Photograph:
Ilyushin Il-18D ER-ICB of Pecotox-Air at Eagle Farm, Brisbane, QLD in 2004 (David C Eyre)
Country of origin:
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Description:
Medium-range commercial airliner
Power Plant:
Four 3,170 kw (4,250 ehp) Ivchenko AI-20M turboprops
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 37.4 m (122 ft 8½ in)
- Length: 35.9 m (117 ft 9¼ in)
- Height: 10.17 m (33 ft 4¼ in)
- Wing area: 140 m² (1,507 sq ft)
- Max speed: 675 km/h (419 mph)
- Operating altitude 8,000 m to 10,000 m: (26,250 ft to 32,810 ft)
- Range with max payload and 1 hour reserve: 3,700 km (2,299 miles)
- Range with max fuel and 1 hour reserve: 6,500 km (4,039 miles)
- Empty weight with 90 seats: 35,000 kg (77,162 lb)
- Loaded weight: 64,000 kg (141,096 lb)
History:
In 1955 the Soviet Council of Ministers directed engine builders Kuznetsov and Ivchenko to develop new turboprop engines, and Ilyushin and Antonov to design an airliner to use these engines. This resulted in the Il-18 and An-10 aircraft, and the Kuznetsov NK-4 and Ivchenko AI-20 engines. The design was for a four-engined low-wing monoplane.
Designed to meet the requirements of Aeroflot for a medium range 75 to 100 seat airliner, the An-10 and the Il-18 were developed in opposition, both flying for the first time in 1957 and entering service in 1959. The Il-18 was pressurised and had a retractable tricycle undercarriage. The prototype Il-18 (SSSR-L5811 – c/n Moskva) was flown for the first time by Vladimir Kokkinaka on 4 July 1957. The engine initially installed was the Kuznetsov SN-4 providing 2,984 kw (4,000 ehp) . This engine was fitted to early production aircraft but in due course the Ivchenko AI-20 was installed in production aircraft.
The Il-18A entered service fitted with 75 seats with Aeroflot on the Moscow to Adler, and Moscow to Alma Alta routes. After a short period the improved Il-18B entered service and by 1961 the Il-18V entered production, this having a revised seating capacity of 90 to 100 passengers. To meet this requirement some changes were made to the window layout and the interior of the fuselage. The Il-18I had the more powerful AI-20M engine, increased fuel capacity and an extension of the pressurised part of the fuselage, thus providing capacity for 122 passengers during summer operations. This model was placed into production as the Il-18D and the IL-18E when not fitted with the extra fuel tanks, entering service with Aeroflot in 1965.
Production of the Il-18 was believed to be some 700 aircraft, mostly for civil operators. Records indicated during the 20 years the type was in front-line passenger service some 235 million passengers were carried, and 125 aircraft were supplied to 17 foreign carriers. A few were used for military purposes, mostly as VIP transports, and a few for electronic intelligence gathering. As they got older many were converted to the freighter role and a few over the years have visited Australia. An Il-18 and an An-24 visited Australia in the 1960s, stopping in Sydney, NSW on their way to the Antarctic.
In 2004 a Brisbane-based freight company in Queensland, which had a contract to carry freight to Micronesia, operated an Il-18D out of Eagle Farm, this aircraft (ER-ICB), being owned by Pecotox-Air of Moldavia and registered in Eritrea, operating this service for some months before being exported to Europe where it continued in operations for some years in the passenger and freight roles. Others have visited this part of the world on freight operations over the years.