Blue dream" we've met with San Sanych in person. Learned his story. In previous summer he visited us for the first time, than our team members visited him in return. We've exchanged needed parts. During his first visit he made us a truly royal gift - several packs of spark plugs.
This airplane and his owner, San Sanych Poddubny, have been through a lot. But they managed to get out of all woes. One of the most serious misfortunes was a long lasting (from 2005) seizure of the plane on the former St. Petersburg airfield Rzhevka (separate story follows below). Under false pretenses the owners of Rzhevka did not allowed San Sanych to fly out of there by setting exigeant requirements and all kinds of hurdles. Sometimes there were even traces of sabotage. Nevertheless on November 9th, 2011 they managed to escape and to relocated to airfield Gorelovo. It seemed that the long hoped-for victory was won and IL-14 will fly again. But there came a new trial.
Not to say that trouble came from an unexpected side. During three years a transport tax liability was growing and so it came to a total of 1.2 mRUR (about 40 kUSD or 30 kEUR). In Russia there is a transport tax for cars and aircraft as well, and it's calculated based on the number of horsepowers of the engines (about 4000 HP in total for two Ash-82T 14 cylinder piston engines) - for an IL-14 its amount is 470 kRUR annualy (about 15 kUSD or 12 kEUR p.a.). After several lost court trials the bailiffs seized the plane as the only property at hand. How did he allowed such liability to accumulated? First of all, almost all monetary and moral powers during the recent years have been concentrated on escaping from Rzhevka. And he planed to earn some money and pay-off the taxes after relocating to a reasonable airfield. But money don't come quickly. With a flying aircraft Alexander would repay the taxes even if in several installments and he would not be where he is now. And until the moment the plane starts to fly again this snowball will grow bigger.
What makes the situation even more grim - he is alone, there is no team to support him. During the forced parking on Rzhevka his previous team got scattered. It feels as if there are no symphathizers to aviation in St. Petersburg...
The mere fact that Alexander is alone, makes him much more vulnerable to raider attacks. It is to say that we too have received offers to sell our plane, and San Sanych is almost circled by such people. By the way the tend to offer very small amounts to by the plane - about 30 kUSD. For this amount one can hardly buy even a small plane in Russia. And lets put it straight - Alexander does not want to sell. And most of those offering significant financial support request transfer of the majority of the rights on the plane to them. We also know of several prospective buyers looking for an IL-14 outside of the country. We are sure that they are respectable and honest people, but that can not be said in regard of the local brokers, that will not shun some dirty methods. In the Internet one could even find ads offering Alexanders IL-14 for sale, that he of course did not posted.
How to help
Help paying-off the liability in amount of 1.2 mRUR (about 40 kUSD or 30 kEUR). Further on San Sanych will complere all the necessary legal documents and will be able to attract companies to sponsor the flying aircraft. He has his know-how for this process and with an airplane free to fly he will do just fine.
You can reach Poddubny via his e-mail a.poddubny@mail.ru and by phone +79817587143
Donations outside Russia
PayPal Account - aa.poddubny@yandex.ru.
Alexander has opened debit cards in RUR and EUR, following are their numbers:
Number of RUR card: 6390 0255 9010 610788
Number of EUR card: 4276 5500 1236 6897
Below are requisites of his bank account:
Beneficiary's country - Russian Federation
Beneficiary's city - St. Petersburg
Beneficiary's ZIP Code - 192283
SWIFT code - SABRRU2P
Name of the bank - SBERBANK
First name, last name (and patronymic, if possible) of the recipient of
the money transfer - Alexander (Alexandrovich) Poddubny
Number of the recipient's account - 42306810855103223759
Name of the branch of Sberbank of Russia - (SEVERO-ZAPADNY HEAD OFFICE)
ST. PETERSBURG
Rzhevka captivity
Only Alexander knows, what had to be done to get the plane out of Rzhevka. He went through all circles of bureaucratic hell. To be able to take-off from former Rzhevka airfield it had to be reregistered as “landing spot”. And even that was troublesome, since the airfield has been closed but not yet excluded from the register, what took a considerable time to accomplish. Than to get a one-time take-off approval a committee of experts in IL-14 has been summoned, which has found the airplane airworthy. After all active regulations and rulings have been complied it came to an absolute nonsense - owners of the former airfield tried to declare the runway not strong enough to hold a plane… Somehow these claims have been repelled. Finally he had to pay 50 kRUR (about 1.6 kUSD or 1.3 kEUR) to get all the cars (the airfield has been used as a parking lot of a car factory) away from the runway.
Parking lot of the “Vsevolzhsky Ford factory” on the premises of Rzhevka airfield. The white plane in the center of the photo - the blocked IL-14 “Sovetsky Soyuz”.
View from the cabin onto the runway cluttered by cars, November 2nd, 2011
In the following clips there is some hard language in Russian.
Take-off from Rzhevka for the flight to Gorelovo, November 9th, 2011
Click to viewLanding in Gorelovo, Leningrad region for the flight to Gorelovo, November 9th, 2011
Flying to Gorelovo
The crew of IL-14 that was flying from Rzhevka to Gorelovo, In the middle - test-pilot Vinogradov
The Pilot story
Alexander Axandrovich Poddubny is flying for more than 43 years, and IL-14 he operates for 19 years. In 1971 he graduated the Air Force school in Chernigov, than served in Borisoglebsk as instructor on MiG-15 and MiG-17. His first students graduated from Air Force Academy in Borisoglebsk in 1974. After retirement from the Air Force he went to Civil Aviation Engineers University in Kiev which he graduated in 1981. Than he was flying An-26 for Aeroflot. In the beginning of 90-s he created a flying club in Mirny (Yakutia) and trained teenagers. Though all his previous flying life was on jet powered planes he fell in love with an IL-14. As he told us: “when I first took place at the yoke of IL-14, I’ve felt that this is a ship!”. First flying experience in IL-14 he had in the Air Force, where it was used as a communication airplane.
Below are photos from personal archive of Alexander with his annotations.
First students in Borisoglebsk Air Force Academy. Airfield Buturlinovka. From left to right students Sokolyan Vladimir, Poddubny Alexander, Moiseev Alexander, Kirillov Dmitry. Kirillov graduated the academy with honors.
Our combat MiG-17
On a training plane UTI MiG-15, Borisoglebsk Air Force Academy. On this flight we’ve rolled out on landing due to brakes malfunction.
On L-29 in Mirny (90-s)
Test flight of L-29 in Gorelovo, summer 2012
Poddubny and his IL-14
His connection with his own IL-14 started in 1993. He first saw it in airport in Ulan-Ude, where it was destined to be scrapped - other planes of this type of the local Aeroflot unit were already gone. He made an agreement with local management to purchase it. Found the pilots that first entered this plane into service. Ferried the aircraft to his home field in Mirny. Further on Alexander has flown his IL on Russian North - transferred freights to and from Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Kyzyl-Syr (Kazakhstan), Kyzyl-Syr (Yakutia), Nyurba, Yakutsk - his revenues covered all operating expenses of IL-14 and of his flying club named after Antoine de Saint-Exupery. In his club he taught students to fly on jet trainers L-29 and IL-14.
With the decline of economy in the region - aviation fuel (B91-100 - Russian analogue to 100LL) became very expensive and rare and overall lowered business activity, he received an offer to move to St. Petersburg. There he should have joined with his IL-14 the Flying Legends Museum. Unfortunately the project never came to a fruition, and in 2005 Rzhevka lost the airfield status. Smaller planes managed to fly away or be transferred on trucks, but IL-14 was not able to escape as quickly and quietly. As the result only seven years later did it managed to leave the place on its own.
First acquaintance. We are picking up the plane in Ulan-Ude and ferrying to Mirny, October 2nd, 1993
The way the cabin of our IL-14 looked like in IL-96 colors. Later it was restored to its original view.
Before the first commercial flight my wife Tatyana came to see us off, Mirny.
Mirny, 1994
Sharypovo, Krasnoyarsk region. Intermediate stop on Mirny to Novosibirks flight, May 13th, 1999.
Abakan, Khakasiya
With my wife and our IL-14 on an airshow in Mirny. About 1999. There is no inscription “Sovetsky Soyuz” yet, it was painted later by cinema crew.
Shushenskoe, Krasnoyarsk region. Preparation for participation in an airshow, August 18th, 2000.
In Abakan before flight on route Omsk-Perm-St. Petersburg. Final inspection by flying club mechanic - Alexander Martyshkin, October 24, 2003.
After landing on Rzhevka, October 30th, 2003
Training flights on Rzhevka, 2004
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