| She was born at a time when glasnost and | | | | Passenger comfort also left a little to be desired. The |
| perestroika were still only words in the dictionary. A | | | | standard accommodation was for 110 in two sections. |
| four-engine, turboprop transport that was noisy inside | | | | Six abreast in front, five abreast in a rear |
| and out, was difficult to fly and needed an oil-well to | | | | compartment although some airlines used a different |
| keep her in the air. Yet she formed the backbone of | | | | arrangement. The back compartment which was to |
| East European air transport for more years than | | | | right of the rear boarding door was used as the |
| most of us care to remember and, above all, she | | | | first-class seating, not least because the noise level |
| was beautiful. With perfectly circular fuselage, sleek | | | | towards the tail was somewhat lower. And noise |
| wings and graceful vertical stabilizer, the IL-18, by | | | | there was aplenty everywhere, makingnormal |
| appearance, was a queen among aircraft. | | | | conversation all but impossible. The toilets were |
| But where did this lady come from? | | | | strategically places in line with the variable pitch |
| In the former Soviet Union aircraft were designated | | | | propellers, in the area of the most intense noise and |
| by "Bureaux", each carrying the name of a famous | | | | vibration. No one in their right mind ever stayed there |
| designer. Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin was born on | | | | longer than was absolutely necessary in spite of the |
| 30 March 1894, in Dilyalevo, in Russia. Ha was | | | | fact the toilet seats tended to give a high frequency |
| mobilized in the Russian army in 1914, to transfer | | | | massage quite unavailable even in the best fitness |
| soon after to the army air arm, where he received a | | | | salon... On the other hand, which other aircraft type |
| pilot's certificate in 1917. Eventually he joined the Red | | | | could boast of stainless steel toilet walls and fittings? |
| Army and was sent to study at the Zhukovsky Air | | | | The IL-18 was also well known to, and often |
| Force Engineering Academy in Moscow, where he | | | | dreaded by, air traffic controllers. It was often |
| graduated in 1926. He attained the rank of lieutenant | | | | difficult to integrate the old lady into the approach |
| general in the Soviet Red Army engineering technical | | | | sequence of all-jet airports. Those sleek wings had |
| service, working also as a professor at his old | | | | only basic flaps fitted, resulting in a higher than |
| academy. One of his earliest creations was the IL-2 | | | | average approach speed. Rolling take-offs were the |
| ("Shturmovik"), an armored attack aircraft that | | | | exception rather then the rule. In the air she was a |
| entered service in 1939. After World War II he | | | | slow climber and descents were also conducted at a |
| turned to designing civilian aircraft, amongst them the | | | | leisurely rate to avoid exceeding horizontal speed |
| IL-12 and the IL-14 twin-engine transports, and, of | | | | limits. Interestingly enough, there was a marked |
| course, the oldlady herself, the IL-18 "Moskva". While | | | | difference in the way some airlines flew their IL-18s. |
| these aircraft could, at the time, be called | | | | Pilots from Interflug of East Germany tended to ride |
| state-of-the-art, later creations of the Ilyushin Design | | | | her really hard, coaxing almost jetlike performance |
| Bureau, the IL-62 transport, the IL-76 cargo plane | | | | when wind conditions were right. Aeroflot and Malev |
| and the IL-86 widebody, were only sad shadows of | | | | pilots seemed to have more respect for her |
| more advanced western types. Ilyushin died on 10 | | | | capricious ways. |
| February 1977. He must be watching with wary eyes | | | | In spite of the obvious shortcomings, the IL-18 did |
| and a lot of satisfaction how Russian aircraft | | | | her job and was the undisputed flagship of most East |
| construction is surging with a new life these days... | | | | European airlines. In the early years, the pride of one |
| The prototype IL-18 first flew on 4 July 1957 and | | | | of them, Malev of Hungary, went so far as to have |
| service use began with Aeroflot on 20 April 1959. | | | | the propeller cones of each of their IL-18s painted a |
| Production ceased in 1968, by which time more than | | | | different color. Yellow, red, green... the spot of color |
| 600 IL-18s had been built, about 100 of which went | | | | in front of those revolving silver discs added an |
| into service with airlines in Easter Europe, Africa, | | | | almost Braniff-like touch to their aircraft. It was also |
| Cuba and China. Some are still flying in far away | | | | easy for spotters to deduce the aircraft registration. |
| places, sporting liveries that would never have been | | | | If you saw red, it was HA-MOF for sure. Later, |
| tolerated in the hay-day of the queen. | | | | probably for cost-saving reasons, they all ended up |
| The first standard version, designated the IL-18V, | | | | with boring white or silver cones. |
| carried 84 passengers and was equipped with four | | | | Apart from the more usual duty of carrying |
| 4000 ehp (2938 kW) Ivchenko AI-20K turboprop | | | | passengers on international services in Europe and |
| engines. A later version, the IL-18E, sported more | | | | the middle-East, the role of some IL-18s was more |
| power (four AI-20M turboprops of 4250 ehp each) | | | | exotic. One such assignment was to act as a |
| and a new interior. Finally, the IL-18D carried more | | | | communications platform on the occasions of Mr. |
| fuel and the gross mass was increased from 61200 | | | | Brezhnev's (and some of his forebears in the Soviet |
| kg (134925lb) to 64000 kg (141100 lb). | | | | Communist party) visits abroad. With no other means |
| The maximum cruising speed of the IL-18E was 675 | | | | of staying in contact with those left at home to tend |
| km/h (375 knots), though airlines preferred using the | | | | the Kremlin, an IL-18 would be kept circling at high |
| more economical cruising speed of 625 km/h (347 | | | | altitude until the big man's own plane touched down |
| knots). The range with maximum fuel was a | | | | and he was once again in easy reach of a telephone. |
| respectable 5200 km (3250 miles); however, with | | | | In some countries the IL-18 was the favorite |
| maximum payload this dropped to 3200 km (2000 | | | | government VIP aircraft until more modern types |
| miles). | | | | became available. |
| The office up front had room (and plenty to do) for | | | | Inevitably, the appearance of jet aircraft also in |
| a crew of five - two pilots, flight engineer, navigator | | | | Eastern Europe slowly pushed the IL-18 into the |
| and a radio operator. The cockpit changed little over | | | | background. Some airlines kept the few remaining |
| the years and as most IL-18s were kept in operation | | | | examples in passenger service, while others, including |
| way beyond their time, in the early 1980s a visit to | | | | Hungarian Malev, turned the into cargo aircraft. This |
| that cramped compartment would have delighted the | | | | venture had its limits though on account of the lady's |
| heart of any aviation museum curator. Russians | | | | notoriously small passenger and baggage hold doors. |
| always went for the practical over finesse in matters | | | | Things were not helped at all by the manufacturer's |
| technical (and goodness knows, it often served them | | | | tacit refusal to even consider a cargo door |
| very well indeed) and the Moskva was no exception. | | | | conversion. I guess they knew the structural limits of |
| Oversize switches and handles, roughly edged logos, | | | | their aircraft... Anyway, with the old doors in place, a |
| panels that shook and rattled, instruments that would | | | | 260 liter refrigerator in its cardboard box was already |
| have felt right at home in a steam locomotive were | | | | too big to be accepted for carriage, probably a big |
| all standard equipment in that cockpit. The few | | | | headache for those trying to sell IL-18 cargo space. |
| pieces of modern equipment, like the DME and the | | | | Doors or no doors, the Malev cargo operation was a |
| SSR control panel, actually looked out of place. But | | | | success. Crates of fruit, eggs and eventually chickens |
| then, it all worked pretty well and the whole thing | | | | were all small enough to pass through. This is how |
| was probably perfectly suited to operating also in the | | | | the IL-18 had a second lease on life as a cargo |
| remote areas of the icy Siberia. Yes, the Northern | | | | carrier, joining other types which had had their fame |
| Light was but a beautiful veil for this Queen of the | | | | as passenger airliners. |
| air. | | | | |