User:NevilleDNZ/Sandbox: Goodwill Flight Russia-Australia-Russia

In June 1990, during later months of Perestroika, Cosmonaut Igor Volk and a team of fellow aviators set out to fly a "goodwill flight" from Moscow to Australia. This trip took them through Siberia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and then to Australia before returning to Moscow.

The Flight
The flight consisted of several aircraft including one Antonov An-2 biplane and several fabric covered low-wing monoplane aircraft. The aircraft choice was influenced by the availability of fuels en-route and the robustness of the engines.
 * Siberia: The weather over Siberia was unseasonably cold.
 * China: In spite of treaties in place permitting Soviet aircraft landing right in China there were difficulties in obtaining permission to land. In one incident the flight was required to circle for over an hour before appropriate communication could be established.
 * Vietnam: These were the first aircraft to fly over the China/Vietnam boarder since the Vietnam War.
 * Malaysia: Aircraft briefly - with out any fanfare - stopped in Malacca refuelled continued on to Singapore that day.
 * Singapore: Singapore Youth Flying Club at Seletar Airport
 * Australia: Were seen in various major centers, including Brisbane and Adelaide.