Il-76MD-90A - How Russia Plans to Transform the Il-76 for Commercial Use

The IL-76 is known as a military and freight aircraft, but Russia intends to use it as a civilian plane. Let us first understand the history of this aircraft before judging if it was a truly military plane. In the latter half of the 1960s, the Soviet Union sought the development of a new military transport aircraft. The proposed aircraft was intended to transport cargo and perform troop drops by landing and parachute. Specialists at the Ilyushin Design Bureau created the aircraft, and the chief designer approved the proposal in 1967. As a result, one of the most successful Soviet heavy military transport aircraft, the IL-76, was developed. The first prototype of the 76th was built at Moscow's Strela plant in 1971. The aircraft successfully flew for the first time in March of that year, and in May, it was displayed to the general public and foreigners at the International Aviation Show in Le Bourget. Soviet citizens first saw the IL-76 in September 1971 in the film The Last Flight of the Albatross. Almost two years later, the new model entered serial production. The Tashkent Aviation Production Association produced its first unit in May 1973. All Soviet IL-76s were built and modified in sunny Uzbekistan. The aircraft's official operation began in 1975. Initially, the plane could only lift 28 tons of goods into the sky, but the payload capacity was gradually expanded to 42 tons, 48 tons, and finally 50 tons. The aircraft's capacity was originally 225 passengers but was later extended to 250. With a 40-ton cargo, the aircraft could fly for up to 4,750 kilometers without refueling. Over decades of service, including during the Soviet era, the IL-76 underwent various modifications. The 76th was employed for much more than just goods and troop transportation. For example, the aircraft's variations included an airborne command post, a flying laboratory, a tanker, an airborne early warning and control aircraft, and many more. The IL-76 was not frequently used as a passenger plane in the Soviet Union. There was just one of these aircraft in service throughout its history. It flew for the first time in 1973, followed by seven more until it was damaged by a freak accident on the ground, requiring extensive repairs. The aircraft had promising possibilities in civilian air transport, garnering the moniker airplane bus as a joke. However, the conversion project was cancelled since work on the next wide-body aircraft, the IL-86, was well underway. The IL-86, by the way, was employed in civilian aviation from 1980 to 1997. The IL-76 has been given a second chance. Following Western sanctions, Russia lost access to its usual foreign-made aircraft. Under these conditions, the need for home technologies is increasing like never before. One of these is the IL-76, which is currently being produced at the Aviastar SP plant in Ulyanovsk, Russia. Rosaviatsiya recently renewed the aircraft's approval for civilian transport. In the case of intermediate landings, the IL-76MD-90A can successfully compete with long-haul Boeing 777 and Airbus A330, which are becoming increasingly unreliable due to inadequate maintenance and will be phased out of domestic airline fleets in the coming years. The first passenger, IL-76MD-90A, will take several years to arrive because the factory is now fully busy with defense orders. In addition to new aircraft, a large fleet of older IL-76s will be converted to passenger service, allowing them to arrive on passenger carriers considerably sooner. The passenger conversion of the current IL-76 employs ready-made kits to convert transport modifications into the aircraft-bus variant, which incorporates minor adjustments. The basic conversion kit includes plans and everything needed to create a second deck and passenger cabins, including chairs, plastic wall coverings, steps, sanitary blocks, and a buffet module. Thanks to ready-made standard schemes, the airport's own workshops can convert a transport IL-76 into a passenger modification in approximately a month and a half without having to return the aircraft to the factory. The disadvantage of the modified IL-76 is not only that they will be removed from inventory with significant operational time. These improvements will replace the recognizable windows with monitors set in the corridor ceiling every seven rows. The most anticipated version of the cargo passenger IL-76 will soon commence passenger service. The cargo version of the IL-76 includes robust foldable seats along the sides to transport personnel. Rosaviazia has already given passenger airlines permission to transport passengers in seats incorporated into the aircraft's construction. Despite the fact that comfort will be lacking, airlines claim to lower cargo passenger flight prices by 15-20%. Ural Airlines and S7 Airlines will be the first to operate cargo passenger IL-76 aircraft. S7 Airlines intends to be the first to launch cargo passenger flights between Kaliningrad and Moscow, as well as between Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don, Kabul and Pyongyang. Now do you think IL-76 will make a good commercial airliner? Let us know in the comments.