Back in 2005 when I was working overseas I had occasion to experience my one and only flight in a Yakovlev 40 from Osh airport in southern Kyrgyzstan to the capital, Bishkek. I was the last to board through the rear airstairs, right after an Orthodox priest in full regalia. We were seated across the aisle from each other in the last row. About the time the door closed and the engines started spooling up I noticed that both the silent incantations and the prayer bead work increased dramatically. Not long after take-off I understood why. In the heat it took forever to establish a positive climb, we accelerated at tree-top height for a couple of miles, and the plane had to do a long, slow spiral climb to get out of the Fergana Valley and high enough to clear the terrain before turning on course.
As an aside, when we arrived at Manas International in Bishkek all the windows in the airport terminal had been shot out and the place was pretty well abandoned. We could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance. While I was at a mine site in the remote mountains of the south the Prime Minister initiated a successful coup to overthrow the President while the latter was out of the country.