#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In Norilsk, as elsewhere in the world, air spotting is well known: accounting and fixing aircraft in the immediate vicinity of the airport.
According to the memoirs of the Norilsk organizers of spotting, on July 19, 2011, when this hobby first appeared in Norilsk, the weather was gloomy and cold, just like this year. Only three people took part in the filming ten years ago.
“The date is really significant for us, for the Norilsk aviation fans”, says local airspotter Sergei Manuhin. “During this time, our hobby has not only become firmly entrenched in our lives, but also has become a familiar phenomenon for the airport”.
“If at the first event in 2011 there were only three of us, today we have 35 permanent participants. There is a group in the messenger, we communicate. Quite a friendly and disciplined team”, said Artyom Finn, the organizer of the Norilsk air spotting.
He also noted that the Norilsk community unites not only local, but also nonresident participants. Over the past years, such eminent aerial photographers as Marina Lystseva, Dmitry Osipov and Sergey Martirosyan have visited the northern city.
“Today we have more guests than ever before, thanks to the NordStar airline, which has kindly brought participants from other cities. For example, Irina Ponomareva, known on Instagram as aero_riska, a popular Krasnodar aviation photographer, author of the Aviatorshi channel on YouTube, where girls tell about the world of aviation in an accessible language”, said Artyom Finn.
According to Irina Ponomareva, she was greatly impressed by the Norilsk weather:
“I haven’t worn a jacket in summer for a long time. And the city is so contrasting – cold and industrial, but the bright houses of the Stalin era create a warm impression”.
Filming took place at three different locations. Participants were able to catch takeoffs and landings of aircraft, aircraft maintenance at parking areas, ground services and apron transport through their lenses.
The highlight of the meeting was an event that had not been held anywhere but in Norilsk: after the air spotting was over, the participants were invited to a coffee break on the board of a cargo plane.
Earlier we wrote that Norilsk photographers were the first in the USSR to join the clan of color masters. We also reported that AN-24 was delivered from Alykel to Dudinka by land and adorned the Aviators square in the capital of Taimyr.
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Text: Mikhail Tuaev, Photo: Marina Peshkova and Artyom Finn
