How Russia Battles to Avoid Running Out of Planes - VisualPolitik EN

In this video, we explain how Russia is trying to circumvent the aviation crisis caused by international sanctions. We discuss how they plan to operate Boeing and Airbus planes without buying spare parts.

#Boeing #Airbus #Russia

[AngieM]

A few years ago when I was working for a very large technology company, we got an order from Dubai for over a hundred circuit boards of a very specific type. Normally this distributor never ordered more than 5-10 in a year. It was denied.

I am under no illusion that any large company has more than enough capability to have a hard look at where its products are really going. This is one of the holes in sanctions.

[silvestrass]

Aircraft maintenance guy here. With skilled maintenance workers most of parts can be repaired. Aircraft manufacturers usually don't allow repairs if new parts are available because even if you do a good job (witch I doubt Russians are doing) you still end up with some damage. In time all this will add up and incidents will increase.

[goodshipkaraboudjan]

Mmm as a pilot this is a bit off in bits. Not setting Autobrakes doesn't mean the brakes are disabled, you can still toe brake. I think the biggest most overlooked issue is that the engines are far, far more maintenance heavy than the airframe. Finding a toilet seat cover is no issue compared to finding compressor blades. Especially as engines are leased separately to the plane, they're likely what lessors are going into cost damage control over.

[AuralioCabal-nlgi]

Flying in Russia comes with risks, even Private Jets are risky as Pregoshin found out.😂

[mightybagrutlord]

They can always borrow helicopters from their Iranian besties 😂

[julianbrelsford]

the whole thing with minimizing the use of friction brakes seems like it could be shortsighted to me. Aurliner turbines have limits to their useful life and heat-cool cycles are considered a big factor. So if you run the engines hotter/harder throughout the landing roll, you'll slightly shorten the life of a hard to replace turbine rather than a relatively simple set of discs and pads.

[jmonsted]

I didn't want to get on a russian aircraft even when they still had access to parts, so there's no way i'm doing it now.
In the long term, i'm sure they'll spend billions of dollars trying to set up local manufacturing, only to be left with much richer oligarchs and no planes to show for it.

[stefanschleps]

Great episode, thanks for sharing! Around 2018 or so, I was flying back to the US from France. My friend was booking the flight for me through Moscow because, he said, it was a cheaper flight. My intuition kicked in and warned me against flying with the Russian airline. I argued the point concerned that routine maintenance wasn't being done in Russia and ended up traveling with Korean Airlines instead. The flight I would otherwise have taken, the one with a stop in Moscow, crashed on take off. Over the years you learn to listen to your intuition, and I never take a flight to save money through a third world airline. Regulations and regular maintenance save lives. Good luck!

[verttikoo]

Here is the thing. Certain parts you have to change even if you don’t use it. They deteriorate.

[jeremypearson]

Air lessors will probably never lease planes to Russia again. It’s possible that Boeing and Airbus will never sell to Russia again.

[badluck]

Boeing planes are having difficulty in America, where parts are readily available.
Imagine being on a Russian airliner.

[davestambaugh]

The thrust reversers on the Boeing have to be periodically replaced just like the brake shoes. Not as frequently however if being used more frequently the useful life has to be shortened.

[paprika]

So what I learned today: The colourful shirts are not the trademark of Mark, but the identity of the VisualPolitik universe.

[mikelittle]

boarding passes advertise- "Fly at your own risk" Oh, and please, donate your son (or daughter)to the 3 day military exercise...soon to be over...WE ARE DOING GREAT

[pavlokachor]

"Getting on a plane in Russia is becoming quite a highrisk sport". Prigozhin confirms

[chrismckellar]

Russia is starting to reverse engineer western made spares for Boeing and Airbus aircraft and engines operating in Russia. China has been doing this in the development of COMAC C919, so I wouldn't be surprise China giving Russia 'expert' advice on how to do it.

[joekerry]

Retired mechanic here. Some more ways Russia could be keeping western aircraft going, at least for awhile. Many parts could be getting refurbished, though not to approved standards. Parts substitutions, meaning parts with part dash numbers that are not listed as interchangeable, but would still work, may be getting installed. As for the brakes, pilots could be required to use the full length of the runway for their roll outs, putting more energy for stopping into aerodynamic drag and reverse thrust, to greatly reduce brake wear.
Another way is to conserve parts is through deferrals. This is legally and safely used worldwide to allow an aircraft to operate perhaps a few days with an inoperative system while still maintaining acceptable safety levels until a part is available. It seems Russia may be letting deferrals go long term and taking on the added risks that come with such a practice. This comment could go on and on. To be sure, airliners are made with many redundancies and nice to have functions that could be left on deferral indefinitely, but some of these deferrals will eventually take their toll on safety.

[karsten]

Nothing serious have happened so far. That is just a matter of time. It will be interesting to see how the public will react to the first major crashes.

[ThereIsAlwaysaWay]

You forgot the #1 way they do it. Buying Boing parts trough Turkey, India, China, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and multiple other countries.

[ParzivalKings]

Great video! Can't wait for followups