Ilyushin Il-18
The Ilyushin Il-18 (NATO reporting name: Coot) is a large turboprop airliner that became one of the best known Soviet aircraft of its era as well as one of the most popular and durable, having first flown in 1957 and still in use over 50 years later. The Il-18 was one of the world's principal airliners for several decades and was widely exported. Due to the aircraft's airframe durability, many achieved over 45,000 flight hours. The Il-18's successor was the long range Il-62 jet airliner.
Design and development
Two Soviet aircraft shared the designation Ilyushin Il-18. The first Il-18 was a propeller-driven airliner of 1946 but after a year of test flights that programme was abandoned.
In the early 1950s a need to replace older designs and increase the size of the Soviet civil transport fleet, a Soviet Council of Ministers directive was issued on 30 December 1955 to the chief designers Kuznetsov and Ivenchko to develop new turboprop engines and to Ilyushin and Antonov to design an aircraft to use these engines.[1] The two aircraft designs were developed as the Ilyushin Il-18 and the Antonov An-10 and the engine chosen was the Kuznetsov NK-4 rather than the Ivchenko AI-20.[1]
The Il-18 design had started in 1954 before the directive was issued and experience with the piston-engined Il-18 was used although the aircraft was a new design.[1] The design was for a four-engined low-wing monoplane with a circular pressurised fuselage and a conventional tail.[1] The forward retracting tricycle landing gear had four-wheels fitted on the main leg bogies, the main legs bogies rotated 90 degrees and retracted into the rear of the inboard engines.[1] A new feature at the time was the fitting of a weather radar in the nose and it was the first soviet airliner to have an automatic approach system.[1] The aircraft has two entry doors on the port-side before and after the wing and two overwing emergency exist on each side.[1]
The prototype SSSR-L5811 was rolled out in June 1957 and after ground-testing it began taxying test and high-speed runs on 1 July 1957.[1] On 4 July 1957 the prototype first flew from Khodynka.[1] On 10 July 1957 the aircraft was flown to Moscow-Vnukovo Airport to be presented to a soviet government commission, also present was the prototype Antonov An-10 and the Tupolev Tu-114.[1] The Il-18 type was formally named Moskva and this was painted on the fuselage, although the name was not used when the aircraft entered production.[1]
The Moscow Machinery Plant No. 30 located at Khodynka near where the Ilyushin design office and the prototype had been built was chosen to manufacture the aircraft.[2] During 1957 the plant began to reduce its production of the Ilyushin Il-14 and prepare to build the production aircraft designated IL-18A.[2] The Il-18A was only different to the prototype in minor details mainly internal configuration to increase the seating from 75 to 89.[2]
The first production aircraft were powered by the Kuznetsov NK-4 but the engines were plagued with problems so the Council of Ministers decreed in July 1958 that all production from November 1958 would use the Ivchenko AI-20 and earlier production would be re-engined.[2] Only 20 IL-18As were built before production changed to the improved Il-18B, this new variant had a higher-gross weight, the nose was re-designed with a larger radome which increased the length by 20 cm.[2] The first Il-18B flew on 30 September 1958 powered by the AI-20, a VIP variant was also built as the IL-18S for the Soviet Air Force.[2]
With experience of the earlier aircraft a further improvement was the Il-18V variant.[2] The Il-18V was structural the same but the interior was re-designed including moving the galley and some minor system changes.[2] The first Il-18V appeared in December 1959 and was to continue into production until 1965 after 334 had been built.[2]
From April 1961 a TG-18 Auxiliary Power Unit was fitted for ground starting rather than the bank of lead-acid batteries, some aircraft were modified to allow the APU to be run in flight.[2]
Specialised variants of the aircraft also appeared including aircraft modified for flight calibration and a long-range polar variant.[2] Military variants also appeared including the anti-submarine Ilyushin Il-38.[2]
Operational history
The first Il-18, equipped with NK-4 turboprop engines, flew on 4 July 1957. On 17 September 1958 the aircraft first flew with the new Ivchenko AI-20 engines. Vladimir Kokkinaki was the test pilot. Between 1958 and 1960 twenty-five world records were set by this aircraft, among them flight range and altitude records with various payloads. In 1958 the aircraft was awarded the Brussels World Fair Grand Prix. In April 1979 a monument was unveiled at Sheremetyevo airport to commemorate this remarkable aircraft.
Seventeen foreign air carriers acquired 125 Il-18 aircraft, seating 100-120 passengers. Some are still in service in Siberia and the Middle East.
Variants
- Il-18A
- The original production model, powered by either Kuznetsov NK-4 or Ivchenko AI-20 turboprop engines.
- Il-18B
- First production model, which could seat 84 passengers.
- Il-18S
- VIP variant of Il-18B
- Il-18V
- Standard Aeroflot version, which entered service in 1961. The Il-18V was powered by four Ivchenko AI-20K turboprop engines, seating 90-100 passengers.
- Il-18I
- Equipped with more powerful Ivchenko AI-20M turboprop engines, producing 3,170 kW (4,250 shp). Seating increased to 122 passengers.
- Il-18D
- Silmilar to Il-18I, but equipped with an extra centre section fuel tank for increased range. The Il-18D is fitted with four 3,169 ekW (4,250 hp) Ivchenko AI-20M turboprop engines.
- Il-18E
- Similar to the Il-18I, but without the increased fuel capacity.
- Il-18T
- This designation was given to a number of Aeroflot aircraft, which were converted into cargo transport aircraft.
- IL-18TD
- One IL-18T was modified as a military transport variant to take either 69 stretcher cases or 118 paratroopers. Not wanted by the military it was converted to IL-18D standard.
- IL-18DORR
- Two IL-18Ds modified as fishery reconnaissance aircraft for the Polar Institute of Oceanic Fishery and Oceanography, the modification mainly involved the fitment of specialised mission equipment. First flown in 1985 they were later modified back as standard Il-18Ds.
- IL-18RT
- Two IL-18Vs were modified as Telemetry Relay Aircraft to rocket and unmanned air vehicle trials.
- IL-18USh
- One IL-18V was modified as a navigator trainer including two dorsal astro-sextant windows. Although it was tested and found acceptable the Soviet Air Force used a variant of the twin-jet Tupolev Tu-124 instead.
- Il-20M Coot-A
- ELINT electronic, radar reconnaissance version. Also known as the Il-18D-36 Bizon.
- Il-20RT
- Four Telemetry and Communications Relay aircraft used to support the Soviet space activities, later replaced by a variant of the IL-76.
- Il-22 Coot-B
- Airborne command post version.
- Il-22M
- Same as the Il-22 but had new mission equipment.
- Il-24N
- Two Il-18Ds modified for ice reconnaissance similar to the IL-20M but with civilian reconnaissance equipment, both later modified back to standard configuration and sold.
- Il-38
- Maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare version.
- SL-18
- Designation of a number of different test and research aircraft, normally had a letter suffix like SL-18D for avionics trials.
Operators
Civil operators
- Afghanistan
- People's Republic of China
- Bulgaria
- Cuba
- Czechoslovakia
- Djibouti
- Germany
- East Germany
- Egypt
- Egyptair (formerly United Arab Airlines)
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Hungary
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Mali
- North Korea
- Poland
- LOT (10 operated from 1961 until early 1990s[4])
- Polonia Airways (1 operated in 90s)
- Polnippon (3 operated from 1990 until 1996)
- Romania
- Government of Romania
- Tarom
- Soviet Union
- Russia
- Somalia
- Sri Lanka
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- Vietnam
- Yemen
Military operators
- Algeria
- Georgia
- India
- North Korea
- Russia
- Former military operators
- Afghanistan
- Czechoslovakia
- East Germany
- Poland
- Soviet Union
- Yugoslavia
Accidents and incidents
- November 16, 1967 - While taking off from Koltsovo Airport, one of the engines of an Aeroflot Il-18 caught fire. Only 200 meters above the ground, the crew lost control of the plane, killing all 8 crew and 122 passengers.[5]
- August 28, 1971, a MALÉV Ilyushin Il-18, HA-MOC crashed into the sea while executing an instrument approach. The main cause of the accident was microburst, a particularly dangerous and unpredictable meteorological phenomenon. 23 passengers and the crew of 9 died. 2 passengers survived. The captain of the plane was World War II flying ace of the Royal Hungarian Air Force, Dezső Szentgyörgyi. He was due to retire in less than 3 weeks.
- July 28, 1976 - During the flight from Prague Ruzyně Airport, engine 3 of an Czech Airlines Il-18 malfunctioned. While trying to power down the broken engine, the crew accidentally turned off engine 4 (which was on the same wing as engine 3). This caused the plane to turn right during an emergency landing at the M. R. Štefánik Airport in Bratislava and crash into the Zlaté Piesky lake, killing 70 passengers and 6 out of 9 crew members. Five crew members were saved right after the crash. However two of them died in hospital because of kerosene poisoning.[6]
Specifications (Il-18D)
General characteristics
- Crew: 6 or 7 (pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, flight navigator, and 2 or 3 cabin attendants)
- Capacity: 65-120 passengers
- Length: 37.40 m (122 ft 8 in)
- Wingspan: 37.90 m (124 ft 4 in)
- Height: 10.17 m (33 ft 4 in)
- Wing area: 140 m² (1,506.4 ft²)
- Empty weight: 35,000 kg (77,000 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 64,000 kg (140,800 lb)
- Powerplant: 4 × Ivchenko AI-20M turboprop engines, 3,169 kW (4,250 hp) each
- * Fuselage diameter: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
- Propeller: AW-68 I
- Propeller diameter: 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
- Auxiliary power unit: TG-16M (28 Volt DC)
- ICAO standards: Annex 16 Chapter 2
- Max. landing weight: 52,600 kg (115,720 lb)
- Max. zero-fuel weight: 48,800 kg (107,360 lb)
- Max. taxi weight : 64,500 kg (141,900 lb)
- Max. fuel tanks capacity: 30,000 l (24,000 kg)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 675 km/h TAS (364 kn, 416 mph, ~ Mach 0.65 depending on altitude)
- Cruise speed: 625 km/h TAS (336 kn, 385 mph, ~ Mach 0.56 depending on altitude)
- Range: 6,500 km (3,510 nmi, 4,010 mi)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 m (32,800 ft)
- Range with max.payload: 4,300 km (2,322 nm, 2,650 mi)
- Approach minima: ICAO CAT 1 Decision Height 60 m (200 ft) / 800 m (Visibility) or 550 m RVR
See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Gordon, Yefim and Komissarov, Dmitry. Ilyushin Il-18/-20/-22 - A Versatile Turboprop Transport. Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1 85780 157 1
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