Bulgarian airfields / airstrips

[Airbus A346]

Gorski Iswor airfield is to the West of Haskovo just off Highway 8, access is via the most appalling dirt track I have ever encountered.

An identity for the dismantled CCCP- Antonov An-2 would be greatly appreciated.

LZ-DRA PZL Dromader @ Gorski Iswor by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-DRB PZL Dromader @ Gorski Iswor by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-6061 / 7705906 Ka 26 @ Gorski Iswor by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

D-ELZO MS880 Rallye @ Gorski Iswor by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

CCCP-35531 An 2 @ Gorski Iswor by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

Tsalapitsa airfield is to the West of Plovdiv just off Highway A1. It has a reputation for being very unfriendly. My Bulgarian contact Ivan warned me not to drive passed the farmhouse as the owner comes out and gets very irate. Duly noted, and camera at the ready, it was click, click, click and drive.

LZ-1262 An 2 @ Tsalapitsa by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-1181 An 2 @ Tsalapitsa by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-1162 An 2 @ Tsalapitsa by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

Voisil is long closed and abandoned with just a derelict Mil-2 hiding in the undergrowth.

LZ-5039 / 526447010 Mil 2 @ Voisil by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

Dolna Banya is to the South East of Sofia and they are very friendly, the chap in the office spoke English and was happy to let me wander around.

Residents :  Various Technams  LZ-BVG, LZ-DBF, LZ-DBJ, LZ-DBK, LZ-MKI.  Cessna 150  LZ-ENG. MS885 Rallye  LZ-PTM. Jabirus  LZ-EKI, LZ-HEC.
Evolution  OK-ZUA-29 was visiting.

LZ-MKI @ Dolna Banya by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-DBF @ Dolna Banya by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-DBK @ Dolna Banya by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-ENG @ Dolna Banya by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-PTM @ Dolna Banya by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-DBJ @ Dolna Banya by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

OK-ZUA 29 @ Dolna Banya by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

Lesnovo is the main GA field to the East of Sofia. It has a small but very smart terminal building. A request for ramp access was denied but I was shown

to a ground level terrace and a first floor balcony. The Cessna 404 was abandoned some years ago.

Noted : Piper PA-46 Turbo Malibu  YU-SPG.     Piper PA-34 Senecas  D-G*** (minus a prop), LZ-ABP, LZ-SPA.  Technam 2006T  LZ-DBW Cessna 172s 
D-ESKL, LZ-AIA, LZ-APR, LZ-GAS, LZ-SPC, LZ-SPD, LZ-SPP, LZ-SPT, LZ-SPV.  Cessna 404  LZ-CCB

LZ-CCB Ce404 @ Lesnovo by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-DBW @ Lesnovo by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-APR @ Lesnovo by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-GAS @ Lesnovo by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

LZ-SPV @ Lesnovo by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

Lesnovo village - sharing the village green with a horse was this rather battered Cherokee Dakota.

LZ-SVI PA-28 @ Lesnovo village by MARTIN CHELL, on Flickr

[ronturner]

I find all these reports very interesting. Thanks.

[Deleted]

Martin, you are the Stephen Piercey of Eastern Europe I think your beast is CCCP-35531 c/n 1G114-43, AN-2P originally with Aeroflot Moldova. mfd 18mar70 rgd 23sep70. It appears to have been ER-35531 with Moldaeroservice rgd 16mar94.

I will cross-check it with my Russian-language database when I have a moment.

[Airbus A346]

Many thanks Barry a great piece of detective work 😊

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2022 12:05:08 GMT 1 Airbus A346 said:

Many thanks Barry a great piece of detective work 😊

Glad to be of help. I checked the Russian site, but no photos of that particular aircraft. However, the info I have seems to fit well enough with the aircraft in question.

Incidentally, the site I referred to as a cross-check is this one: russianplanes.net/ Unfortunately, everything is in Cyrillic, but as someone once said, 'A picture is worth a thousand words.' Certainly many of the photos on there are very rare and of excellent quality.

For those interested, go to the box on the right-hand side, marked 'поиск' (search). If you enter an aircraft type in Latin script it will unveil loads of photos. Each one has a brief description of the aircraft, again in Cyrillic, but most should be understandable. If anyone wants a translation or needs more info, feel free to drop me a PM.

Here's a link to one I'd never seen before - TU-144 CCCP-77107 at the Kazan Insitute of Aviation. link

[ronturner]

Excellent links there Barry.
Just the medicine for a grey morning.