Ilyushin Il-62

The single airborne command Il-62M (RA-86570) was customised for the emergency response agency EMERCOM to provide evacuation transport for Russian citizens from foreign countries and act as airborne command post for these and other emergency situations (Gordon et al., 2004).

It operates in conjunction with a fleet of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Il-76TD waterbombers, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and helicopters which have operated in some 60 countries and saved 50,000 lives since the agency was created in 1994.

Apart from basic interior changes, RA-86570 features hush-kitted engines and Honeywell electronics with global communication ability via satellite, and an Inmarsat system.

The aircraft was used as a command post during the combat of forest fires in the Far East, when dealing with the Chechen
terrorist attack in Kaspiysk when an apartment building was blown up, and to bring Russian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs to Sharjah in 1997 and from there collecting the crew of an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] freighter that had escaped from the Taliban militia in Afghanistan.

Design

The Il-62 is a conventional all-metal low-wing monoplane of riveted sectional [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] construction to fail-safe design principles (a structure designed so that failure of one major member does not cause immediate failure of the
whole).

Its service life was initially set at 30,000 flight hours and subject to extensions and curtailments according to the quality of
service procedures, inspection and manufacturer's bulletins.

The aircraft features pressurised cabin and freight holds (with fuselage dimensions of 3.8m width x 4.1m height), duplex all-mechanical flight controls, though with twin electric motors for tailplane incidence control; hydraulic nosewheel steering, landing gear and tail strut actuation, and wheel brakes.

The Il-62M has spoilers and lift dumpers which extend automatically upon landing and are hydraulically operated.

Control surfaces include a variable-incidence tailplane with dynamically and weight-compensated elevators with trim tabs,
triple-section tabbed ailerons (outermost for low speed and innermost for high speed) which are interlinked with a torsion bar, spoilerons (Il-62M), spoilers and lift dumpers, and pneumatically-actuated thrust reversers on the two outboard engines (the reversers are flight-rated on the Il-62M).

27V AC electrics are used throughout with a TA-6 auxiliary power unit (a turbine generator which supplies electric power and air conditioning on the ground) in the lower tailcone plus backup lead-zinc batteries.

The aircraft uses conventional hot air de-icing using engine [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Its sea level is equivalent to 2,400 m (8,000 ft) above mean sea level and thereafter reducing to the equivalent of 2,400 m (8,000 ft) to cruise altitude.

It was originally built with no automatic oxygen masks; emergency supply comprises hatrack-housed oxygen bottles and masks for manual distribution to passengers by cabin crew.

Since 1997, most aircraft have been retrospectively fitted with automatic oxygen supply systems with drop-down masks.

Its avionics include a Polyot-1 automatic flight control system (a "super autopilot," able to be programmed with a set route which it can fly without human intervention but under constant flight crew monitoring; ICAO Cat. 1 approaches standard, Cat. 2 optional), Doppler navigational radar replaced by triplex INSS (Inertial Navigation System Sets) on Il-62M after 1978 and by GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation sets on many aircraft after 1991, triple VHF and HF
flightdeck radios, automatic direction finders, Soviet and Western instrument landing system receivers, vertical omindirectional radio range and radio beacon receivers, duplex radio altimeters, automatic radio transponders, a full ICAO-standard navigation lights fit, cabin tannoy and intercom systems.

Soviet/Russian and Warsaw Pact sovereign examples are additionally fitted with triplex "Odd Rods" (NATO code
name) IFF (identification friend or foe) air defence transponders identifiable by three closely spaced short aerials.

Emergency evacuation systems include inflatable life rafts and manually extendable canvas evacuation slides.

Most aircraft are now retrospectively fitted with emergency floor lighting strips and some aircraft equipped with automatically inflatable evacuation slides.

Fire extinguishers are sited in engine nacelles, flightdeck compartment, cabin crew rest areas and toilets.

The Il-62 offers accommodation for up to 198 passengers in a single-class layout, seated six-abreast at 84 cm (33 in) seat pitch in two cabins separated by a vestibule, galley/pantry and cabin crew rest area.

There are three toilets, forward, midships, and aft.

It has a buffet/bar and a further cabin crew rest area in a vestibule forward, with a further optional cabin crew rest area aft.

Typical mixed-class accommodation ranges between 128 and 144, seated four or six abreast, and a common single isle configuration for long distance Aeroflot examples was first class (2-abreast) 3 rows, business class (3-abreast) 4
rows, economy class (3-abreast) 17 rows (Thiel, 2001).

In this configuration, the central isle in business and economy classes is quite narrow.

A first class compartment is optionally-sited aft of forward entry door or just forward of midships entry door, with an economy compartment further forward in the latter case.

"Skycot" fitments are located in hatracks, while later Il-62Ms (1978 onwards) feature enclosed hatracks.

Customer-optionable interior fitments.

No in-flight entertainment systems are available except a public-address system that may be coupled to an open-reel or audio cassette player.

Individual aircraft were experimentally fitted with television sets for Soviet-standard videotape entertainment during the 1970s. Some aircraft were retrospectively fitted with Western in-flight entertainment (solely audio) systems after 1991.

Operational history

After the introduction of the Il-62M, Aeroflot (the largest operator of the plane) gradually upgraded its old Il-62s with the D-30 KU Soloviev powerplant, which, coupled with engine housing and other modifications, greatly reduced the chance of contagious engine damage.

By mid 1973, the airline was operating some 60 Il-62s, and by 1989 this had increased to 165 (Il-62 and Il-62M) (Thiel, 2001).

The Il-62M had a dispatch rate with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of 97% with some examples logging as many as 17 flight hrs/day, and it
was described as the most reliable type in the fleet at that time (Gordon et al., 2004).

It set several international records in its class, mostly exemplifying a range capability far in excess of the conservative Aeroflot calculations applied in Soviet times.

Some of these records were set by an all-woman crew of five captained by Iraida ("Inna") Vertiprahova.

With 10 tonnes of freight, the Il-62M had a maximum range of 10,300 km compared to 9,412 km for the VC10 carrying
the same weight.

With a 23 tonne payload, the Il-62M range was 8000 km, compared to 6,920 km for a Boeing 707 with maximum payload.