The Il-86 aircraft became the first and most massive Soviet passenger aircraft with a wide fuselage and the possibility of converting it into a military facility, if necessary. This machine was designed in the design bureau of Ilyushin, was mass-produced at the plant in Voronezh, equipped with four powerful engines. Consider the features of this unit, which was withdrawn from commercial operation after 1997, but some units are still in working condition.
Short description
The first IL-86 took to the air ten years later than its American counterpart modification "Boeing-747." Such a delay is caused not only by the weak development of the Soviet aircraft industry, but also by the economic prerequisites associated with the financial crisis.
At that time, there were no passenger airliners in the crumbling Soviet Union that could carry more than 300 passengers. Citizens of the USSR flew abroad very rarely, the whole procedure was accompanied by numerous checks and surveys. Nevertheless, work on the creation of an airbus of the time began in the seventies of the last century.
Background
To begin with, for air carriers from America in the early 70s, a wide-body aircraft was vital. The first version of such a liner was introduced by Boeing. At Aeroflot, the TU-134, IL-62, IL-18 , TU-154, Yak-40 models were quite capable of meeting the country's needs.
These aircraft were distinguished by reliability, maneuverability and other characteristics. IL-86 made its first flight during the Olympics held in Moscow. The main purpose of the unit is to ensure the transportation of passengers from the Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports.
Development and testing
The IL-86 aircraft, the photo of which is presented above, became the first domestic passenger airliner with a wide fuselage. The requirements for the unit stipulated many nuances, among which the cabin capacity of at least 250 passengers, as well as the possibility of landing on the available runways, was of particular importance.
In October 1967, it was decided to create an aircraft with an extended fuselage by 6800 mm. Development of a 350-seat aircraft began at the design office of Ilyushin.
To accommodate such an amount of personnel, it was necessary to build seats in each row, without neglecting the conditions of comfort. As a result, the Design Bureau worked on a two-deck version and a single-level analogue. The fuselage was equipped with a pair of separate cabins. This offer did not find customer support.
Modernization
In February 1970, the specialists of the design bureau of Ilyushin received a task to develop an aircraft capable of carrying at least 350 passengers. On February 2, 1970, the Design Bureau was given a specific task for the design of a wide-body passenger aircraft. Two years later, the active development of a model focused on transporting people on the basis of the "baggage with you" principle was started.
The designers had a difficult task - to make a liner with the correct geometry and seating arrangement. This indicator was influenced not only by aerodynamic parameters, but also by safety, commercial component, crew comfort, as well as loading and unloading of baggage. As a result, the developers of the IL-86 model settled on a version with a round fuselage cross section and seating on the upper deck according to the formula 3/3/3. This decision made it possible to place nine seats in one row, providing two passes. Among the innovations of the technical plan, one can note the use of wing mechanization of wing flaps with three slots.
Characteristics of IL-86
The lower deck of the aircraft was equipped with special racks that were designed for baggage and other cargo. Before entering this part of the ship, passengers had to go through three hatches, leaving a burden, and then sent to the passenger part at the second level (along several single-span stairways).
The peculiarity of the IL-86 aircraft is the speed of movement of passengers who spent less time landing and baggage. This option is mainly due to the procedure for processing cargo transportation, which does not require long-term sorting and loading things on board. This also includes the absence of idle time on the conveyor belt for several minutes.
Test
In December 1976, the first flight of a prototype IL-86 aircraft took place, the photo of which is shown below. This action was carried out from the central airfield. Frunze. The flight leader was E. Kuznetsov, who in 1978 completed a technical flight from Moscow to Sochi. In the same period, flights were carried out in the direction of Leningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol and Mineralnye Vody.
As noted in the official data of the design bureau of Ilyushin, the aircraft in question managed to visit Novosibirsk (February 1980 is considered the official landing date). In December of the same year, the aircraft received a certificate of airworthiness. After that, the first regular flight on the route Moscow - Tashkent was completed.
Salon IL-86
After the official use of the aircraft in question began, this ship set 17 world records officially confirmed. Among them:
- Flying on a closed route for one and two thousand kilometers.
- Lifting various kinds of cargo at speeds above 970 kilometers per hour.
- The highest reliability rate among civil aviation aircraft at that time.
The wide-body aircraft was designed for operation in periods of medium length. At the time of the creation of the vessel, it was equipped with modern equipment, which provided reliability and maneuverability of the machine, along with a high safety indicator. For the creation of such a unit, the creators were awarded the Lenin Prize and a number of state awards.
Features
With the length of the IL-86 aircraft almost 60 meters, it had a lot of advantages between domestic and foreign counterparts. In fact, the aircraft was a low-plan airbus with four turbine engines. It is equipped with a single-tail plumage and swept wings.
For this aircraft, the NK-86 power units were specially created, which are modernized engines used on the IL-62 and TU-154. The engine thrust is 13,000 kgf. It was these “engines” that became the main reason for the withdrawal of the aircraft from serial operation. The fact is that the NK-86 had a large indicator of noise and fuel consumption. It got to the point that they started joking about these power units, claiming that they were launching a plane with a slow run and that only because of the curvature of the Planet did it work. In addition, the dimensions of the specified engine, taking into account the airframe and chassis, made it impossible to calculate the maintainability of the liner and its effective performance at high ambient temperatures. When the machine took off, temperature sensors often triggered, which led to complete or partial deactivation of the engines.
Interesting Facts
For the sake of justice, it is worth noting that the IL-86 salon, the photo of which is presented below, had excellent sound insulation. Despite the noise of the power plants, passengers did not experience much discomfort during the flight. Nevertheless, the sound level did not allow to fit into the permissible international standards for regular flights in the civil aviation range.
This created a problem for flights to countries abroad. By and large, the viability of one of the first Soviet airbuses was short-lived. The mass withdrawal of these aircraft began in 2001. This was largely due to their impracticality and increased noise. The last flights for IL-86 were flights from Moscow to Sochi and Simferopol. The Atlant-Soyuz company worked in this direction until October 2010.
In the 80s of the last century, research was conducted on aircraft of the IL-86 series in the USSR. Subsequently, they planned to install motors such as Rolls-Royce turbojet engines (Rolls-Royce) RB211-22B (production - Great Britain, traction power - 19,000 kgf). As a result, the aircraft was supposed to get an elongated fuselage and the ability to transport at least 450 passengers over a distance of four thousand kilometers.
It was on the basis of IL-86 that a long-range analogue under the index 96 was developed and created. Unfortunately, both modifications did not become serial liners, due to practical considerations. This niche was occupied by Airbus A310 models, which lasted about ten or fifteen years, as well as Boeing configurations of the Boeing 747 and Boeing 767.
Total
The history of the Soviet airbus was unsuccessful, as well as its closest successor, the IL-96. The total number of units built with elongated fuselages was only 27 copies. In active operation, which continues today, only 11 machines are involved. Some copies are part of a special flight detachment of Russia, another 3 units are operated in Cuba. The developers note that the four-engine long-range aircraft under consideration did not find proper application, due to the high fuel consumption and refueling noise, as well as low comfort for passengers.