Later it was transferred to Pulkovo airport near St.Petersburg (Leningrad at the time) and then Novosibirsk Tolmachevo airport, before decommissioning in 1978 saw it shipped to Berdsk.
In retirement, it was initially used by the local aero club as a classroom to train skydivers and glider pilots, but progressively fell into a state of disrepair exacerbated by vandalism and equipment theft.
Karmanova heard about the Tupolev in 2009 and headed to Berdsk to make inquiries.
The restoration project started to take shape and before long she was fully committed.
The challenge was daunting.