Technical characteristics of the aircraft IL 96 300. Aviation of Russia

Photo: Alexey Petrov / @aviationcolors / https://twitter.com/aviationcolors?s=20

The history of domestic airbuses, now they are more often called wide-body aircraft, begins in 1967, when the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued in October, which launched the development of the first Soviet medium-haul wide-body aircraft Il-86 with a passenger capacity of 350 people.

The first domestic airbus Il-86

The design of the aircraft was entrusted to the Design Bureau. Ilyushin. At the initial stage, a variant of the Il-62-250 increased to 250 seats with a fuselage extended by 6.8 meters was worked out. This project did not receive further development. To accommodate 350 passengers, it was necessary to increase the number of seats in a row, and in order to maintain the level of comfort achieved on the IL-62, options for a double-deck aircraft and a single-deck aircraft with an oval fuselage and two separate passenger cabins were worked out. These studies also remained only on paper.

February 22, 1970 OKB im. Ilyushin was issued a technical assignment for the development of a wide-body passenger aircraft with 350 seats. On March 9, 1972, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 168-68 on the start of work on the Il-86 aircraft. A distinctive feature of the first Soviet airbus was the possibility of carrying luggage on the principle of "luggage with you." Together with TsAGI, an extensive set of studies was carried out to select the fuselage diameter. As a result, a fuselage was designed with nine seats in a row and two wide aisles. The wing was equipped with slats and triple-slotted flaps, which were later replaced by double-slotted ones. Such mechanization provided high lift and made it possible to take off from relatively short runways.

The first flight of the experimental IL-86 was performed on December 22, 1976. In June 1977, the aircraft was shown at the Le Bourget air show. Factory tests were completed at the end of September 1978, after which certification tests began. The application for a certificate of airworthiness was submitted on May 15, 1974, and the certificate itself was received on December 24, 1980. Two days later, the Il-86 performed the first regular flight on the route Moscow - Tashkent - Moscow.

For more than 30 years, this comfortable handsome giant has been carrying passengers on the busiest air routes. In the 80s, the Ilyushin Design Bureau received the State Prize for its creation.

At the beginning of 2017, four Il-86 aircraft were in operation. All of them were used in the Air Force of the country and did not carry out passenger transportation. A total of 104 serial aircraft and two prototypes were produced.

IL-86 RA-86140 , SVO, October 4, 2009 Before the flight Moscow - Hurghada - Moscow

Wide-body long-haul aircraft Il-96-300

With the growth in the volume of air transportation in the Soviet Union, the need arose to create a domestic long-haul aircraft with a large capacity. In foreign airlines, a significant part of the fleet of long-haul aircraft was made up of wide-body liners, which provided passengers with a significantly higher level of comfort than long-range narrow-body aircraft during many-hour flights.

Initially, it was assumed that the long-haul airbus would be a further development of the Il-86 aircraft and retain the maximum possible structural commonality with it. In accordance with this approach, the new aircraft, which received the designation Il-86D ("long-range"), had the same design of the fuselage, plumage, and main on-board functional systems as the Il-86. This made it possible to reduce the time for creating a new machine, to quickly introduce it into mass production in parallel with the production of the Il-86 aircraft. The Il-86D differed from its predecessor only in the wing area (470 m 2) and new NK-56 engines with a high bypass ratio and low specific fuel consumption in cruising flight.

In 1978, using the results of the Il-86D project, the Design Bureau began to develop the Il-96 aircraft with a T-tail, a supercritical high aspect ratio wing and an area of ​​387 m 2 . The development of such a variant of a long-haul airbus was carried out at the Design Bureau until 1983. By this time, progress had been made in the field of aviation science and aircraft construction, which made it possible to abandon the idea of ​​​​creating the Il-96 aircraft using many ready-made units and systems of the Il-86 aircraft in its design. The design bureau decided to develop a fundamentally new Il-96-300 wide-body aircraft.

Initially, it was planned to equip the new aircraft with four NK-56 engines with a take-off thrust of 18,000 kgf each. But due to numerous complex and contradictory reasons, the Minister of Aviation Industry I.S. Silaev, by his forceful decision, relied on the D-90 (PS-90) engine, which was common for passenger aviation, developed by the Perm Design Bureau under the leadership of P.A. Solovyov. An order was given to stop the development of NK-56, at the same time OKB im. S.V. Ilyushin was instructed to redesign the Il-96 for four D-90 engines. The thrust of the developed Permian engine (13500 kgf) was insufficient. At the request of "Ila", P.A. Solovyov agreed to bring it up to 16,000 kgf.

The Ilyushins had to reduce the length of the aircraft, abandon the T-tail and increase the keel area by increasing its height by one and a half meters. The need to increase the vertical tail area was determined by the requirement to ensure directional stability in the event of a single engine failure. The wing span was increased to 60 m and its sweep was reduced, while the wing area was reduced to 350 m 2 . Winglets appeared on the wingtips with a height of 3.1 meters and an angle of deviation from the horizontal axis of 15 o.

Wing and airframe design

The Il-96-300 wing is equipped with complex and efficient takeoff and landing mechanization, consisting of slats along its entire span, internal double-slotted and external single-slotted flaps, as well as transverse controls: internal ailerons and spoilers. In order to reduce the wear of the power elements of the wing and make the aircraft more resistant to turbulence, a wing vibration damping system was developed, in which external ailerons operating in automatic mode are involved, they do not participate in the lateral control of the aircraft, internal ailerons control roll.

The design of the power wing box was developed using monolithic prefabricated panels with a higher level of design stresses than on the IL-86 while ensuring the required strength, service life and survivability. This was achieved by using new materials in the construction of the panels, both with increased fracture toughness, low-cycle fatigue, low crack growth rates, and high-strength materials with increased tensile strength and good fatigue characteristics.

To reduce the number of longitudinal and transverse joints, which are the main source of fatigue cracks, long and wide semi-finished products are used in the design of the airframe of the Il-96-300 aircraft. Another feature of the wing is the large scope of honeycomb structures. They are used to make the nose and tail parts of the wing, landing gear doors, various elements of wing mechanization: spoilers, ailerons, part of the flaps.

In order to reduce the frontal resistance of engine nacelles, thrust losses and, ultimately, to reduce fuel consumption in cruising flight, the IL-96-300 engine nacelles have smooth, rather than stepped external contours, typical for engine nacelles with a high bypass ratio, which previously installed on domestic and foreign aircraft. And although the gain from nacelles of this form is relatively small, it is expressed in very significant fuel savings when performing long-distance flights.

The fuselage of the Il-96-300 has the same diameter as that of the Il-86 - 6.08 m. However, the design of the fuselage has been significantly changed to increase its reliability, ensure safety in case of damage, reduce the crack growth rate, ensure a given resource, reduce weight and improve quality of the outer surface.

Reducing the length of the fuselage led to a reduction in passenger capacity. The different layout of the passenger cabin provides for a capacity of 235 to 300 people. The standard layout of the economy class allows you to place 300 seats in two salons: in the first - 66 and in the second - 234 seats with a step of 870 mm, nine in a row with two aisles 550 mm wide. The layout for 235 seats provides for a three-class cabin: in the first class - 22 seats with a pitch of 1020 mm, in business class - 40 seats and in economy class - 173.

Cockpit, avionics and equipment

The IL-96 uses a glass cockpit control system, which includes a modern Russian digital avionics complex with six color multifunctional displays, an electric remote control system with a backup mechanical control system, an inertial navigation system and satellite navigation aids. The aircraft is equipped with an integrated system for issuing information to the crew on monitors about the operation of the liner's systems. The airborne flight and navigation complex provides almost complete automation of aircraft navigation in difficult meteorological conditions over any areas of the globe and automatic landing in conditions corresponding to ICAO category IIIA. The aircraft is operated by a crew of three: the aircraft commander, co-pilot and flight engineer.

When developing the cockpit, the Ilyushin Design Bureau engineers were tasked with reducing pilot fatigue during long-term work on a long-distance flight for many hours, increasing the reliability, safety and regularity of flights. As on the Il-86, the well-proven principle of the forward-looking crew, located in a single group, is used here, which ensures mutual control and mutual assistance between its members. All means of displaying information and controls are placed in accessible and visible places. This approach required the integration of individual signaling devices, indicators and controls into a single multifunctional information and control system that provides the issuance of signals (light, sound, speech), display of the parameters of the flight and navigation complex, power plant and aircraft systems, as well as control of the operation of systems and onboard equipment.

The use of multi-channel redundant systems on the IL-96-300 with automatic shutdown or switching of faulty channels basically frees the crew from any actions in the event of failures. The information display system notifies the crew of a failure that has occurred, and only in some cases the crew needs to manually duplicate the operation of the automation. Only in some cases, when the untimely activation or deactivation of the most critical systems, such as engines or the second and third stages of fire extinguishing, can significantly affect flight safety, automation is not used and the decision is made by the crew.

All information about the operation of on-board systems, as well as the indication of data necessary for piloting and navigation, are combined into a single information display system, the basis of which are two subsystems - on-screen display and complex information signaling.

The on-screen display system is part of the flight and navigation complex and its main means of presenting information to the crew are four color on-screen indicators along the edges of the dashboard, two of which are intended for the commander of the ship and two for the co-pilot. Each pair of these displays consists of an integrated flight display and an integrated navigational situation display, which provide the crew with the information necessary for aircraft piloting and navigation.

Indicators of the integrated alarm information system are located in the middle part of the dashboard. The right screen is intended mainly for indicating the parameters of the engines, and the left one is for signal information.

In addition, it is possible to manually call each of these screens of any information that the system has. It has memory devices that allow, after the flight, to display on the screens information about the failures and malfunctions of the on-board systems that occurred during the flight. For operational documentation of failures and malfunctions, there is a printing device on board the aircraft, which, if necessary, issues a form with a list of systems and assemblies that failed in flight for ground service personnel and crew.

The fuel system of the Il-96-300 was developed on the basis of the fuel system of its predecessor, the Il-86. The fuel system works automatically, without requiring the participation of the crew, and only if necessary, manual control is provided. Fuel is located in nine caisson wing tanks, of which eight are located in the wing consoles and one in the center section.

The fuel system is made separate for each of the four engines, in turn, each engine is fed with fuel from the supply section of its tank. Consumable compartments are filled with fuel throughout the flight, which ensures its reliable supply to the engines in all flight modes. The development of fuel from the cantilever tanks is carried out with a delay to unload the wing and increase the critical flutter speed.

The landing gear of the Il-96-300 consists of three main supports located behind the center of gravity of the aircraft, and a front support located in the forward fuselage. Each of the three main legs is equipped with a four-wheel bogie with brake wheels, and the front leg has two non-brake wheels. All fourteen wheels are of the same size 1300x480 mm and the pressure in the tires is 11.5 kg / cm 2.

The current state of the IL-96 program

As of January 1, 2017, 15 Il-96 aircraft were in operation. Of these, 4 airliners in the Il-96-300 version are operated by the Cuban national airline Cubana de Aviacion (one of them is in storage), two Il-96-400 and 9 Il-96-300 aircraft are in the special flight squad "Russia" . Aircraft are used to transport top officials (RA-96019, RA-96102). The Il-96-300PU aircraft, tail number RA-96019, is Aircraft No. 1, the Control Center, on which the President of the country flies, aircraft RA-96102 is intended for the Minister of Defense.

The Il-96-400T aircraft is a cargo modification of the Il-96-300. The length of the fuselage of the Il-96-400T aircraft has been increased by 9.35 m compared to the basic Il-96-300 aircraft.

The main difference between the Il-96-400T cargo aircraft and its passenger version is that the passenger cabin is converted into a cargo cabin with a reinforced cabin floor and with the installation of additional rails for attaching floor mechanization designed for loading and unloading international aviation pallets and containers. The layout of the cargo deck of the IL-96-400T allows the use of various loading schemes and means of packing when placing cargo. The maximum payload is 92 tons.

Regular passenger traffic in our country is not carried out on this type of aircraft. At the end of 2013, Aeroflot management proposed to the company's board of directors to abandon the operation of the Il-96, motivating their proposal with economic considerations.

On March 30, 2014, an Il-96-300 liner of Aeroflot airlines with tail number RA-96008, flying from Tashkent, made its last landing at Sheremetyevo Airport. These planes did not carry passengers on regular flights anymore.

As of January 1, 2017, five Il-96s were being built in the assembly shops of the Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Building Company (VASO) - three Il-96-400T and two Il-96-300, UAC plans to produce two or three aircraft per year for period up to 2023-2025.

PJSC Il, on the instructions of the Ministry of Defense, developed the Il-96-400TZ tanker based on the Il-96-400T cargo modification. It was planned that it would be a "clean" tanker with an overhead tank, capable of transferring over 65 tons of fuel at a distance of up to 3.5 thousand km from its base airfield. However, in May 2018, it became known that the military department abandoned the development of this machine in favor of the Il-78M-90A 2 tanker.

IL-96-400M

There are only three manufacturers in the world that are capable of producing wide-body airliners - the American Boeing, the European Airbus and the Russian Ilyushin. And the Euro-Atlantic duopoly has absolutely no need for a competitor in the face of our country.

In the years after the collapse of the USSR, Russia has lost a lot in the field of civil aviation. Often the positions of the industry surrendered voluntarily, but for the most part, the anti-industrial lobby made a lot of efforts to destroy the Russian aviation industry. We now have the results of this "fruitful" work - the vast majority of aircraft in Russian airlines are of foreign manufacture.

In 2010, the most experienced pilot of Aeroflot, who had flown over 20 thousand hours, the commander of the Il-96 crew, Vladimir Salnikov, said that Airbus explicitly states in the contract for the sale of aircraft: the intermediary receives 10 percent of the transaction amount. The Boeing Corporation is not at all embarrassed to report that in 2009 it spent $72 million bribing officials in the CIS. And if, for example, Aeroflot buys several Boeings or Airbuses for a billion dollars instead of Il-96s, 100 million of them will immediately go into the pockets of interested people.

In addition to direct bribery of officials, efforts are also being made to restrict flights for domestic aircraft to Europe and the United States, and such restrictions did not begin yesterday. Suffice it to recall the end of the 50s, when a ban on jet aircraft with two engines was introduced in Europe in order to increase safety. This measure was a response to the appearance in the USSR of the breakthrough jet passenger liner Tu-104. To overcome this limitation, the Tupolev Design Bureau had to develop the Tu-110 aircraft with four engines.

The sanctions introduced in 2014 and constantly extended by Washington and Brussels are aimed, among other things, at restricting the import of new technologies into Russia that our country does not possess. Under such conditions, Russia has no choice but to take care of strengthening the defense and the means of maintaining air communication between the European part of the country and its eastern borders. We need an updated version of the wide-body long-haul airliner.

Reports on the resumption of production of the Il-96 in the Il-96-400M version and the development of the ShFDMS project - a wide-body long-range aircraft, appeared almost simultaneously in 2014-2015. Initially, it was not entirely clear why it was necessary to develop two similar aircraft. Complete clarity was introduced in September 2016 by Dmitry Rogozin, who, during a visit to Voronezh, said that in the period before the creation of a strategically new passenger aircraft (Russian-Chinese CR929), and this is approximately 2027, the Il-96-400M will cover the main needs of Russia as on long-haul flights to the Far East from the European part, as well as charter flights during the holiday season to those countries that need large-capacity aircraft.

The Il-96-400M was developed on the basis of the transport version "-400T", so its fuselage will be 9.35 meters longer compared to the base aircraft Il-96-300 and will be 63.939 meters.

The main differences between the "-400M" version and previous modifications are two pilots in the cockpit and the replacement of the PS-90A1 engines with the next-generation PD-14M engines, which develops a take-off thrust of 16-17 tons. As you know, the basic PD-14 with a thrust of 14 tons was developed for installation on the MS-21 airliner, and the version with the M index is being developed for the Il-214 military transport aircraft (in June 2017, the Il-214 aircraft (MTA / SVTS) received official name IL-276 1). Replacing the PS-90A1 with the PD-14M promises a significant reduction in fuel consumption and maintenance costs for the power plant.

Russian Aviation Note: information about the prospective replacement of the engine was taken from the magazine UAC "Horizons" No. 4 2016 (# 12) p. 31, where these data are given by Olga Kruglyakova, deputy head of the preliminary design bureau of the Il company. In our opinion, the power of the PD-14M is not enough for the new IL-96, and we can talk about promising PD-18R with a take-off thrust of 18-20 tf. Probably, until a new engine with a thrust of at least 18 tf is created, tested and certified, the same time-tested PS-90A1 will be installed on the aircraft.

At the beginning of March 2017, Alexander Inozemtsev, General Director of Perm Aviadvigatel, announced that the PS-90A1 engine would be upgraded to the PS-90A3M version, which would eventually be installed on the Il-96-400M 1.

The reconfiguration of the passenger cabin will further improve the fuel efficiency of the aircraft. In the presence of a business class, the capacity will be 370 seats, and in the economy version - 436.

These improvements will bring the Il-96-400M closer in terms of operating economy to the popular Western models Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 777-200.

OKB im. Ilyushina compared the Il-96-400M, in the version for 332 passenger seats, and the serial Airbus A330. Calculations showed that, taking into account the whole range of planned improvements, the PER indicator (direct operating costs, in the Western manner - direct operational costs, DOC) is almost equal. “The planes turned out to be close in terms of operating economy. And taking into account the difference in prices due to the change in the exchange rate, the Russian car is reaching a competitive level, ”says Nikolay Talikov, General Designer of Ila.

It is not expected to make any other major changes to the time-tested airframe and systems. Also, no additional testing is required. The aircraft has a high proven design life of 70,000 hours. The maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft was successively increased from 235 to 250 and then to 270 tons. It won't go up any further either.

In 2019, the first prototype of the Il-96-400M passenger aircraft will be assembled at the facilities of VASO, at the same time the aircraft will receive a new designation - Il-496, according to reports from PJSC "IL", a fundamental decision on this has already been made 3 , for the implementation of the project production of Il-96-400M for the period until 2021, it is planned to allocate about 50 billion rubles. From 2020 to 2023, the State Transport Leasing Company (STLC) is to accept five new aircraft. It is expected that they will be operated on the lines between Moscow and Vladivostok with Khabarovsk.

On January 18, 2019, Alexei Rogozin, General Director of PJSC Il, outlined priorities for the year, one of which was the launch of the Il-96-400M 4 wide-body long-haul passenger aircraft into mass production.

In the spring of 2018, VASO began manufacturing parts for the first prototype Il-96-400M. At the same time, the slipway for assembling the fuselage of the aircraft, which had previously occupied the fuselage of the unfinished fifth Il-96-400T, was released. The production of the prototype Il-96-400M should be completed before the end of 2019, in the first half of 2020, preliminary and certification tests of the liner will take place, which by June 2020 should be completed with the issuance of an addition to the type certificate - approval of the main design change 3.

IL-96- a wide-body passenger aircraft for medium and long haul airlines, designed at the Ilyushin Design Bureau in the late 1980s. It made its first flight in 1988, and has been mass-produced since 1993 at the plant of the Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Building Company. IL-96 became the first and last Soviet long-range wide-body aircraft.

By the mid-1970s, almost all long-haul air transportation in the USSR and the socialist countries was carried out on Il-62 aircraft. However, the capabilities of these aircraft could not fully meet the rapid growth in the volume of long-distance transportation: due to the relatively small passenger capacity, the number of flights increased, and, accordingly, the load on airports increased.

In addition, the cabin of a narrow-body aircraft was far from the degree of comfort that was achieved on the Boeing 747 accepted into service in 1969, which became the world's first wide-body aircraft.

In 1978, using the results of work on the Il-86D project, the Design Bureau began to develop the Il-96 aircraft with a T-tail, a larger elongation wing with supercritical nose profiles and an area of ​​up to 387 sq.m. Studies of this option were carried out until 1983, when the progress made in the field of aviation science and technology made it possible to abandon the idea of ​​​​creating aircraft Il-96 using in its design many ready-made units and systems of the Il-86 aircraft and proceed to the creation of a fundamentally new aircraft Il-96-300.

The Il-96-300 aircraft differs from its predecessor Il-86 by a fuselage shortened by 5.5 meters, a larger wing span and a reduced sweep angle, increased vertical tail, improved interior of the passenger compartment.

New alloys were used in its design and the proportion of composite materials was increased. The aircraft uses an automatic fuel consumption control system, which makes it possible to maintain the balance of the aircraft in flight. Particular attention was paid to the reliability and safety of aircraft operation.

The IL-96 uses a Russian digital avionics complex with six color multifunctional displays, an EDSU, an inertial navigation system and satellite navigation aids. Also on IL-96-300 it was decided to install new Soloviev PS-90A engines. Uncharacteristic for by-pass engines previously produced in the USSR, the smooth PS-90A nacelle increased the fuel efficiency of the aircraft.

The set of requirements set by the Ilyushin Design Bureau by the Ministry of Civil Aviation - the transportation of a commercial load of 30 and 15 tons to a practical range of 9,000 and 11,000 km at a cruising speed of 850 to 900 km / h at an altitude of 9,000 to 12,000 m - made the optimal aerodynamic scheme traditional: four-engine cantilever low-wing with vertical tail. From the T-shaped plumage abandoned. The IL-96-300 was originally created as an aircraft with development potential: its design implies a relatively quick and inexpensive development of various aircraft modifications.

Further development of the aircraft IL-96-300 was the creation of the Il-96M variant, in which many US aviation firms took part. The fuselage of the aircraft was lengthened to 64 meters, that is, even more than on the IL-86. But the Pratt & Whitney PW2337 engines became the main distinguishing feature of the IL-96M.

The prototype was created on the basis of the first experimental Il-96-300. The aircraft took off on April 6, 1993, but was not put into serial production. On the basis of the Il-96M, a cargo Il-96T was created, which was also assembled in a single copy. A two-deck version of the Il-96-550 was also studied, equipped with the NK-92 turbofan engine (4 x 20000 kgf) and designed to carry 550 passengers.

In 1999-2000, work was carried out on the Il-96-400T cargo aircraft project, which has the capabilities of the Il-96T cargo aircraft, but has Russian PS-90A-2 turbofan engines and on-board equipment. It made its first flight on May 16, 1997. In operation since 2009.

The first prototype was assembled directly in the design bureau shop on Leningradsky Prospekt in Moscow. In early September 1988, the aircraft was ceremonially rolled out of the assembly shop. The Il-96-300 prototype aircraft made its first flight on September 28 from the Frunze Central Airfield on the Khodynka field. The aircraft was piloted by a crew under the command of Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union Stanislav Bliznyuk. The flight directly over the central regions of Moscow lasted 40 minutes.

Under test IL-96 performed several notable long-range flights, including Moscow-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky-Moscow without landing in Petropavlovsk. The plane covered 14,800 km in 18 hours and 9 minutes. June 9, 1992 IL-96 flew from Moscow to Portland via the North Pole, spending 15 hours in the air.

The aircraft was tested in Yakutsk at -50°C and in Tashkent at +40°C. According to the test results, on December 29, 1992, the aircraft was awarded a certificate of airworthiness. For six months, new cars were tested on Aeroflot routes, and due to lack of funding, operational tests had to be combined with commercial freight traffic.

Commercial operation of the aircraft began on July 14, 1993 on the Moscow-New York route. At first, the aircraft was used mainly on foreign flights: to Singapore, Las Palmas, New York, Tel Aviv, Palma de Mallorca, Tokyo, Bangkok, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos– Aires, Seoul, Sao Paulo, Havana, Hanoi, Santiago, Lima.

All currently flying in Aeroflot Il-96 aircraft were collected in the first half of the 1990s. In exchange for a reduction in duties on the import of foreign equipment, Aeroflot undertook to purchase an additional batch of IL-96s, but the deal never took place, although the duties were reduced.

In 2005-2006, three Il-96-300s were delivered to Cuba, including one to service the President of Cuba. In 2009, the Venezuelan government signed a contract for the supply of two IL-96-300s - one for passenger, the other for VIP transportation. In the fall of 2008, the IFC Leasing Corporation seized two Il-96-300s from Krasnoyarsk Airlines due to the company's insolvency.

In 2009, Polet began operating Il-96-400T cargo aircraft, which Aeroflot originally planned to buy, but later abandoned them. As of September 2009, Poljot has three Il-96-400Ts with a plan to receive three more aircraft in 2010.

Also, during the aerospace show MAKS-2009, an agreement was signed with a Peruvian airline for the supply of two Il-96-400T cargo aircraft with an option for one more such aircraft, and negotiations are underway to supply it to China and the countries of the Middle East. The current version of the aircraft is equipped with new engines, the most modern Russian-made flight and navigation system, which makes it possible to operate the aircraft without any restrictions around the world.

Such aircraft have not yet been produced in Russia. IL-96-400T can carry up to 92 tons of cargo on medium and long distance routes. The aircraft has been certified in accordance with Russian airworthiness standards, harmonized with those of the European Union and the United States. At various times, negotiations were underway to sell the Il-96 to China (three aircraft), Syria (three aircraft) and even Zimbabwe. In 2007, the KrasAir airline planned to transfer two of its Il-96s to Iran Air on a wet lease for a year.

The first two prototypes (b / n 96000 and 96001), which had been stored for a long time at the Gromov Research Institute in Ramenskoye, were destroyed in May 2009. Another 5 aircraft (2 KrasAir and 3 Domodedovo Airlines) have been temporarily decommissioned and are in storage.

Creators IL-96-300 focused on the economic performance of the Boeing 767, however, since the first flight of the Il-96-300, long-range airliners of the new generation Boeing 777, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A380 have been put into operation, the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 are expected to enter the market soon. By 2012, two more Il-96-300s will be produced for the Russian Arctic Ocean (including the presidential Il-96-300PU). The cargo version of the Il-96-400T remains in production.

Flight performance characteristics of IL-96

IL 96 is designed on the basis of the previous model IL-86. This is a domestic wide-body passenger airbus. It is designed for medium and long haul flights. Its development began in the 1980s. Already in 1988, the world saw the first copy of this aircraft.

According to the established test program, the liner made several flights over long distances. One of the indicative is the flight "Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Moscow". It did not provide for an intermediate landing. The flight length was 14,800 km at an altitude of up to 12,000 m. The aircraft covered this distance in 18 hours and 9 minutes. At that time, this was a record figure for passenger aircraft manufactured in the USSR.

Based on the results of numerous tests of flight characteristics, the aircraft was issued a certificate in 1992. All tests were carried out on the free air routes of Aeroflot.

Good to know! Due to lack of finances, operational tests were carried out in conjunction with commercial flights for the transport of goods.

Features and benefits of the aircraft

The fuselage diameter of the Il-96 does not differ from its predecessor. Only its length has changed, which is less by 5 m. The wings of the airbus are swept-back with a large elongation. They are equipped with supercritical profiles and vertical ends.

Interesting fact! Such design features made it possible to increase aerodynamic characteristics.

The shape of the tail compartment is the same as that of the Il-86. The designers increased the length of the vertical tail. This is done in order to ensure flight safety in the event of failure of one of the aircraft's engines.

The chassis is mounted on three legs, which are equipped with a bogie with four brake wheels.

Note. Two non-brake wheels are mounted on the front landing gear. This increases the speed when the aircraft accelerates on the runway.

The Il-96, like its predecessor, is equipped with four PS-90A turbofan engines. Built-in automatic fuel system. If necessary, you can control it manually.

Fuel is placed in nine tanks, one of which is located in the center of the fuselage. The rest are in the wing consoles. Fuel consumption, as well as its balance, is controlled by special devices. The design of the airliner provides expendable compartments for each engine. They are constantly fueled.

Advantages:

• significant flight range;
• optimal indicator of maximum load;
• high speed;
• reliability and safety.

The aircraft is equipped with two decks. The first is the luggage compartment. On the second - the passenger compartment.

Specifications

The weight of the air liner is 117,000 kg. It is lighter than the IL-86. Weight at maximum load exceeds 200,000 kg. Hull length - 55.35 m, height - 17.55 m. The wing area of ​​the Il-96 is reduced, and reaches 391.6 sq.m. The aircraft is designed for flights at an altitude of up to 12,000 m for a distance of no more than 9,000 km. The maximum speed of the airbus at zero load is 910 km / h, and cruising - 850 km / h.

Cabin capacity - 230-300 passengers. How many seats are in the liner depends on its modification.

Equipment IL-96

The fuel efficiency of the aircraft has improved due to the use of bypass engines. The body is made of new alloys and composite materials. This made it possible to reduce the main load on the chassis, as well as improve aerodynamic characteristics.

For safety purposes, the aircraft is equipped with the following devices:

• Russian digital aviation complex with 6 multifunctional displays;
• EDSU (wire control system);
• modern multifunctional navigation system;
• satellite communication devices.

An electric pulse anti-icing system with cyclic action is also built in. It is designed to protect the leading edges of the wings, stabilizers and keel.

Scheme of the passenger compartment of the IL-96

There are two layouts of this aircraft: monoclass and three classes. The cabin of the first type of airliner has 300 passenger seats. They belong to the economy class. The distance between the seats is 87 cm.

The aircraft of the second type in the cabin has three compartments:

• 1st class;
• Business Class;
• Economy class.

First class superior. It accommodates 22 chairs according to the 2+2+2 scheme with two aisles. Between the rows, the distance is 102 cm. During the flight, you can expand the seat back and not interfere with your neighbor. In this class, seats in the last row are considered comfortable.

There are 40 passenger seats in business class. Location: 2+4+2 with two aisles. The distance between the seats is 90 cm. In this compartment, it is better to choose seats in the first row on the sides of the cabin.

In economy class, there are 173 seats, the distance between which is 87 cm. In this compartment, it will not be possible to fully expand the seat back. Seat arrangement: 3+3+3. The exception is the rows in the first row of this compartment. It has 2 chairs in the center and on the sides of the cabin.

Good to know! In the tail section of airliners of mono- and three-class cabins, the same number of seats is located.

Versions of IL-96

Il-96-300 is a basic aircraft. He "entered the service" in the Aeroflot company in 1993. The liner is equipped with powerful domestic engines. In total, 20 units of such equipment were produced.

On its basis, the Il-96-300PU was designed. This airbus is designed to transport the President of the Russian Federation. It has no differences in technical characteristics from the base model. Two liners of this series were produced: in 1995 for B. Yeltsin and in 2003 for V. Putin.

IL-96-400 is a modernized IL-96-300. The aircraft can fly at an altitude of up to 13,000 m. The maximum cabin load is 435 passengers. Maximum takeoff weight - 270 tons.

Good to know! Aircraft of this model have never been produced. Since 2009, no orders have been received for their production.

IL-96-400T - cargo version of the IL-96-400. It was created by upgrading the Il-96. Flight characteristics remained the same as those of a passenger aircraft.

Other models have also been developed:

1. Il-96M is the first Russian airliner designed in cooperation with foreign companies. It has an extended fuselage.
2. Il-96MD - an airbus with two foreign-made engines. In airlines, it was replaced by a more functional and high-speed Boeing.
3. Il-96MK is an aircraft equipped with four NK-92 engines. Their thrust reaches 20,000 kgf.

In 1997, the Il-96T cargo liner was launched. He participated in various exhibitions.

Safety of the Il-96 aircraft

For 22 years of operation, not a single passenger or crew member died while traveling. The aircraft was equipped with multi-channel backup systems with automatic control. They independently switch communication channels, give signals to additional devices in the event of a breakdown of any aircraft device.

A system for alerting the crew about engine failure is also mounted. It can be controlled manually. The safety of the aircraft is affected by the fuel control system and untimely notification of a breakdown of one of the engines.

Where is IL-96 produced?

The air liner was designed in the late 80s of the 20th century at the Design Bureau. Ilyushin. Serial production of this model began in 1993 at an aircraft manufacturing plant in Voronezh. The first copy was released in 1988 by the Design Bureau in Moscow on Leningradsky Prospekt.

The cost of different models

The price of IL-96 of various modifications is constantly changing. Models are improving. The approximate cost of the base IL-96 is 1.320 billion rubles. The newer version (Il-96-400) exceeded this figure by 200 million rubles.

Aircraft modernization

The IL-96 was first modernized in 1993. The new model was named Il-96M. She has an elongated body. It is equipped with American PW-2337 engines. The aircraft flies over 12,000 km. Its cabin accommodates 435 passenger seats.

In 2000, the IL-96 was again improved. The Il-96-400 aircraft was assembled on its base. It has a fuselage, like the Il-96M. The aircraft was equipped with PS-90A-1 turbojet engines. This improved its flight and performance characteristics. It can fly at an altitude of about 13,000 m.

The airlines have at their disposal Il-96-300 aircraft and Il-96-400T cargo model. The passenger version of the last airliner is not in demand at the present time. There are no orders for its production.

From 1993 to 2013, six Il-96-300s were operated by Aeroflot. Three more such aircraft entered the fleet of Domodedovo Airlines, two - KrasAir (under an agreement with IFC, they were operated until 2008). For a short time, one or two aircraft from among those belonging to the Design Bureau flew on flights of Atlant-Soyuz and others. From non-commercial structures, the “short” version is used by the presidential squadron (including former KrasAir aircraft).

Ilyushin Finance Co. did a great job of promoting the Il-96-300 to the international market. The Voronezh leasing company sold three newly built aircraft. They were acquired by Cuba, using credit funds from Russian banks, provided under the sovereign guarantees of the island Republic. While deliveries of IL-96-300 to Cuba in 2005-2006. remain the only case of exporting products of domestic four-engine passenger aircraft of the new generation.

In 2015, Cubana de Aviacion, the national carrier's fleet, added a fourth aircraft. Unlike the previous ones, these “silts” were previously operated by Aeroflot. This experience also represents a significant event in the history of Russian air leasing. We are talking about cars from the secondary market that have undergone a change of ownership and overhaul before being sold abroad.

The commercial operation of the Il-96-300 as part of Cubana de Aviacion can be considered successful. A well-designed maintenance and repair practice played a big role here. This and other issues help local aviators to solve a specialized Russian structure IFC-Tekhnik.

Providing after-sales service (OSA) is a long-standing, complex topic for domestic aircraft manufacturers. Operating organizations often criticized AK "Il" for insufficient attention to their problems. Therefore, the successful experience of operating the Il-96-300 in Cuba can hardly be overestimated. By agreement with the Cuban authorities and Cubana de Aviacion, Ilyushin Finance Co. proposed, and put into practice, logistics schemes aimed at ensuring the uninterrupted operation of Russian aircraft delivered under a leasing scheme with export credit.

IFC shared its experience with the Design Bureau by conducting appropriate courses for the design bureau specialists. Here is what Nikolai Dmitrievich Talikov told us on this topic: “Finally, we understood what was happening. With the help of Ilyushin Finance Co., on the example of Il-96 aircraft, we came to an understanding of what is required to ensure the uninterrupted operation of aircraft. How to build approaches to providing after-sales service and how to create a support system for operating organizations.

“Having received new aircraft, operating organizations should not experience problems with them. It is necessary that they extract the maximum profit through the intensive operation of aviation equipment while ensuring flight safety. In fact, we began to think in their categories too,” Nikolai Dmitrievich continues. The general designer promises to "turn his face to exploitation" instead of "puffing out his cheeks and saying that we, they say, know all your problems - deal with them yourself."

After the withdrawal of the Il-96-300 from the Aeroflot fleet, Cubana de Aviacion remained the only commercial aircraft operator in the world of this modification. As a rule, the cabin of Cuban cars accommodates 262 passengers: the cabin has 18 business class seats with a 54-inch seat pitch and 244 economy-class seats with a 32-inch pitch. There is an option with a separate cabin for high-ranking officials - they travel on "silts" when the affairs of the state service require it.

Competition: technical and not only

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberalization of the local market, a stream of "foreign cars" rushed to us. The process brought both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, airlines have a wide choice and the opportunity not only to operate foreign-made aircraft, but also to have access to foreign borrowed capital for fleet renewal programs. On the other hand, individual managers were tempted to use business contacts with firms to solve personal problems.

Among other things, this led to the emergence of various kinds of so-called. "objective comparisons" of foreign samples with domestic ones, where there was clearly a desire to put "foreign cars" in a more favorable light than they deserved "in terms of technology." In particular, at the turn of the 2000s, journalists were presented with a comparison of the Boeing 767-300ER with the Il-96-300. Unfortunately, those who conducted the analysis clearly sympathized with the American car, "forgetting" to take into account the much more capacious cargo compartments of the "silt" in their comparison when calculating commercial efficiency. Meanwhile, a much larger fuselage diameter gives the Il-96-300 the ability, in addition to passengers, to take on board 16-18 containers of the LD-3 type. They are located in the cargo compartments below the floor of the passenger compartment (belly cargo).

“The Il-96-300 aircraft is competitive with the Boeing 767, and a specially conducted study confirmed this,” Genrikh Novozhilov told us. - At the same time, it should be understood that "-300" is a "cropped" version, and the plane was conceived to carry 350 passengers! We can accommodate 386 passengers on the IL-96M, - we made the corresponding model of the cabin and preserved it in the Design Bureau.”

The first flight of the Il-96-300 dates back to 1988. Type certificate received in 1992, commercial operation began in 1993. In the same year, Il-96M / T took off with an elongated fuselage from 55.35 to 63.94 meters. These variants were equipped with American Pratt & Whitney PW-2037 engines and Collins avionics. They have passed certification in Russia and "shadow" certification of the North American Aviation Administration (U.S. FAA).

The Americans highly appreciated our aircraft and even used its main parameters when designing their own next-generation aircraft. The creation of the base model Boeing 777-200 and Il-96M proceeded in parallel. These machines have surprisingly similar geometry: the diameter of the fuselage is about six meters, the difference in length and wingspan is one meter. Since all this was preceded by the appearance of the "short" Il-96-300, to reproach the Design Bureau. S.V. Ilyushin in plagiarism is not possible (and the Il-86, which was produced from 1980 to 1994, has a fuselage diameter of 6.08 meters). The American designers first took the fuselage diameter to be 6.08 meters, recalls Genrikh Vasilyevich. But then another 120 mm was added, and, as a result, the “three sevens” had the final figure of 6.2 meters.

In the nineties, both Aeroflot and Transaero not only promised to buy dozens of Il-96M / T (and, later, Il-96-400), but even signed the corresponding agreements. True, the then management of the airlines did not seek to implement them. But they bought the Boeing 777, and sequentially, in several batches. Aeroflot "explained" the acquisition of the Boeing 777-200ER (the very first batch for the airline) by the fact that they are "necessary in order to roll out routes for the Il-96M."

A few years later, however, the "three sevens" were returned to the lessors (and the Il-96M was never taken) because it turned out to be too roomy for the then passenger traffic of the airline. A new purchase of improved aircraft of this model took place under the current leadership. And how super-capacious "Boeings" "helped" Transaero accumulate debts and go bankrupt - a lot was written about this at the end of last year, when the airline ceased operations.

"All Is Not Lost Yet"

Over the past quarter century, Russia has lost a lot in the field of civil aviation. Often, industry positions surrendered voluntarily. Russian airlines are accustomed to operating foreign aircraft. “We are fully aware of where we are, what we are capable of and how we will ultimately attract customers. However, if the state does not help aircraft manufacturers, then all our efforts are worthless,” says Nikolai Talikov.

Today, the mechanisms of state support are being implemented, to put it mildly, strangely. For example, flights are subsidized regardless of whether they use foreign or local aircraft. “The state allocates large funds subsidizing flights to the Far East, but we cannot launch our own aircraft, with a fuel consumption of 20 grams per passenger-kilometer ?!,” Genrikh Vasilyevich Novozhilov is indignant. - Nikolai Dmitrievich and I preach that not everything is lost yet. We have a ready-made aircraft with high fuel efficiency and a resource of 70,000 flight hours, tested by certifying authorities and in operation. Why not mass-produce it?!"

For the past few years, VASO has been producing "silts" at a rate of one car annually. The outermost board with registration RA-96022 and a cabin for 160 travelers became the twenty-eighth aircraft of the IL-96 family. It made its first flight in November 2015 and is currently being prepared for transfer to the Presidential Aviation Detachment. The media cited the cost of the corresponding contract in 2013 - 3.75 billion rubles, which at the current exchange rate does not exceed 52 million US dollars.

Meanwhile, price lists for foreign wide-body airliners give values ​​many times greater. In particular, the corresponding document from the aircraft manufacturers of Toulouse contains the following figures in the scale of "millions of US dollars": A330-200 - 231.5, A330-800neo 252.3, A330-300 256.4, A330-900neo 287.7, A350-800 272.4, A350-900 308.1, A350-1000 355.7.

When a barrel of oil was selling for a hundred dollars or more, the fuel efficiency of aircraft came to the fore. The share of kerosene in the ticket price exceeded 50-60%. Since then, the situation on the world market has changed. Calculations performed by specialists of OKB im. S.V. Ilyushin, they talk about the following. Today, direct operating costs for twin-engine and four-engine aircraft are close. The change in prices for aviation kerosene (in dollar terms) “made a correction”, and the gap between the A330 and the Il-96-400M has practically disappeared.

“After the fall in oil prices, the life of the aircraft will be determined by its price, not fuel. The role of the aircraft selling price is increasing today,” Novozhilov says.

In many ways, the selling price of an aircraft is determined by the complexity of its manufacture. Therefore, modern technologies are coming to the fore, promising a reduction in manual labor. Among the progressive moments of recent times, Genrikh Vasilyevich notes the following. According to information from American colleagues, the Boeing 737MAX fuselage will be riveted automatically. There are examples of automatic assembly of a wing on a slipway - so far not applied to passenger, but to combat aircraft. Of particular importance is the "paperless" technology, when all documentation is kept on computers. Of course, these and other novelties should find application in the domestic aircraft industry.

Series production is of great importance for reducing the cost of the aircraft. “We raised the question: the construction is not one piece a year, but, as was the case with the Il-86, eight to ten annually. Then we can talk about something. Domestic aircraft may be somewhat inferior in terms of technical perfection, but win in terms of delivery and maintenance,” says Nikolai Talikov.

“You can’t cross Russia on foot, you have to fly from the European part to the Pacific coast. If Russian airlines can continue to acquire Western aircraft and operate them without hindrance, that's one deal. And if the state feels that there are planes of its own designs, and it is possible to work with them… the alignment will change,” he continues.

So far, the main operating experience of the IL-96 is associated with its "short" version. An elongated version of the "silt" flew under the flag of only one airline "Polyot". At the beginning of the century, she ordered four cargo Il-96-400T from IFC with PS-90A1 engines. Three of them were built and handed over to the customer. After the termination of the airline, these cars were returned to the lessor. Two cargo planes in the factory were converted into a special-purpose version for the security forces.

The decision in favor of serial production of the Il-96-400M will make it possible to maintain a large aircraft plant. At first, the airliner will be produced in Voronezh in parallel with the military transport Il-112V. The latter will be assembled "under the wing" of the Il-96 and "will not play the weather" in terms of loading the plant and redevelopment of the final assembly shop. By the standards of such a large enterprise as VASO, the expected demand for turboprop military transport aircraft is relatively small. After the completion of the Il-112V series, what should the plant do next? The answer is IL-96-400M!

The documentation for the IL-96-400M airframe has been prepared. The decision to launch a new modification at VASO is under consideration by the industry leadership. “We expect that, if there is a team, we will be able to build the first aircraft in mid-2018,” says Talikov.

Among other domestic machines, the IL-96 still looks good today in terms of weight return. At the same time, any car needs to be improved as it stays in the series and new technologies become available. According to the General Designer, it is necessary to take measures to reduce the mass of the structure in order to increase the weight return and transport capabilities. “We want to reduce the empty weight of the aircraft by several tons. This is possible through the use of modern wires and electrics, other equipment, coatings and the like,” Nikolay Talikov told us.

The on-board equipment installed on the aircraft fully complies with all international standards, including landing in accordance with ICAO Category 3 and the requirements of Chapter 4 of ICAO for noise in the area. “We will continue to improve our aircraft. In particular, if new requirements of international organizations appear, we will make appropriate changes,” our interlocutor continues.

Conclusion

In one of our previous publications, it was mentioned about the meeting of the commission under the Government of the Russian Federation, where the sad picture that had developed in domestic civil aviation was noted. "Foreign cars" dominate the fleet of airlines, and, at some point, this can lead to very undesirable consequences. Western sanctions, if tightened, could eventually lead to big problems with ensuring the constitutional right of Russian citizens to free movement.

Fuel cost in calculation: 1000 US dollars per ton.

The table was provided by IL.

Note. The fuselage of the Il-96-300 can accommodate up to three hundred passengers and 16-18 containersLD-3, and Il-96-400 - up to 435 passengers and 32 containersLD-3 and 1AK-1.5. To implement the technical feasibility, it is required to carry out appropriate certification work. Practice shows that airlines are rarely interested in the maximum possible capacity of wide-body airliners, preferring more comfortable passenger cabin layouts of two or three classes of service.

IL-96-300 and IL-96-400, as the name implies, are two modifications of the same aircraft, created by Russian designers. The second version was supposed to be a logical continuation of the first, but for a number of reasons it turned out to be a completely different car. Planes differ in interior, technical parameters, flight characteristics and ... fate.

Initially, these were liners for transporting passengers, respectively, over medium and long distances. But now the 300th model serves only in the presidential detachment, and the 400th ... Actually, first things first. We will consider technical characteristics, features and photographs of the IL-96-400 model.

Story

At the beginning of the 80s, the Ilyushin Design Bureau was developing a medium-range aircraft, which received the name Il-86. The machine was created according to the accepted standards of the time. Unlike the earlier 62 and some Tupolev designs, the 86's engines are on pylons under the wings. This is a wide-body aircraft with modern (at that time) engines and control systems. One thing: this machine cannot yet completely replace the obsolete IL-62.

At the end of the 80s, data on the IL-96 passenger aircraft appeared. This development should also belong to the wide-body type, but become a long-range machine. The basis of the new aircraft should be 86, but with appropriate amendments regarding speed, fuel tank capacity, and the possibility of a long flight. In 1988, the first flight tests were carried out, and in 1993 mass production began. In 2009, the production of the model was announced as unpromising. Over the years, only 22 (according to other sources 28) cars saw the light. Of the remaining in operation, it works in Cuba, several more modified versions are used by Rossiya airlines to serve the top officials of the state.

Model 300

After the start of mass production, the new model, which received the index 300, goes to Aeroflot. For a car that can compete with the leading developments of Boeing and Airbus, the team of developers receives the State Prize. And although this aircraft was cheaper, safer, and in some respects even surpassed the designs of the Americans, domestic carriers bought the Boeing. At the same time, the motivation for such a purchase sometimes took the most ridiculous forms. For example, that there are two crew members on a Boeing, and three on an IL. Or that the Boeing is safer, although design tests of our design proved otherwise.

The detailed technical characteristics of the IL-96-300 aircraft practically repeat the 400 version, just note that the presence of this airliner allowed Aeroflot to make direct flights from Moscow to any city in both Americas, and at the same time carry up to 300 people (single-cabin layout).

Birth 400

The first truck in the line was the IL-96T. He was born in 1997 as part of a Russian-American treaty. Russia provided a glider, and the Americans provided 4 engines from Pratt-Whitney (the same ones are used by Collins on-board avionics. The aircraft received a slightly lengthened fuselage, cargo equipment, and even passed certification according to American FAR25 standards. But further production was never It was on its basis that the first 400 was subsequently designed.The aircraft was equipped with Russian avionics and Russian engines.

Model 400

At the turn of the century, developers released an airliner capable of flying 500 km further, and at the same time taking 435 people on board. But the difficult financial situation in Russia practically puts an end to the passenger aircraft, however, a transport version is being designed on its basis. Passenger doors are being changed, cargo doors are being added, and in 2007 the following development of the Voronezh enterprise, IL-96-400T, is demonstrated at air shows. This is not a new development, as flight performance remains unchanged. The aircraft has been idle for two years, changing owners like gloves, but in 2009 the Russian company Polet became interested in the machine, and the first three aircraft are sent to it (two were assembled before 2007 and existed as experimental samples). Thus, April 23, 2009 is considered to be the date of commencement of operation. Karpov, the president of Polet, plans to increase the number of cars to 6, but in 2013 the carrier is declared bankrupt. Voronezh assembled the fourth aircraft, but, for obvious reasons, it was never bought by the company.

But another buyer, the Russian Air Force, became interested in the transport version. To date, there are rumors of 30 transport aircraft and the same number of Model 300s. Official sources from the Ministry of Defense say that the program is planned for 10 years, with the expectation that the last aircraft will be received in 2024.

The lineup

During its difficult life, the IL-96 has undergone several modifications. In addition to the main models - 300 and 400, several more variants were released, most of which were either converted to other versions or left as a prototype. These include:

• IL-96T is the first prototype of the modern 400 model. The only copy of the entire line, for some time wearing American equipment.
• Il-96M - the second prototype. The main difference was the lengthened fuselage.
• IL-96-300 is a passenger model of a wide-body aircraft. For almost 20 years, these models were used in a limited number by Aeroflot (according to unofficial data, the company had only 6 cars on its balance sheet).
• IL-96-400 and 400T - passenger and transport aircraft models, respectively. Either up to 92 tons of luggage, or over 400 people.
• IL-96-400TZ - the model was redesigned from the previous version. The Russian Air Force became interested in the tanker. It was in this version that the 400th model was ordered for the planned replacement of IL-78.
• Il-96-550 is a prototype double-deck aircraft. Analog Whether there will be further development is not yet known.

The list specifically does not include several more models of the "PU" category (control point), these modified 300 and 400 models that serve in a separate detachment of the Rossiya airline and are referred to as "Aircraft No. 1" according to the international classification

Peculiarities

The Russian aircraft IL-96-400 in the process of creation received several features that distinguish it favorably from the aircraft of other companies.

The tanker aircraft that interested the military is a two-in-one model. placed in the fuselage, are connected to the main fuel system and are able to accommodate 62 tons of additional fuel. The aircraft can deliver this stock to a distance of 3,500 km. If there is no need for a tanker, it is easy to convert it into a regular transporter. The flight range will not change, but the cargo can be taken up to 92 tons.

The second feature of this liner concerns flight safety. The 96th became the only aircraft in the world that is able to land normally even if all 4 engines on board fail. Such a check was carried out during the first tests by Russian test pilots. In flight, all 4 engines were turned off, after which the plane was calmly landed according to the usual landing pattern.

Technical specifications

Below we consider other features and parameters of the IL-96-400 aircraft. Technical characteristics of the transport version:

• length - 64 m;
• height - 15, 7m;
• width - 6.1m;
• wingspan - 60.1 m;
• wing area - 392 sq. m;
• takeoff weight (max) - 270 tons;
• cruising speed - 850 km / h;
• ceiling - 13100 m;
• range - 10000 m;

• passenger capacity - 435 people (for one class of accommodation);
• Runway for takeoff - 2600 m, for landing - 1980 m.

Flight ban

The history of this aircraft was not without a short-term, but nevertheless brought great losses to Russian carriers, a ban on flights. The decision was made as a result of an incident in August 2005, when, when departing from Finland, the presidential plane could not gain the speed necessary for separation. According to the chief designer, this decision was unlawful. The fact is that the characteristics of the IL-96-400 aircraft provide for possible failures of the units for various reasons. Hydraulics has a reserve that exceeds consumption by 4 times. Such a reserve is quite enough to maintain the normal braking mode for all 12 wheels of the liner, even if the system fails on one or two wheels. Their functions will be switched to others.

Conclusion

For a number of reasons, the IL-96-400 aircraft, originally designed as a long-range airliner, switched to military service. At the same time, due to the passenger past, the Air Force is getting a car that is capable of performing several tasks: from an ordinary transporter to an escort aircraft. Had the situation turned out differently, these steel birds would have flown across the territory of the former Soviet Union for medium and long distances. After all, the entire 96 line was originally planned as a replacement for two machines: Il-86 and Il-62.