We got to see the Tupolev 104 a while back, now let's take a look at the other Russian airliners.
Any time you're talking about Soviet airlines you have to keep a couple things in perspective. They had to operate under some pretty challenging conditions. Distances were vast, navigational aids were sparse and airfields could be rather primitive.
Also keep in mind that not everyone in the Soviet Union was allowed to travel. You had to be "politically reliable" to be allowed on an airplane. Back when Western airlines were dressing flight attendants in hot-pants and mini-skirts, Aeroflot chose theirs partly for political reasons. Couldn't have them defecting the first chance they got.
Aeroflot flight attendants dressed pretty conservatively for the era.
During the Stalin era aircraft designers had to watch themselves as well. The great Andrei Tupolev designed the TU-2 bomber from a prison cell.
All this made designing airliners for the Soviets a bit more challenging than what Western designers had to deal with.
Tupolev has to be considered one of the great design houses in aviation history. All of the great Russian bombers of the Cold War era were Tupolev designs and several are still in use today. Tupolevs were also a mainstay of the Soviet airlines.
We've already seen the first Russian jetliner, the TU-104 and its smaller copy the TU-124. Let's take a look at what they followed up with.
TU-114 being loaded. The landing gear was so tall that some airports didn't have stairs that could reach the cabin.
The TU-114 was the first Soviet long range airliner and was essentially a passenger version of their "Bear" bomber. A mere 32 were built and it served from 1957 until 1976. It could carry anywhere from 120 to 220 passengers depending on how it was configured. Capable of near-jet speeds, it was a very efficient aircraft and had a surprisingly good safety record. A few were even jointly operated with Japan Air Lines on Moscow-Tokyo flights during the late 1960s. I can only imagine that the noise and vibration levels must have made it rough on the passengers.
Early model TU-134 still sporting the glass nose.
The TU-134 looks a lot like a DC-9 but it was actually inspired by the French Sud Aviation Caravelle. Kruschev had ridden in a Caravelle, liked the quiet ride from the rear-mounted engines and instructed Tupolev to build something similar for short-haul routes. It was a direct descendent of the TU-124 and was originally designated as a TU-124A. The early versions kept the glass nose and drag chute of the '124 but later versions had thrust reversers. Like most airliners the design was stretched over the years. The early versions carried 56 passengers while the final model could carry 96. These entered service in 1966 and were built in large numbers (850+). A few are still flying around Eastern Europe but it can't meet the strict noise requirements of Western European airports.
Late model TU-134 with solid nose. Note the relatively large landing gear for a DC-9 sized aircraft.
TU-134 cockpit. Doesn't look like much human factors engineering went into this thing. They just stuck switches wherever there was room for them.
TU-154 from the front. Note the very large center intake and the anhedral (downward angled) wing.
Now we come to the mainstay of Soviet aviation, the TU-154. Aeroflot used these for 40 years, retiring them in 2009. Over 1000 were built but less than 40 are still in service. Virtually every Soviet client state had these at one time. It looks a lot like a 727 but it is not a direct copy of a 727. For one it's a bit larger and it has a more sharply swept wing. Designed to operate from dirt strips, it has massive six-wheeled main landing gear. In comparison the 727 only has two wheels on each main gear. Take the main gear off a 777, stick 'em on a 727 and you've got a TU-154. It also had very powerful engines compared to the 727, which was always a bit underpowered. As you would imagine these were gas guzzlers. That and the inability to meet modern noise restrictions is what ended its career.
TU-154 in flight test colors. Note the massive 6-wheeled main gear.
TU-154 cockpit. This is the first Tupolev I've seen that had throttles in the center. These carried a flight engineer as well as a navigator.
I think sitting in the snow makes it look even more Russian.
The plane that was supposed to replace the TU-154 was the TU-204. Just like the 757 replaced the 727 with US airlines, the 204 looks an awful like a 757. Some versions even use the same Rolls Royce engines. It's more advanced than the 757, with fly-by-wire flight controls. That's about all I can you tell you about this thing. They've only managed to sell 76 of them so there's not a lot to go on.
The TU-204 looks an awful lot like a 757. There's not much to go on because hardly anybody uses these.
The very advanced looking cockpit of a TU-204. Not sure I like the oddly shaped yokes but I suppose you'd get used to them.
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the TU-114 "Concordski". It rates its own future diary.
Even though they weren't corporations as we know them, the Soviet design bureaus were just as fiercely competitive for government contracts. Tupolev's main competitor in the airline market was Ilyushin. Kruschev was fond of Andreai Tupolev, but after Kruschev was forced out Ilyushin was able to gain political favor. Two of the mainstays of Soviet passenger aviation were Ilyushin designs.
Ilyushin Il-18 in Malev markings. Malev is the Hungarian national airline.
The first was the Il-18 turboprop airliner. It looks an awful lot like a Lockheed Electra, but I don't think it was copied off the Electra. Both aircraft were developed at roughly the same time, taking their first flight in 1957 and entering service in 1959. I'd say it was a case of parallel development. The Il-18 is also about 20% larger than the Electra. It was a highly successful design with over 850 produced. These were operated by most of the Soviet client states in both civilian and military versions. North Korea still uses them for passenger service but otherwise the only ones still in service are military.
Interior of an Il-18. For some reason I imagine these smelling of stale sweat and cigarette smoke. That yoke looks straight out of the 1940s.
Il-62 in Aeroflot 1970s markings. Note to Rush Limbaugh. This aircraft resembles nothing ever built by Boeing.
The second and most recognizable was the Il-62. This was the first, and for many years the only, long range Soviet jetliner. I can remember back when Gorbachev would show up in the one of these and Rush Limbaugh would say some stupid thing about "technology stolen from Boeing!" Rush, you're an idiot, there's no Boeing in this thing. The only Western airliner it remotely resembles is a Vickers VC-10. Even then the appearance is purely superficial. The VC-10 was a very advanced aircraft for its day. The Ilyushin with its manual flight controls is technology stolen from Fred Flintstone.
The only other airliner that used this configuration was the British VC-10. The Ilyushin was primitive compared to a VC-10.
This is the largest airliner to ever use manual controls. The original version didn't even have flight spoilers for roll control. It must have been a real beast to handle. The improved "M" variant got better engines plus flight spoilers. This is your typical Russian "crude but gets the job done" aircraft. They built 292 of these, with production lasting into the mid 1990s. Maybe ten percent of those are still in service with various countries. Aeroflot parked theirs in 2008. It actually has a better safety record than its contemporaries (707, DC-8, VC-10). If they weren't such fuel hogs they'd probably still be in Aeroflot service.
Very business-like cockpit of an IL-62. You may be wondering what the little yoke in the center of the Captain's yoke is. It's for the nose wheel steering.
The Il-86 is roughly a DC-10 or L1011 sized aircraft. With decent engines it might have been a contender.
The Il-86 is a great "might have been" of Soviet aviation. This was their first shot at a wide-body airliner. The Soviet designers never liked mounting the engines in under wing pods like Boeing did. Politically they didn't want to look like they were copying Boeing (sorry Rush). In fact, for many years they insisted that was the wrong way to do it. Finally they decided that it was OK because Ilyushin had a jet bomber prototype way back in 1946 that used pod mounted engines. Therefore it was a Soviet invention. They could be funny that way.
Il-86 on takeoff. Note the low-bypass engines that look out of place on a wide-body airliner of this era. Also note the extra set of landing gear. That's a lot of extra weight to carry around.
Once they finally figured out where to put the engines, they still had to obtain the engines. This was a problem. They didn't know how to build a modern high-bypass turbofan and nobody in the West wanted to sell them engines. Attempts to reverse engineer the Rolls Royce RB211 failed. They ended up using tried-and-true low bypass Kuznetsov turbofans. The end result was typically Soviet. A promising design crippled by thirsty engines. Compared to is Western counterparts the Il-86 is a fuel hog and thus only 100 or so were built.
The Il-96 the nicest plane that nobody wants.
Finally we get to the Il-96. This is where Ilyushin finally got it right, just too late in the game to do any good. This is also the only Russian jetliner I've ever seen outside of a museum. We were parked in Munich one day trying to figure just what this thing was parked next to us. Kind of looked like an Airbus A340 but it was bigger. Much bigger. "You know, that tail looks Russian. I bet it's an Ilyushin!" Sure enough it was an Il-96 freighter version. This aircraft is essentially an improved Il-86 with decent engines. They were finally able to build their own high-bypass turbofan although some versions of this aircraft use Pratt & Whitney engines. In fact, they'll happily sell you one with any engines you want because buyers are few and far between. First tested in 1988, by the time it reached production in 1992 the Soviet Union was no more. Absent state sponsorship, nobody really wants to buy these things and a whopping 29 have been built so far.
I take issue when somebody makes a blanket statement like "The Russians just copy our designs". No, they generally don't. The only Soviet aircraft that was a direct copy of one of ours was their TU-4 bomber. During WWII a number of B-29s had made forced landings in Soviet territory. The Soviets directly copied it to make their first strategic bomber. No, they didn't copy the bullet holes. That's an urban legend.
There are only so many ways to build a jet airliner. There's a good chance that two planes designed to roughly the same requirements are going to look similar. A TU-154 looks like a 727, which looks like a Hawker Siddely Trident. A TU-134 looks like a DC-9 which looks like a BAC111 and they were all influenced by the Caravelle.
The Caravelle was the first jetliner designed for short and medium range trips.
An Il-62 looks like a VC-10, but Vickers actually copied the Ilyushin's wing for later versions of the VC-10. Air molecules act the same whether they're over Russia, Great Britain or Seattle.
All in all I'd say the Russians built robust, if not cutting edge airliners. Their systems tended to lag a few years behind their Western counterparts. Their biggest problem has always been high fuel consumption. With Soviet engines you could have power or you could have efficiency but you couldn't have both. Coupled with dragging around way too much landing gear, most Soviet designs were fuel hogs. The final blow was increased noise restriction at Western European airports. That severely restricted where these things could operate.
Their safety record is better than you think it is. If you look strictly at the number built versus number lost the Russian airliners have about the same loss rate as Western designs from the same era. I'd say that most of their crashes were a result of the challenging conditions they had to operate in rather than poor designs. Their long range airliners like the Il-62 and Il-86 have safety records equal to or better than comparable Western designs. Would I fly one? Yes, with the caveat that it was properly maintained.
Today Aeroflot operates a combined Boeing and Airbus fleet. Just like every other airline, they're in business to make a profit and not to subsidize any particular jet maker. They'll buy what makes them the most Rubles.
Today all the great Soviet design bureaus have been consolidated under United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). UAC is mostly owned by the Russian government. Unlike the United States where the government is mostly owned by the defense contractors. They're not building many airliners today. They can't really get anyone to buy the Il-96 even at 30% less cost than the competition. Sukhoi is building a little 100-seat regional jet called the Superjet 100 but that's about it. I'm curious to see if they have any luck selling them.