Buran USSR Space Shuttle in Winter

Borrowing from my car (and other vehicle-) spotting blog this entry about the Buran the USSR space shuttle photographed by me last winter (2014) at the VDNKh, a well known facility in north Moscow.

Here it is.

I suspect it's a replica, or a mock-up (some parts maybe genuine though).

All-white... it's white in the skies, it's white on the ground.

Buran landing gear.

Nose section up close.

Under the belly.

Tail section.

Vostok spaceship....I think it used to be a functioning Vostok rocket but now is a kind of monument.

Mounted police. 

At Moscow's All-Russia Exhibition Center

A walk through the All-Russia Exhibition Center aka the Exhibition of Achievements of the People's Economy (VDNKh) on a snowy winter day of Jan 25, 2014.

Getting there by Moscow Monorail -- here I am at a Moscow Monorail station on the way to VDNKh. The Moscow Monorail is an elevated city train system.

Lots of GAZelle and other trucks seen through the monorail train carriage window.

A see-through lift garage.

Tow trucks known as "crocodiles" on account of they're green. They tow your car if you park it in the wrong place. There's currently a war ongoing between them and Moscow's motorists. Being a some-time motorist myself, I almost feel like throwing a Molotov cocktail at them. They are the brain child of Moscow's current deranged mayor.

Central entrance to the VDNKh exhibition... we are going through it.

Some penguin figures... may be representing some cartoon characters, I don't know. 

Along the central alley.

More penguin characters.

Central pavilion. 

Modifications of Caliber 3105

Juri Levenberg's German site (and defunct blog) has scans of the caliber 3105 modifications.

Some of which have apparently never seen the light of day.

Well, at least I have never seen them used in any watch. But others did make it, albeit for a short time. 

A base 3105 caliber -- as is known it is the cal. 3133 less the stopwatch and minute counter apparatus.

3105.01 has a moonphase and a moon calendar complication.

Only the date window is at three o'clock in real life.

I am fortunate to have this movement in my Zaria Moonphase 3105.01. It qualifies as a rarity as only two to three thousand were ever made. The movement can also be found in some Volmax watches, in particular certain Buran models.

And now, the caliber 3105.02 - the complication here is a 24-hour scale.

3105.03 with a day/night indicator (and a 24-hour scale?). Seen in some Volmax watches, such as Aviator.

3105.04 -- open heart. Never seen.

This is more or less in the past now.