Aircraft IL 62M: specifications, history and photos

If the transport system is the blood of any economy in the world, then the passenger transportation can be called the "plasma" of this very blood. The better, faster and more qualitatively the state is able to move people across its territory, the less "bear angles" remain, the easier it is to establish the interaction of the entire state apparatus. Perfectly understood this in the USSR. The result of the work of many bureaus was the IL 62M.

A breakthrough passenger airplane at that time proved that Soviet industry is capable not only of producing military equipment on an impressive scale.

Main characteristics

The aircraft is characterized by a rear engine arrangement and a special suspension design. It was developed in the legendary OKB named after Ilyushin and subsequently patented in nine countries. These included the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Japan. It's no wonder that IL 62M became so famous, the star on its fuselage was a kind of guarantee of high quality.

The machine is characterized by an extremely rational distribution of masses, so that its mass is almost identical to aircraft with engines under the wing. A distinctive feature of the IL 62M, whose characteristics we are considering, is an unusual, step-by-step realization of the leading edges of the wings (in the form of a beak). This allowed the aircraft to provide excellent stability, including critical angles of attack. The wing was also manufactured using the latest caisson technology, which involves cheap pressing. This allowed not only to facilitate, but also significantly strengthen the entire structure.

The plumage is made according to the T-shaped scheme, and its mass-dimensional characteristics are much smaller than practically in all analogues. Despite some drawbacks of this approach, this implementation allowed to improve the manageability and reliability of the new machine several times, the design of which removed unnecessarily cumbersome and not always reliable solutions.

Containers for fuel are located on the entire span of the wing, including the center wing. The IL-62M aircraft is unique at least in that it allows to execute take-off at one failed engine. To fly and sit down the car can, in general having two refused the motor. Multiple redundancy of all systems, borrowed from space and military equipment, can increase the reliability of the entire avionics order.

Reasons for developing a new machine

The growth of freight and passenger transportation in the USSR falls on the second half of the 1950s, when aircraft with gas turbine propulsion systems were put into operation. These machines allowed to transport at a time a large amount of cargo, and it could be done in the shortest possible time. This is the reason that from 1950 to 1959, the volume of these freight traffic grew at once tenfold.

It's no wonder that economists and civil aviation specialists almost immediately received an order to create, in the shortest possible time, a cheap and unpretentious airplane that allows carrying out the transportation of people and goods within the territory of the whole Union.

Successes of Ilyushin Design Bureau

Only KB Ilyushin by that time already had sufficient experience and resources, and therefore it was his specialists who were the first to start designing a new type of aircraft. Already in 1960, Ilyushin himself turned to the government of the USSR with a proposal to create a machine, which later will be called IL 62M. It was supposed to equip the plane with engines RD-23-600, the development of which was conducted under the guidance of talented SK. Tumansky.

Assumed characteristics

At first, designers assumed that the aircraft could carry between 50 and 150 passengers. The range was planned to be "located" within the limits of 4500-8500 km. Motors designers wanted to place in the tail part. In general, the IL-18M prototype was based on the Il-18 concept. Also as an inspiration was the French car "Caravel" with its location of stabilizers at half the height of the keel.

Since even the supposed concept of the future IL 62M was perfectly worked out, the Council of Ministers of the USSR quickly adopted this proposal. The decision presupposed the development of an aircraft that could fly a distance of at least 4,500 km in the economy class, while having 165 passenger seats. It was also envisaged the creation of a "first class" luxury car. Its flight range was already 6700 km and 100 ... 125 seats for passengers, respectively. At the same time, the OKB under the leadership of Kuznetsov was charged with creating a new NK-8 engine.

Layout Features

For the first time in the history of the entire Soviet aircraft industry, a scheme was chosen with a tail arrangement of the engine. This was not done accidentally. The fact is that as a result of using such a design solution it was possible to get a "clean" wing, which had excellent aerodynamics. These characteristics were vital for the aircraft, which was supposed to be released even to long-distance highways of the country's air routes.

In addition, such a scheme suggested mounting more reliable and simple mechanization of the wing. Given that the engines were located at a significant distance from the tanks, the safety of passengers increased dramatically, if for some reason a fire occurred. In addition, which is also extremely important in the conditions of long flights, the noise level in the passenger compartment was significantly reduced, and the negative impact on the aircraft design of the outgoing jet formed by extremely high-temperature gases was reduced to almost zero.

Since the power plants were located as close as possible to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, it was possible to minimize the extremely dangerous yaw effect that occurred when one of the engines failed. Finally, the same scheme assumed the rejection of an excessively large tail unit, which allowed to significantly reduce the total weight of the machine (in theory).

Today we can say with confidence that the creation of passenger aircraft TU - not least due to the design bureau Ilyushin. It was the specialists of this design bureau that for the first time in the national aircraft construction not only embodied a new concept of development in metal, but also brought it to perfection.

Disadvantages of the new layout

But there was a variant with a tail arrangement of the engine and disadvantages, and some of them were quite significant. First, the weight of the aircraft eventually increased, since it was necessary to further strengthen the entire tail section. In addition, the wings are no longer unloaded by the engines (they allow to reduce the stresses in the material).

Secondly, because of the placement of motors so far, it was necessary to extend substantially all the fuel equipment, which adversely affected the overall reliability of the structure. Finally, due to the "pulling" of the engines on the tail, the whole alignment of the aircraft changed drastically, which also caused many problems for both designers and pilots who exploited this aircraft.

Yet this scheme was still adopted?

It's all about comparing the positive and negative points. When the engineers examined in detail the outline diagrams of the IL 62M, the characteristics of which were breakthrough for their time, they nevertheless made a positive decision to launch the option with the rear location of the motors. It is fair to say that this happened after a heated debate. And experts can understand: in order to implement this scheme, it was necessary to solve many of the most complicated questions on the layout.

So, specially for the IL 62M (the Ministry of Emergency Measures was especially appreciated), a unique navigation system was created, which allows to drive and land the aircraft in the most unfavorable weather and meteorological conditions. For the first time, a completely automatic control system was used, which for aircraft of this size and load-carrying capacity even today is not something ordinary. The highest reliability and unpretentiousness are the main distinguishing features of the IL 62M. The USSR (86513 board - one of the few sad exceptions) once again managed to create a really simple, but excellent machine.

Basic TTX

• Full wingspan, meters - 43.2.
• Total surface area of the wing, m² - 279.55.
• The maximum length of the fuselage, meters - 53.12.
• The main length of the body, meters - 49,00.
• The average height of the hull, meters - 12.35.
• Wing sweep, degrees - 32,5 ° (line 25% of chords).
• The flight range is maximum, kilometers - 10 000-11 050.
• The maximum flight mass, tons - 161.6 (165/167 for modifications).
• The base of the chassis, meters - 24.48.
• The maximum track of the chassis, meters - 6,8.
• Cruising speed is 850 km / h.
• The high speed is 870 km / h.
• Ceiling height, kilometers - 12.

What is the difference between machines with the index "M" from their predecessors?

These aircraft, which are a modification of the simple IL-62, have D-30KU TRDD engines. They are much more economical and better meet international standards in the field of environmental protection. The keel and stabilizers of these machines were given the best form, in terms of aerodynamics. By installing a new reversing device, engineers were able to significantly reduce air resistance in flight. By increasing the capacity of the onboard fuel system, these machines can make longer flights.

Also, some part of the flight equipment was replaced, more electronics were added to the design of the aircraft. In addition, according to the numerous requests of the pilots, a modern air conditioning system was added to the cockpit. It allowed to significantly reduce the degree of fatigue of the pilots during long flights, especially on international routes.

Finally

The car was repeatedly tested for compliance with all international standards. Until now IL 62M, whose salon is familiar to many natives of the USSR, is operated both inside the country and on international routes. For the first time in the history of domestic civil aircraft construction, most of these aircraft were manufactured for export, and some countries preferred to lease these planes for their domestic transport. This is the history of the aircraft IL 62M.