Once The World's Largest Plane: The Story Of The Ilyushin Il-62

An aircraft's size can often play a key role in forming and cementing its reputation and legacy. Indeed, you only have to look at the vast crowds that the Antonov An-225 draws to see that, for many people, the larger the aircraft means a greater spectacle. When the Ilyushin Il-62 was launched, it immediately nabbed the title of the world's largest aircraft at the time. Let's take a look at the history of this pioneering rear-engined aircraft.
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[@fatviscount6562]

Neat animation of Sudan’s state aircraft flying with reverse thrust deployed.

[@justinsimmonds5674]

May I also add the landing gear doors are also opened as well.

[@AlanSF]

LOL

[@datathunderstorm]

I saw that too…..was that a feature?!! 😳

[@therealcanadagaming]

no you dumbasses it’s flying backwards

[@azhanali7270]

@@justinsimmonds5674 i think those are flaps

[@Malamba4231]

I flew on an Aeroflot IL-62 from London to Moscow in July 1969. I was a kid, but already super interested in everything aviation related. It was fun. I sat way back, right in front of the engines. I wish I had a chance to fly on a VC-10 but never got the chance.

[@ianhjan]

I am 65 and used to see the IL62s flying into Manchester EGCC. They had a wheeled strut that descended from the rear of the fuselage once the park brakes where applied. Under certain conditions they must have become unstable whist on the ground. I lived in Liverpool and in the summer holidays I would monitor the high level flyovers mainly travelling Ottringham - Wallasey. It wasn't unusual get a Vulcan going to Goose Bay followed by an Aeroflot IL62 heading for Shannon. What a difference 55 years make!

[@slavkovalsky1671]

yes, they had heavy tails (four engines are nothing to sneeze at), so they got rear-heavy when low on fuel, and could conceivably tip to the rear without that strut

[@JustRememberWhoYoureWorkingFor]

@@slavkovalsky1671 but I don't get it: if a plane has, by its very design, a heavy tail, shouldn't the wings and the main landing gear be further aft too?

[@Nafeels]

A few notable fun facts: - This is one of the few modern commercial aircraft ever built WITHOUT leading edge slats. - This plane has a “sawtooth” in each wing root to prevent turbulence from disrupting the airflow on the wings when the aircraft enters a stall. - This plane has a small wheel at the tail that not only could be retracted halfway, but could also be controlled by the pilots during taxiing. - Due to the design choices I just listed above Russian pilots would took advantage of them by performing Cobra manoeuvres during landing to dramatically shorten its landing length. All in all, I’m extremely happy Simple Flying makes an episode on this magnificent plane and I wish for more old Russian commercials!

[@federico339]

The russians really are obsessed with Supermaneuverability are they not?

[@Nafeels]

@@federico339 Which is ironic considering this aircraft is also one of the largest non-boosted commercial aircraft ever built, next to early Boeing 707 versions. It’s like driving a land yacht without power steering. The British step-sis for this aircraft, the VC-10 on the other hand had a huge T-tail and an extremely complicated hydraulic system which made it far easier to control.

[@LEMMYLEMON]

The IL62 is like my favourite design of airplane. I always liked rear mounted jet engines and I always thought, what if one had 4 engines… and then I found the IL62

[@Ryangaming-zt8qh]

i respect

[@LordGaiyan]

Nice. I flew this plane from Moscow to Bombay (at the time) in 1988.

[@michaelsimpson3548]

I saw a couple of them when I was on holiday in Bulgarian 1976&1977. My dad had to bought me a model kit because I like the enormous sound and the odd 3rd rear wheels.childhood memory’s☺️

[@marv6017]

I flew the IL-62 with Cubana airlines in the late 1990’s. It was a surreal experience! The overhead luggage bins were open (like in a train or bus) and the cabin would fill with condensation (heavily) during takeoff. I disagree it had reduced engine noise…it was rather loud. I would compare it to flying the Boeing 727. I guess I have become spoiled after flying more modern aircrafts with its increased comfort and reduced noise level?

[@dannya1854]

One setback of rear mounted engines is that the engines are closer to the cabin and the further back into the plane you go the louder it gets. But yes engines have been greatly tuned for more comfort since the 60s and 70s.

[@walternerd3147]

I’ve visited one in a museum in 2013 and got to chill in the cockpit and stuff i especially love how ilyushin design their cockpit with so many windows and the green turquoise color.

[@andrewmalik3737]

Where?

[@Stevenimich]

My first time seeing them in person was in the early 1990s. I use to see Aeroflot fly them to Los Angeles in the early 90s. I worked at a bank that was directly under the flight path and I learned to differentiate the sounds of the airplane engines. The IL62 had a distinct sound. I was able to determine what was coming. I knew if it was an Il96 or Il62 that they were flying into LAX.

[@alexandermartinristl4634]

that was a fabulous plane. Flew in 1991 on a TU134 to Moscow and on with an IL62M to Tokyo. The sound of those of 4 Solovievs was rather loud but very cool in it's own way. The plane was also VERY fast. Sadly I was never on IL96.

[@Petriefied0246]

I think that these and the VC10 are beautiful, I wish this configuration was more common.

[@waitotong9590]

I think one of the major obstacles preventing this configuration from being more popular is if you have an engine fire or catastrophic failure, it can easily affect the engine next to it

[@Petriefied0246]

@@waitotong9590 I wasn't suggesting four engines, just two.

[@gertoosterink7745]

My wife and I flew in 1990 just after the end of the iron curtain area from Schiphol Amsterdam to Timisoara in Romania, with the Ilyushin 62M who came from Montreal Canada and had a stop in Amsterdam. What I remember from this trip - we were in the back of the plane - were the very loud engines, unbelievable! Also the plane was maximum loaded with passengers and freight - there were for example TV`s and frigidare`s in the path between the passengers chairs in the back! They had bought by Romanians in Canada... the length off the pass. compartment was divided in 3 by curtains. also the very little space between the seats.

[@SuperFlyCH]

I got to go up in the flight deck of an IL-62 and remember seeing the TCAS unit duct taped to the floor behind the captains seat. They also had two main tires loaded in the cargo bay. After landing, the pilots got out of the aircraft and replaced the tires themselves. Never something you would ever see pilots from other countries doing.

[@aviatorb77w]

I've been in a IL62 museum which shows an Interflug IL62. Pretty cool aircraft, i must say!

[@aviatorb77w]

-it's called "Lady Agnes" if you wanna google btw

[@Avia_cat]

I have seen it ,visited it's cockpit and even got a chance to move it's trust levers and some switchers . It's a nice aircraft with a very nice cockpit and comfortable cockpit. The aircraft is huge and very long . Those engines look very good (I visited standart,not "m": version )

[@VisibilityFoggy]

By any chance, would you be kind enough to tell us how you got lucky enough to see/do all that? Sounds very cool!

[@Avia_cat]

Also I have seen Tu-154,a few ANs and Yak40 in flight

[@andrewmalik3737]

Where?

[@Avia_cat]

@@andrewmalik3737 I am Ukrainian, we have a lot of old planes here. Also we have a wonderful national aviation museum which owns more than 70 planes: Airliners, fighters, helicopters,cargo planes, general aviation planes, different aviation engines and other interesting things

[@andrewmalik3737]

@@Avia_cat which city? Kiev?

[@denisleclerc8140]

Yes, I flew an Il62M with Cubana de Aviacion. It was a very quiet aircraft. Although the inside of the plane looked like a home made camper!

[@Soucor]

It was my first flight in life. To Burgas from sxf by Interflug. Since then I loved flying

[@stevensmith2078]

Wonderful aircraft. I got the chance to fly the IL-62 on Russian domestic flights between Moscow and Khabarovsk. It has an unusually bouncy landing gear while taking off and is amazingly smooth in flight. I also had the pleasure of flying on a Tu-154 and on a Yak-40, not to mention on Mil 6 or 8 helicopters.

[@richarddixon5583]

I flew the plane from London Stansted to Havana Cuba in the early nighties. We had to fly via Gander in Canada to refuel. Lovely plane. Gander Airport was like going back in time.

[@vectorpacer2063]

Cool simplyflying as always

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Thanks for the feedback! - TB

[@chrisphelan5910]

I remember seeing regular IL62 arrivals into Manchester during the 1970's including LOT and Tarom. Down at Heathrow I remember CSA IL62's and just the once a Cubana example.

[@donaldjbiden]

Those four engines sound so beautiful they scream like theres no tomorrow

[@thomasburke7995]

On the ramp at KIAD back in the early 90's... aeroflot had scheduled service as well as chartered flights.. the chartered planes use to park back at cargo . The kick stand / tail stop actually had wheels on it .. you could NOT TOW the plane empty unless the stand was down and you had to load the forward cargo first before you but anything topside.On take off those engines were not Quite..

[@jensalstrup8060]

Wonderful plane to fly with. Very quiet and very smooth. Good legroom.

[@VGWKI]

Great video.

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Thanks for the feedback! - TB

[@lanzortiz3199]

I would love to experience flying with this legendary plane with air koryo. Also with their fleet il-18 or il-72.

[@franekzh]

Yea me aswell!

[@Sacto1654]

Alas, Air Koryo no longer "officially" flies the Il-62. Their small fleet of Tu-214's and An-148's are the only planes operational left in their fleet.

[@whatevermightwork]

I used to see these flying in & out of Seattle for Aeroflot. I wanted to fly on one but never had the chance.

[@Brick-Life]

Awesome Ilyushin Il-62

[@sunandrathi]

Thanks

[@donaldjbiden]

Thank you for this video MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PLANE!!!!

[@stuartaaron613]

Must be a pain to work on the inboard engines.

[@CairnTerrier69]

Flew aboard a CSA IL-62 in 1991. Sat up front....I loved it. Super quiet and very comfortable. A “Cadillac” jetliner.

[@hans-ludwigvolk3871]

I was flying with the IL 62 in 1983 from CGN to Havanna with a short stop in Gander. For me it was excellent. Ore space inside and a very nice flight- and cabin crew. In the return I could stay for about 25 min in the cockpit. This was very impressiv!

[@firehog]

I've flown aboard one. It wasn't bad, the staff was awesome and it was a LOT more noisy than other planes flying in the 90's. Not disturbingly bad but you could hear the difference. Didn't climb fast. Not a good thing taking off from Oslo in Norway close to those mountains

[@loveaodai100]

I think this plane is one of the coolest looking planes ever flown commercially. I flew on one from Montreal to Ho Chi Minh City in 1990 by way of Moscow, Bombay, and Hanoi and then return the same route after my visit to Vietnam. Despite being 33 years ago I remember many details of the plane and every stop which is something I can't say for the many other flights I took that year!

[@roelofvenema6500]

Good video and explaining . The il-62 had flown to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport between 1997 and 2002 for Air Cubana. First one a week, later 3 times a week monday, wednesday, saturday. In 2003 is the service between Cuba and the Netherlands stopped.

[@atilllathehun1212]

Used to see Uzbekistan Il62s at Manchester regularly. Fantastic sight and sound.

[@mohamedshuaib8522]

Love your content 🤩✈️

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Thanks for the feedback! - TB

[@mohamedshuaib8522]

@@SimpleFlyingNews ❣️✈️

[@oreoornithomimus2454]

It also had a feature where the tail wheel would extend from the tail and act as a strut when the aircraft was empty. This was an alternative method as apposed to moving the landing gear and wing rear wards to maintain balance like on other tail rear engine aircraft .

[@chrisjohnson6876]

I think the VC-10's tailplane looks more elegant and more in proportion to the rest of the fuselage, but I would say that as I'm British :-)

[@loveaodai100]

I am not British but I think you are absolutely correct. That said the IL 62 had an incredibly cool look probably being the coolest looking jet plane that ever flew commercially while the VC-10 was the most beautiful aside from the Concorde of course

[@ATIMELINEOFAVIATION]

one of my fav planes!

[@junitomolina3244]

Awesome video love the content as well. I've never seen the Aircraft in person but what a spectacle and marvel. But the Sudan 🇸🇩 IL62 you shower in the beginning of the video wasn't in the correct configuration for flight. It had its reversers engaged lol. Idk if im the only person who noticed that. If any1 else notices just comment whats type of aircraft is youre favorite. Thanks bro

[@petyapetya2795]

The most beautiful passenger aircraft, beauty in proportions, length, clean wings, in childhood i was flying in it , in 1986

[@STERENN.]

The Russian president used it to go to the G20 in London in March 2009. I remember seeing it taking off from London Stansted airport while waiting for my boarding. There were a bunch of government planes, including Oman's Boeing 747SP. As a young flying enthusiast, it was very unique and exciting

[@rozhanabdullah7863]

Flew on one in 1985 from London to Kuala Lumpur, with a transit and aircraft change in Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. Transit time was some 9 hours and managed to set foot outside the terminal for a short sightseeing. I was assigned rear end seats near the engines and my ears were ringing up to a week after the flight. All in took about 24 hours to arrive with a transit in Karachi on the Moscow - Kuala Lumpur sector. Fare was half of Malaysia Airlines' one way ticket.

[@nikmwh]

I saw one at Heathrow Airport back in about 1969, it had a very steep climb-out after take-off

[@Malamba4231]

Yeah, I flew one out of LHR right around then, July 1969, and that’s what I remember too from inside: very steep takeoff. Same on the other side, at Moscow. Very steep descent.

[@JustRememberWhoYoureWorkingFor]

3:02 I had never seen a small business jet with 4 engines

[@otmarvasatko5888]

I flew an IL-62 in 1996 from Prague to Tenerife Sur, unlike all the later planes I flew IL-62 had atypical oval windows

[@sevenlux7093]

This is one of the most beautiful airplanes ever built

[@2012Mirek]

Many years ago I was involved in the maintenance of this wonderful aircraft.

[@anthonypulkrabek5338]

I flew on a Aeroflot IL62 July of 1990 from Dulles refueled in Gander, then on to Moscow

[@coolbreeze253]

I used to frequently see the LOT Polish Airlines' examples of these at O'Hare in the early 80s.

[@nestelberg5672]

Yes, that was LOT's regular route on IL-62 in the 80's from Warsaw to Chicago.

[@aerohk]

great jet

[@TheKasperlkopf]

More videos about old planes pls!

[@nathanflynn306]

Flew on a couple of them in 1986 when visiting USSR. I found it ironic that it has a first-class section in a supposed classless society.

[@gpierre90]

Hi, I just seen your video now, I think the IL62 was the first aircraft I ever flown on. I was 4 years old at the time, and Aeroflot Russian Airlines was flying in Seychelles at that time in 1994. It is also how my I discovered my passion for aviation and my love of airplanes. I don't remember much about the interior. It was comfortable, then again I was small and don't remember much.

[@MLQUILLA]

I saw that giant in Miami Florida with Cubana de Aviación impressive plane

[@homobohemicus]

We used to fly the Czechoslovak Airlines Il62M when were kids (Early and Mid 80s) from Cairo to Prague via Beirut and when the war started then via Larnaca. I miss the roar of those engines and for a an old generation plane it was surprisingly comfortable and modern inside... Its still beautiful for sure

[@nurrizadjatmiko21]

Wow. This video is logical

[@satirthsarthak6887]

The other Russian Aircrafts like the Tupolev Tu-154 (Competitor of Boeing 727), The Ilyushin IL-76, IL-78 also had same "Soloviev D-30/now called Aviadvigatel PS 30 engines sounding exactly like The Ilyushin IL-62

[@9999AWC]

2:56 *Smacks table* THANK YOU!!!!

[@garykee1]

never flown in one, but i did see one on display at the oleg antonov museum in Kiev, Ukraine about 3 years ago when i visited the country. it was a cool sight to see compared to US made aircraft that i am accustomed to seeing on a normal basis.

[@VisibilityFoggy]

Americans who diligently watch the news may remember plane-loads of Russian mercenaries flowing into Venezuela a few years ago. When they showed them arriving at Simon Bolivar International Airport, the plane they were disembarking was an Il-62. It's an incredibly cool looking plane! Kinda like a MadDog on steroids.

[@gustavocarvalho1646]

"MadDog on steroids" 😂 Good one!

[@Cheeseatingjunglista]

"Americans who diligently watch the news " - As a vanishingly small number of whom may actually comprehend any of it, they would not be able to contrast that with the thousands of US "contractors" disembarking in Iraq over a decade long time span. As a diligent watcher of news myself, I am unable recall any of these "Russian mercenaries" making home videos of themselves machine gunning civilians from the safety of their armoured trucks while laughing crazily, nor hearing their bosses, so beloved of the CIA, claiming they felt "threatened" so were justified in their continual slaughter. Why do you Yanks feel such a power urge to kill innocents?

[@fuffoon]

It is a beautiful airplane.

[@thatsliferecovery1701]

I saw one land in Toronto after a sharp left turn it lined up with runway 24 for landing. During the turn the entire wing was displayed which was enormous, it was very close to the ground at the time and was flown by Air Cubana

[@maaltagabriel]

Where's that Qantas 707 clip at 2:23 from?

[@spongebubatz]

It‘s animated, but probably it should be at a real location

[@vincentgoudreault9662]

The title is misleading. The Il-62 was -- for a while -- the largest *jetliner*. But there were planes longer, with larger span and heavier maximum takeoff weight that existed before;, but they were not jetliners.

[@NikonF5user]

I wish you could have showed us some interior shots. Is it a dual aisle cabin?

[@spongebubatz]

Single aisle with a 3-3 layout

[@user-qo1jy1xk5x]

I love il-62 😊

[@skylineXpert]

Heard it used to fly via dublin and pickup irish tourists for the US back in the day

[@theblinddriver8170]

The layout of the engines are interesting, How it effected air flow around the rear of the plain? It added drag? How it effected the Weight distribution in landings and takeoffs? That sound interesting to know. How much fuel he used compare to other plains in that time? And compair to the other quad rear engines plain

[@BlueScreen699]

1:01 Rip il-62 Sudan

[@dcar]

Grew up in SNN watching Aeroflot flying them through to the US, Cuba, central and South America. This year we had Rada flying cargo flights through SNN but that all stopped when the Belarus government decided to hijack the Ryanair flight. Was good to see the old 62 back again for a while.

[@Sanderus]

Beautiful flying coffin

[@theshadowman1398]

Seen yes, haven’t flown on it but really would like to

[@victorcenac1247]

I flew on it twice and contrasted it with the 707. The IL 62M felt like a sports car. Very nimble in the air, took off very fast and stopped short after landing. Compared to IL 62, the 707 was slow and lumbering. It also took a lot of runway to take off and stop.

[@edwardgeorge4881]

In 1979 I flew from Singapore to Moscow, with a stop-over in Delhi for refueling: it was a very smooth flight.😀

[@FredNAirPlanes]

Fun fact: Air Koryo still uses the Il-62

[@FredNAirPlanes]

Did Sudan had Il-62? Shocked!

[@JulioRamosescritor]

I saw them in LOT colors in my city airport.

[@CairnTerrier69]

They were common sight at BDL (Hartford) up into the early 90’s..either as LOT Polish charters, or bad weather diversions from JFK.

[@simantov4UUU]

flew on interflug from berlin to havana on il62 1987. i´d like the plane. flight was ok

[@marcox2937]

imo the best russian jet plane

[@aeyb701]

Seen them in Gander Newfoundland, refueling and leg stretching stop. Moscow Havana mostly, Aeroflot and Cubana., 1980’s.90’s

[@joanpere8863]

I have seen it on the apron at Düsseldorf when Wladimir Putin visited Germany. What puzzled me was, that it needs a support at the rear end to not tumbling on its rear end when there is not enough load before the main landing gear.

[@tomg8054]

How I felt? I survived. I was a kid....

[@carwashesandotherfunvideos]

This is the only plane with 4 engines on the back of the plane

[@bossfight6125]

Great Soviet aircraft, it had some large operators like Aeroflot, LOT Polish Airlines and Cubana de avancion as well

[@sunandrathi]

Aweeeee

[@geoffk777]

I saw one of these flying out of Tokyo Haneda airport around 2012. I was outdoors and suddenly heard a huge noise, easily two or three times that of a normal airliner. I looked up and saw the distinctive profile. It was flying for a Russian cargo carrier. Despite the noise reductions on the M version, this is still a very noisy aircraft.

[@rejecteddriftwood314]

What is the advantage of placing the engines in the rear of the plane? The only reason I could think of is that they're mounted higher off the ground for clearance, but I don't know what the advantages of that would be.

[@marcox2937]

It also reduces cabin noise, and with all the engine power at the rear, in case one or both engines failed on one side, the pilots can more easily control lateral force from the drag of the damaged side

[@rejecteddriftwood314]

@@marcox2937 Kool, thanks!

[@rejecteddriftwood314]

@@marcox2937 What are some of the disadvantages?

[@bigjohn9351]

@@rejecteddriftwood314 prone to deep stall as all t tail airliners

[@domhnallryan2119]

@@rejecteddriftwood314 Significant weight penalty incurred by having to strengthen the rear fuselage to support the engines.

[@danieldrayet2364]

They used to operate into SFO in the 90s with Aeroflot

[@ChaklitTea]

via Khabarovsk Anchorage just shortly after the wall came down

[@SimpleThingsOnly]

For those who claim it is a sort of copy design, please be aware that there is a reason for that claim based on B-29 copy into TU-4. However, the airplane designers were mad a Stalin, who ordered such a move in 1945. For those who know who was in the head position in those years (Krushchov), they know that there was no other way but to push engines far behind, regardless of Ilyushin´s convincing that he already has a good experience and can recommend the engine-mounted-onto-wings design. Ever since Krushchov flown in Aerospitale Caravelle, he was convincing Tupolev to redesign TU-104 into TU-134, and later also insisted on IL-62 to be with rear mounted engines. Should Krushchev remain in head of the state position, he would for sure push even harder to make TU-144 in service and to keep it there, as he was a really in love with airplanes, and claimed that USSR can make all the things best in the world.

[@ryanchung2028]

I used to see it landing at JFK airport in the early 90s I miss seeing it

[@Kebria]

Any flights to saint martin?

[@spongebubatz]

More than unlikely that they were any

[@Richard-wk9le]

I first saw one in the Movie "Faith is the Hunter" which did, int end well.

[@marco168888]

It cruises at 600mph + … that’s fast

[@steohl77]

It would be awesome if you can do a video about Interflug, the airline of DDR (East Germany).

[@TrainSounds]

RIP AN225