THE SIGHT & THE SOUND 6/6 : Flight onboard Kosmos TU-134A RA-65995 from MOW-Zhukovsky to MOW-Vnukovo

Daniel’s Travel Vlog

FLIGHT #6/6 KOSMOS TU-134A-3 RA-65995 MOSCOW (ZIA) – MOSCOW (VKO), AUGUST 5, 2019

This video has been remastered and substantially improved in Sight & Sound and replaces the video published in 2019.

Bad news !

Alrosa phased out their last TU-134 on scheduled service in May, 2019. Her bigger sister, the last remaining TU-154 to follow soon thereafter, North Korean aviation tours are put on hold until further notice, Lufthansa stops the operation of their legendary “Tante JU”, the future of the former Swiss Super Constellation remains unclear, bad news for avgeeks are pouring in on a daily routine.

No wonder we meet the same faces on each of the remaining aviation events, no wonder the circle becomes smaller and smaller day by day, no wonder it is difficult to organize something truly new to keep the fire in our hearts ongoing, no wonder the “fight for the best seats onboard” has become a token of “the survival of the fittest” in the “Historic Aviation Business”.

This is the main reason I started to plan an own event on one of Kosmos’ Tushka jewels.

After many changes and rival commercial tour operators cannibalizing a shrinking supplier’s market I started to become more and more demotivated and was about to quit, when I received a message from a Hungarian Pilot.

And this is, when the miracle started and “the beginning of a new friendship” …

Thanks to the efforts of András Horn, Balázs Kránitz and Dániel Somogyi-Tóth from Hungary I was finally able to put together a group of probably the most easy going chaps I have ever met on a tour.

Anton Titov from St. Petersburg was pulling the strings in Russia and Lutz Schönfeld, my illustrious old friend helped me on the spot to keep things running smoothly.

This tour was truly different from anything I have experienced in Russia so far.

Everything was organized professionally with clockwork precision.

The plane was half empty.

Every window seat on RA-65995 is really a “window” seat.

There was no argument about seating, about pricing, photo and video shooting on ramp was possible on all locations as long as we liked and every group member was empathetic, supportive and seizing the moment to its fullest.

Our pick of the day was spick-and-span RA-65995 in a luxurious VIP-configuration operated by Kosmos, one of the last remaining commercial operators of a Tupolev TU-134.

Off it was on August 5, 2019, a rainy Monday late morning thundering down runway 24, heading to the Southwest, covering the distance of nearly 180 km from Vnukovo in the Southwest to Zhukovsky in the East of Moscow in 27 minutes, cruising mostly below cloud level allowing spectacular views.

This video features the return flight KSM 9622 onboard TU-134A-3 RA-65995 from Moscow-Zhukovsky (ZIA) to Moscow-Vnukovo (VKO) on August 5, 2019.

This video is the uncut and original version.

History of Tupolev 134A-3 RA-65995


Please see the detailed history at the end of this video.


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Flight details

Flight : KSM 9622
Date : Monday, August 5, 2019
Aircraft : TU-134A-3
Registration : RA-65995
Former Registrations :
- CCCP-65995 (Border Control Flight Unit of the Soviet Union)
- RA-65995 (Kosmos Airlines)
Built : 1984
From : Moscow (ZIA)
To : Moscow (VKO)
Take off : 14:00 h (1100 UTC)
Touch down : 14:29 h (1129 UTC)
Duration flight time : 29 minutes
Flying Distance : 198 km
Altitude : 2.431 / 2.423 m
Speed : 400 km/h
Flight Captain : Gafiulov, Oleg
First Officer : Berdikov, Oleg
Flight Engineer : Mitkevich, Yury
Navigator : Tinkov, Igor
Technician : Obmoryshev, Andrey
Technician : Gulmanov, Zhumamyrat
Cabin Crew : Sakharova, Irina
Cabin Crew : Chubova, Maria
Cabin Crew : Abrashitova, Tatiana