A contemporary of airliners like the Bristol Britannia, Douglas DC-6 and Vickers Viscount, the Ilyushin Il-18 was one of the Eastern Bloc’s most popular airliners, remaining in service throughout the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s and well into the 21st century!
Given the reporting name of “Coot” by NATO, at least 678 Il-18s were built between 1957 and 1985, many of which remain in service today, primarily in military service, but also in airline service too (though in a vastly reduced capacity).
During its heyday, many on both sides of the Iron Curtain hailed it as the best Soviet airliner of the time…
Pre-Ilyushin Il-18
Development
Operational History
Airline
Air Koryo
Cargo
Military
Museum
As one of the most popular airliners of the Soviet era, aviation museums
Specifications
| Specifications | Ilyushin Il-18D |
|---|---|
| Length | 35.9 m (117 ft 9 in) |
| Wingspan | 37.4 m (122 ft 8 in) |
| Height | 10.17 m (33 ft 4 in) |
| Crew | 9 |
| Passengers | 65-120 |
| Cruise Speed | 625 km/h (388 mph; 337 kn) |
| Range | 6,500 km (4,000 mi; 3,500 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 38,700 ft (11,800 m) |
| MTOW | 64,000 kg (141,096 lb) |
How Safe is The Ilyushin Il-18?
Today, Soviet airliners get a bad rep, and rightly so in many cases – they seemed to have a propensity to crash far more than any Western-built airliner of the same era – yet, just as the Tu-114 proves, whilst this may be the rule, it’s not necessarily an absolute…
Sadly, however, the Il-18 is not an outlier. At least in terms of safety, the Il-18 is very much likes its predecessors and contemporaries. It had an appalling safety record to say the least.
Of the 678 Il-18s built, 116 have been involved in some form of aviation-related incident, resulting in 102 hull losses (where the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off) and an outrageously high number of fatalities – 2,483 to be exact!
Though the Il-18 had its fair share of “standard” accidents, eg. pilot error, bad weather, lack of/poor maintenance etc., a surprising amount were due to faults within the Il-18 itself.
Take for example, the worst accident involving the Ilyushin Il-18: the March 1976 crash of Aeroflot Flight 909.
Departing from Moscow heading Yerevan, Armenia, the Il-18E, registered CCCP-75408, had an electrical fault which disabled the compass system, two main gyros and autopilot, causing the crew to perform banking maneuvers to try to work out which systems were disabled and which were not.
Sadly, this caused a loss of control and the aircraft crashed into nearby fields, killing all 111 on board.
And this isn’t a cherrypicked example. The third, fourth and fifth most deadly accidents (and countless others too) involving the Il-18 were caused by some sort of issue with the airliner, particularly its engines.
Whilst we can sit and argue the causes of this all day, there’s no denying that though it was a popular Soviet-era airliner, the Ilyushin Il-18 was sorely lacking in the safety department!
What’s it Like to Fly The Ilyushin Il-18?
Legacy
Communism
By the late 1960’s, almost every country in the Soviet sphere of influence operated at least one Il-18, either by the country’s state-owned airline or by their military. Usually, it was both.
Though it could easily have been seen as an overreach of Soviet power on its allies, it was generally viewed quite positively. Indeed, many thought it was great that all these communist powers had the same airliners – after all, it proved they were all equals (a main tenet of communism).
To celebrate this, the communist countries that operated the Il-18 all produced postage stamps depicting the Il-18 in the livery of that country’s flag carrier. In total, eight countries including Mali, Bulgaria, China, Romania and the USSR produced these stamps from 1962 until 1970.
And whilst it depends on the condition, year and country of issue, these stamps can go for upwards of $100!
On a more global scale, the popularity of the Il-18 made it one of the foremost examples of Soviet exceptionalism in the Western world, being the delight of avgeeks the world over.
Both because it was a rare treat but also because they liked the aircraft (even if they disagreed with the ideology that helped make it!)
Future Aircraft
Owing in small part to the Il-18’s success, or at least its incredible durability (at least compared to other Soviet aircraft), Ilyushin developed countless variants of the Il-18 for different purposes, both civil and military alike.
For the most part, these variants carried the Il-18 designation (usually followed by a letter to distinguish it from other Il-18s), however it wasn’t always the case. Many later Il-18 variants, particularly ones for military and/or research purposes carried other designations such as the Il-20, Il-22 and Il-24.
A further development of the Il-18, a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare variant, was designed for Soviet Naval Aviation, and entered service in 1967 as the Il-38, due to the fact it was pressurized had its wings pushed forward by 3 m (9 ft 10 in).
It remains in service today with Russian Naval Aviation (the Russian successor to Soviet Naval Aviation) and the Indian Naval Air Arm.
When the Il-18 got outdated, Ilyushin were tasked by the Soviet government to create a jet to replace the Il-18 and the larger Tu-114. What resulted was the Il-62, which remains in limited service to this day!
What do you think about the Ilyushin Il-18? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Dmitry Terekhov via Flickr.