Here is my friend Alexei, and we took this picture in Krasnodar, in late 90s. He stands by the Yak-18T which he worked on at the time, maintaining and preparing it for flying.
And here is myself, just a curious passer-by, attracted by a familiar look of the bird the kind we used to fly in the Aqtyubins Flight College. Alexei is a greatest enthusiast wholly evolved in a process of building General Aviation in Russia. That’s right, General Aviation in Russia is now at the stage of initial growth. Uh, - yes, you may say positively - it has already been ‘delivered’, and it is being taken care of from people like Alexei, and you may be sure, these people are truly dedicated and passionate carers putting tremendous effort into saving the ‘cradle with the baby’ from ‘predating bureaucrat sharks’ 
Wouldn’t that be nice if one day the ‘Red Tape’ barriers lifted up a bit to make it easier for guys from other countries who might ‘look for some fun’, to come in to Russia and fly for pleasure, especially in regions as beautiful as the Krasnodasky Krai?!
In 1998 we had Willi, a guy from the US, in Krasnodar, and he did have a lot of fun lying the Yak-52 from the field of the local aeroclub. Alexei was the club’s chief maintenance engineer at the time. And now he is talking about ‘new deals’, by the way. Seems it might be possible in the near future. So, they would need a ‘Yak test-driver from the West’! And now they’ve got the 18Ts.
So, we’ll see what’s gonna happen.
And I’ll keep posting more stuff on this interesting topic of the developing General Aviation in Russia.
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