Rare Bird

[albeback]

Ilyushin IL-62 photographed today at Edinburgh. Not the best of photos I'm afraid. Not only was it parked at an awkward angle, it was parked in an awkward location. Best I could do. Hope they may be of interest. For those of you to whom such things are important, the registration is RA-86540.  In keeping with the best B A A tradition, Edinburgh is not exactly enthusiast friendly.  There is absolutely no view airside from inside the terminal (except the departure lounge) We used to have one of the best spectator balconies in the UK. Needless to say, it's gone!! All in the name of progress!!

For those of you not familiar with Edinburgh , there are a number of good vantage points outside the airport - the best is on the south side  (Ingliston showground car park). On the north side ( next to the crash gate - there is an embankment which is raised higher than the fence. Also, to the east  - along Cammo Rd, you can walk right down underneath the approach to runway 24. All these points are accessible by public transport. A car is also useful!!

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[Jschmus]

Nice spotting there.

[albeback]

Nice spotting there.

Glad you like them. We've had some great individual movements over the years at Edinburgh. It's just a pity it's so awkward getting shots on occasion!! Half the fun I guess!

[Captain Canada]

Nice !

[rallymodeller]

And getting rarer all the time. STC Rossiya IL-62M. Nice catch!

[RotorheadTX]

Lucky you!! 

[albeback]

Thanks for the kind remarks folks.
I'm pleased you like them
Been a lot of great movements over the years. I'll be happy to scan a few more pictures into my PC ( yes, that's right, PICTURES AS IN FILM!! Lol!! - remember them?? ) & show them here.

[pyro-manic]

Very cool! What was the Russian government doing in Edinburgh?

[Army of One]

Some great pics there especially given the circumstances.....not really up on airliners but.......is that some form of tail wheel......Russians got the same problems as modellers with tail sitters........??

[rallymodeller]

In the IL-62M, the strut wheel actually solved a problem that exists with any aircraft with tail-mounted engines -- that the longitudinal polar moment of inertia by necessity has to be way out of whack because of all the weight on the tail. The VC-10, like most airliners, solved this by using an enormous horizontal tail (check the B727 sometime, the span of the horizontal tail is about half that of the wing). The IL-62, on the other hand, has the unrefuelled center of gravity actually behind the wing centerline (and, by extension, the main gear). With fuel on board, the C of G is slightly ahead of that line. In order to prevent unfortunate incidents, Ilyushin added a retracting strut under the tail with a castering wheel on the end. The plane can be taxiied with this strut extended although it is normally retracted before taxiing. Incidentally, the wheel projects slightly even when retracted acting as tail-strike prevention. It's really an elegant solution.

A picture of the strut in question:

It retracts vertically into the tail like a telescoping antenna.


By the way, it may be of interest that the IL-62 is the largest and heaviest aircraft flying that uses completely manual controls with no assist whatsoever; it's all cables and levers. And apparently, despite the constant retrimming needed due to the whole long-axis C of G thing, it is quite pleasant to fly.  

[Army of One]

Gratitude for the enlightenment... .........thats my thing learned for today,great to get it out of the way....