Ilyushin Il-86: The Forgotten Soviet Wide-body Airliner

‍DALLAS — Wide-body passenger planes draw attention from aviation professionals and passionate enthusiasts. Few people would not recognize glorious icons like the Boeing 747 and the A380, or even the long, four-engine A340. However, one wide-body aircraft completed its career almost unnoticed: the Soviet Ilyushin Il-86.

"Camber," its NATO code name, or “Airbusky” as it was somewhat pejoratively called by Western observers, remained an unsung hero of passenger transport — little known and nearly forgotten.

The Idea

In the 1960s, Soviet leadership recognized that Western aircraft manufacturers aimed to double the maximum seating capacity of existing airliners — around 200 passengers. 

The “Airbus” concept was born and seemed justified, even for the Soviet national airline, Aeroflot (SU), whose decade-long projections forecasted over 100 million passengers annually.

Aeroflot, via the Ministry of Civil Aviation, received approval for the "Airbus" specifications, and the competition kicked off in October 1967. The goal was to create a wide-body airliner that could carry 350 passengers and 40 tons of cargo over 1,900 nautical miles (or 3,100 nmi without freight).

OKB-153, led by Oleg Antonov, proposed a passenger version of the An-22, a heavy-lift turboprop. However, the project was canceled due to political factors and the outdated turboprop design.

Meanwhile, the Ilyushin Design Bureau (OKB-240) gained support from a new set of politicians in Moscow and was awarded the project. Initially, Ilyushin planned a stretched, larger version of the existing Il-62, but ultimately opted for an entirely new design.

Concept, Development, Introduction

The Ilyushin Il-86 was conceived as the Soviet answer to wide-body jets like the Boeing 747, Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, McDonnell Douglas DC-10, and the brand-new Airbus A300. This ambition materialized in a blueprint for a wide-body, four-engine, medium-range airliner.

Development began in 1974 and involved several unconventional solutions — a direct response to the USSR’s underdeveloped airport infrastructure. The prevailing view was that the aircraft should be tailored to this reality rather than modernizing airports.

The Il-86’s maiden flight occurred at the now-defunct Khodynka Aerodrome in December 1976. Following a year of acceptance trials, the aircraft officially entered service with Aeroflot in December 1980.

Different Approaches, Solutions

To adapt the aircraft to poor-quality runways and current airport infrastructure, Ilyushin implemented several non-standard solutions.

The Il-86 landing gear was specifically designed for rough and soft airstrips, featuring three four-wheel bogie main gear legs and a twin-wheeled nose leg with a track width exceeding 32 feet.

One of the plane’s most unique features was the boarding and cargo loading solution implemented at underdeveloped airports. The “luggage at hand” concept required an unconventional setup — avoiding dependence on ground stairs for accessing the main cabin.

Passengers would approach the aircraft and see retractable stairs emerging from the cargo hold. They would store their luggage there and then use a fixed internal staircase to access the main cabin. The intention was to expedite boarding and deboarding, but the airlines that operated the jet found the process too chaotic and never widely adopted it.

Another unique feature was the seating configuration — three rows of three seats each, differing from the standard 2+4+2 layout seen in DC-10 and TriStar aircraft. With no advanced avionics available, the cockpit required four crew members: two pilots, a flight engineer, and a navigator.

Weak, Anemic Engines

Due to the lack of high-bypass turbofans in the USSR at the time, Ilyushin had to rely on the low-bypass, extremely noisy Kuznetsov NK-86 engine. Certified in April 1979, this engine had a 10,000-hour lifespan and needed servicing after 4,000 hours. 

NK-86 featured five-stage low-pressure and six-stage high-pressure compressors, a single-stage high-pressure turbine, and a dual-stage low-pressure turbine, with thrust reversers and an electronic control system.

These small-diameter engines had very high fuel consumption. Under International Standard Atmosphere conditions, fuel burn averaged nearly 8 tons per hour — exceeding 10 tons during long-range cruising with a 410,000 lb aircraft.

The inefficient NK-86 engine restricted the Il-86’s range to approximately 2,700 nautical miles. Aeroflot (SU) did not regard this as a significant issue since the aircraft was mainly utilized on high-demand domestic routes.

Variants, Upgrades

The most notable variants of the Il-86 included the Il-86D, Il-86V, and Il-96.

The Il-86D was a long-range version powered by new Lotarev D-18 engines, with a larger wingspan and increased fuel capacity. This variant, developed starting in March 1975, is regarded as a predecessor to the Il-96.

The Il-86V was a high-capacity, 450-seat version powered by RB211-524G engines. Although test-flown in June 1982 and ready for operations by 1985, it never entered passenger service and was primarily used by the Soviet military.

The Il-96 was a modernized version with four Pratt & Whitney PW2337 engines, a shorter fuselage, and upgraded avionics compliant with ICAO and Eurocontrol standards.

Il-86 Operators

The Il-86 primarily operated domestic routes and had very few foreign operators. Only three aircraft were sold outside the USSR — to China Xinjiang Airlines (XO) and Hajvairy Airlines in Pakistan, both of which are now defunct.

The primary users were domestic (Russia and other former Soviet republics), with 106 Il-86 units produced from 1976 to 1991. Key operators included SU, Krasnoyarsk Airlines (7B), Orient Avia (V6), and Vnukovo Airlines (V5).

Long-Haul Flights

Though technically a medium-range jet, the Il-86 did perform some long-haul flights for Soviet carriers, albeit with technical stopovers for refueling.

The aircraft appeared at major global airports such as New York, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro. However, over time, its loud Kuznetsov engines surpassed noise limits at Western airports, effectively ending its long-haul role.

The End

Several factors contributed to the Il-86's retirement from civil aviation. In an era of global “green campaigns,” its noisy, fuel-thirsty engines became a significant liability. This unconventional wide-body jet faded into history without making a notable impact on international civil aviation.

Nonetheless, the Il-86 played a vital role in Soviet civil air transport during the 1980s and 1990s, offering Soviet citizens the comfort of wide-body travel across the world's largest country.

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