Ilyushin Il-18

infobox Aircraft
name = Il-18D
type = Airliner
manufacturer = Ilyushin

---

caption = Il-18 on display at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport
designer =
first flight = 4 July 1957
introduced =
retired =
produced =
number built = 850+
status = In service
unit cost =
primary user = Aeroflot
more users = Soviet Air Forces
developed from =
variants with their own articles = Ilyushin Il-38

Two Soviet aircraft have shared the designation Ilyushin Il-18. The first Il-18 was a propeller-driven airliner of 1946. After a year of test flights, however, the programme was abandoned.

The second Il-18 (NATO reporting name: "Coot") is a large turboprop airliner somewhat resembling the Lockheed L-188 Electra that became one of the best known of Soviet aircraft (over 850 built), and one of the most popular and long lasting, having first flown in 1957. The IL-18 was one of the world's principal airliners for several decades, and was widely exported. Because of the plane's durability, many achieved over 45,000 flight hours.

Design and development

The Il-18 is a passenger aircraft equipped with four turboprop engines. The aircraft was mass manufactured for twelve years. The popularity of the aircraft was ensured, not just because of its reliability and operational economy, but because of the possibility to increase the number of passenger seats and its flight range for every modification (A, B, V, D and E) as well. The Il-18 was also produced in VIP version («Salon»).

Cubana retrofitted their Il-18s with the Bristol Britannia nosewheel and other parts in the nose gear, to improve the handling on poor runways.Fact|date=December 2007

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 AI-20 engines. V. K. 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 to 120 passengers. Many are still in service in Cuba, Siberia and the Middle East.Fact|date=December 2007

Price

According to Country Studies, Ghana purchased eight Il-18's on credit in 1961, at a price of more than US$1,500,000 each. However, since the operating costs were rather high, four were later returned to the USSR, and others were used by Ghana Airways.

ervice life

* Calendar: 42 years
* Flight cycles: 18,000
* Flight hours: 40,000

Variants

Civil

;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-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 4,250-hp (3169-ekW) 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.

Military

;Il-20M Coot-A: ELINT electronic, radar reconnaissance version. Also known as the Il-18D-36 Bizon.;Il-20RT: Naval Elint version.;Il-22 Coot-B: Airborne command post version.;Il-24: ELINT version.;Il-24N: Civilian version of the Il-20 Coot.;Il-38: Maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare version.

Operators

Civil operators

;AFG
* Royal Afghan Airlines;PRC
* Civil Aviation Administration of China;CUB
* Aerocaribbean
* Cubana;CZS
* Czech Airlines;DJI
* Daallo Airlines;GDR
* Interflug;EGY
* Egyptair (formerly United Arab Airlines);GHA
* Ghana Airways;GUI
* Air Guinée;HUN
* Malév Hungarian Airlines;KAZ
* Irbis Aero;KGZ
* Anikay Air;MLI
* Air Mali;PRK
* Air Koryo;POL
* LOT (Nine from 1961);flag|Romania|1952
* Tarom;USSR
* Aeroflot;RUS
* ASTAir
* GVG Airline
* NPP-MIR
* Tretyakovo Airlines
* Rossiya;SOM
* Daallo Airlines;SRI
* Expo Aviation;UKR
* Lviv Airlines
* Sevastopol Avia;UAE
* Phoenix Aviation;VNM
* Vietnam Airlines;YEM
* Yemen Airways

Military operators

;AFG
* Afghan Air Force (Five were delivered in 1968, and have since been retired.);IND;PRK;POL;USSR
* Soviet Air Forces
* Soviet Naval Aviation

pecifications (Il-18D)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= prop
ref=
crew= Six or seven (pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, flight navigator, and 2 or 3 cabin attendants)
capacity=120 passengers
length main= 37.40 m
length alt=122 ft 8 in
span main= 37.90 m
span alt=124 ft 4 in
height main= 10.17 m
height alt=33 ft 4 in
area main= 140 m²
area alt=1,506.4 ft²
airfoil=

empty weight main= 35,000 kg
empty weight alt= 77,000 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 64,000 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 140,800 lb
more general=
* 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)

engine (prop)=Ivtschenko AI-20 M
type of prop=turboprop engines
number of props=4
power main= 3,169 kW
power alt= 4,250 hp
power original=

max speed main= 675 km/h
max speed alt= 364 knots, 416 mph, or Mach 0.61-0.88 depending on altitude
cruise speed main= 650 km/h
cruise speed alt= 351 knots, 401 mph, or Mach 0.59-0.86 depending on altitude
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 6,500 km
range alt= 3,510 nm, 4,010 mi

ceiling main= 10,000 m
ceiling alt= 32,800 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
* 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
armament=
avionics=

ee also

Related development

* Ilyushin Il-38

Comparable aircraft

* Bristol Britannia
* Lockheed L-188 Electra
* Vickers Viscount

Related lists

* List of airliners
* List of civil aircraft

External links

* [http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/aircraft_detail.cgi?aircraft=Ilyushin+IL-18 Ilyushin Il-18 accident database] at [http://www.airdisaster.com/ AirDisaster.Com]
* [http://www.flugsimulator-il18.de/ Flight simulator IL-18 in the Museum of Technology "Hugo Junkers" in Dessau (Germany)]