That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges. Russia continues to insist on using a different form of altimetry (QFE, or height above the ground in meters) than most of the rest of the world, aspects of its instrument procedures are unique and the entire country has yet to be surveyed in accordance with the WGS 84 standard. With proper training and preparation, though, these anomalies shouldn’t prevent Western operators from roaming through this vast country.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Souren Jamgochian captained a Gulfstream IV on several excursions into Central and Eastern Russia, often during the frigid Russian winter. “Some of the places we went to were Yakutsk, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk,” Jamgochian recalled recently from his home in Southern California. “I would speculate that things have not changed much out there.” Jamgochian related some of his experiences and offered advice to operators headed for the Russian tundra.

Like the Chinese (see “Ding Hao! Operating in China,” October 2009, page 36), the Russians prefer that aircraft fly the published airways. “You can ask for a direct routing, but you can’t take it for granted that you’ll receive the clearance,” Pahl said. “We take the conservative approach and put them on the airways, and most of our clients fly what we file for them. ATC is getting better at accommodating general aviation, though.