#3 DONE +++ 1:144 Ilyushin Il-60 airliner "In Soviet Union, Aeroflot flies YOU!"

Dizzyfugu · March 04, 2017, 07:54:24 AM

More stuff, from the painting/decaling phase:

"In Soviet Union, Aeroflot flies YOU!" +++ 1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

"In Soviet Union, Aeroflot flies YOU!" +++ 1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

...and, almost there, in full Soviet-style regalia:

"In Soviet Union, Aeroflot flies YOU!" +++ 1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Gondor · March 04, 2017, 09:24:12 AM

From the look you have given the nose you could sling a couple of Hi-Bypass turbofans under the wings as per the more modern Boeing 737 and really confuse people

Looks fantastic as it is and thanks for the info about the engines

Gondor

Dizzyfugu · March 04, 2017, 10:58:00 AM

You're welcome, Gondor. Yes, totally agree that some jet engines under the wings (maybe even the original, slim Caravelle nacelles) would also work very well. It's strange how different the Caravelle looks, just through the different engine arrangement. And it's also disturbing how modern and sleek this alternative looks?

Besides, finally some beauty pics and the trutz behind the Ilyushin Il-60 airliner:

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
Aeroflot is one of the oldest airlines in the world, tracing its history back to 1923. During the Soviet era, Aeroflot was the Soviet national airline and the largest airline in the world. Following the dissolution of the USSR, the carrier has been transformed from a state-run enterprise into a semi-privatized company which ranked 19th most profitable airline in the world in 2007. Aeroflot is still considered to be the de facto national airline of Russia, being 51%-owned by the Russian Government.

After WWII, Aeroflot's route network had extended to 295,400 kilometers (183,600 mi), and by 1950 it carried 1,603,700 passengers, 151,070 tonnes (333,050,000 lb) of freight and 30,580 tonnes (67,420,000 lb) of mail during the same year. The 20th Communist Party Congress, held in 1956, saw plans for Aeroflot services to be dramatically increased. The airline would see its overall activities increased from its then current levels by 3.8 times, and it was set the target of the carriage of 16,000,000 passengers by 1960. In order to meet these goals, Aeroflot introduced higher capacity turbojet and turbine-prop aircraft on key domestic routes, and on services to Aeroflot destinations abroad.

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A major step for Aeroflot occurred on 15 September 1956 when the Tupolev Tu-104 jet airliner entered service on the Moscow-Omsk-Irkutsk route, marking the world's first sustained jet airline service. The airline began international flights with the type on 12 October 1956 with flights from Moscow to Prague. The aircraft placed Aeroflot in an envious position, as airlines in the West had operated throughout the 1950s with large piston-engine aircraft. By 1958 the route network covered 349,200 kilometers (217,000 mi), and the airline carried 8,231,500 passengers, and 445,600 tons of mail and freight, with fifteen percent of all-Union services being operated by jet aircraft.

Aeroflot introduced the Antonov An-10 and Ilyushin Il-18 in 1959, and together with its existing jet aircraft, the airline was able to extend services on modern aircraft to some twenty cities during 1960. The Tupolev Tu-114, then the world's largest airliner, entered service with the Soviet carrier on 24 April 1961 on the Moscow-Khabarovsk route; covering a distance of 6,980 kilometers (4,340 mi) in 8 hours 20 minutes. The expansion of the Aeroflot fleet saw services with modern aircraft being extended to more than forty cities in 1961, with fifty percent of all-Union services being operated by these aircraft. This fleet expansion also saw the number of passengers carried in 1961 skyrocketing to 21,800,000.

Further expansion came in 1962 when various medium and short-haul routes were started and respective aircraft types such as the Tupolev Tu-124, Ilyushin Il-60 and Antonov An-24 entered regular service with Aeroflot. The Tu-124 was a jet airliner, technically an 75% version of the Tu-104, while the An-24 was a lighter twin turboprop aircraft in the class of the Fokker F.27. The Il-60 was the latest addition to the domestic services, falling in between both other types.

Development of the Ilyushin Il-60 dated back to 12 October 1951, when the Soviet Council of Ministers published a specification for a medium-range aircraft carrying 50 to 70 passengers and 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of cargo on routes up to 2,000 km (1,100 nmi; 1,200 mi) with a cruising speed of about 600 km/h (320 kn; 370 mph). The type was to replace the piston engine Ilyushin Il-14 on domestic routes. The number and type of engines were not specified, but jet or turboprop engines were expected and emphasis was put on ruggedness and ease of operations for operations on rural airstrips with a minimum of infrastructure.

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Ilyushin's OKB-240 responded at first with a scaled-down Il-18 turboprop airliner, somewhat inspired by an idea of Czech manufacturer Avia for a smaller, short-range airliner for the CSA's Central European routes. This machine had only two engines and overall reduced dimensions, but used many components of the original airliner. But it soon became clear that the Tu-104 with its jet engines had already set higher standards, so that a completely new and more innovative design was started.

Internally known as "Aircraft 60", the machine introduced some innovations while still being a conservative design. The aircraft was a two turboprop-engine low-wing monoplane with slightly swept (20° at quarter chord) wings, a circular pressurized fuselage and a conventional, yet markedly swept tail (both fin and stabilizer at 45°). The aircraft had two entry doors on the port-side before and after the wing, two overwing emergency exits on each side, and featured a retractable stairway under the rear fuselage so that passengers could directly enter the aircraft from the airfield. An APU was integrated in the rear fuselage, under the fin, for independent operation of the air condition system and starting the engines without external support.

The tricycle landing gear had four wheels fitted on the main leg bogies, which retracted inwards to lie under the fuselage instead of into the engine nacelles. The front wheel also had twin wheels, retracting forward in a well under the cockpit floor, and the aircraft's low-pressure tires allowed operations even from grass airfields or snowy ground. Another novel feature at the time was the fitting of a weather radar in the nose, a civilian RPSN-2 "Emblema" system, doing away with the typical glazed navigator position of other former Soviet airliner designs. In order to support all-weather operations and ease the pilots' work, "Aircraft 60" was also outfitted with an automatic approach system, supported by the radar which allowed blind navigation.

Despite vibration and noise problems, experienced with the earlier Il-18 airliner, Ilyushin insisted on turboprop propulsion because it was the more fuel-efficient option. He furthermore expected that no another jet-driven airliner would be politically "allowed" along the Tu-124 short haul airliner, at that time under parallel development.

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

"Aircraft 60" was powered by a pair of Kuznetsow NK-6K turboprops. This engine was one of several developments after World War II by a team of Russian scientists and deported German engineers under Ferdinand Brandner, which had worked for Junkers previously, evolving from late war German turboprop studies. This the post-war development was based on the wartime Jumo 022 turboprop design that developed 6000 eshp in a 3000 kg engine. The efforts continued with a 5000 ehp engine that weighed in at 1700 kg, completed by 1947, and with further weight savings and more modern materials, the NK-6, one of several development directions, became a large single-spool engine that was optimized for use on board of commercial aircraft like "Aircraft 60".

For security reasons, the engines were mounted in front and above of the wings' leading edge. In order to keep the wing structure as clean and simple and possible and not risk collateral damage to the landing gear in case of an engine fire, the landing gear was retracted into wells under the wing roots. This measure also kept the engine nacelle's dimensions in very compact limits.
In order to minimize noise and vibrations, 2x4-bladed contraprops with an automatic feathering system were mounted, resulting in a characteristic humming noise when the engines were running. Due to the lower speed of these propellers, compared to a standard four- or five-blade propeller, the internal and external noise level could be significantly reduced (compared to the Il-18, which could drone at 110db in the cabin above the wings!), even though the lower frequency caused other problems, mainly vibrations at certain speeds that shook the whole airframe.

The standard seating of the initial version, the Il-60A, was 52 seats at a 90cm distance between the five-seat rows (two seats on port side and three on starboard). Alternatively, a maximum of 72 could be mounted in a cramped "tourist class" configuration with only 78cm distance between the seat rows, which became the late production standard configuration as Il-60B.

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The first of two prototypes made its first flight from Zhukovsky airfield on 24 March 1960. The second prototype followed in June 1960. Two other airframes served as a static test cells. Testing was successful, and the aircraft entered production at Machinery Plant No. 30 located at Khodynka, near Moscow, replacing the Il-18 in production. Deliveries to Aeroflot began in August 1962, with the type operating its first scheduled passenger service, between Moscow and Tallinn in Estonia, on 2 October 1962.

The Il-60's production remained only on a small scale, though: being a pure jet, the Tu-124 was preferred by the Aeroflot for short haul duties, as well as by the Powers That Be. Despite the type's merits esp. in harsh climate conditions (most Il-60 were allocated to Aeroflot's feederline services in the Soviet Union's northern regions), the type was not popular among its crews. While the two turboprops gave sufficient power, had good handling across the whole speed envelope and the aircraft had no trouble remaining airborne with one engine shut down, the asymmetrical drag/thrust in this emergency condition was considerable and navigating the Il-60, and even more landing the aircraft, with only one engine was a challenging task.

Furthermore, the stalky landing gear, which prompted the crews' inofficial nickname "косино́жки" (kosinozhki = daddy longlegs), could start to vibrate under certain conditions and wobble, making a start or landing run a shaky if not dangerous affair, esp. on snow-packed and non-permanent runways. Furthermore, two Il-60 crashed on runways or airfields after hitting obstacles ubnder snow - the long front landing gear collapsed. Nobody on board was seriosuly hurt in both cases, but these accidents did not improve the type's reputation among both pilots and passengers alike.

Only a total of 44 machines were built: 18 Il-60As for selected connections abroad (e. g. to Scandinavia and Poland), plus 26 Il-60Bs with higher seat capacity for purely domestic service. Both machines were identical from the outside, though, and all production aircraft featured a characteristic spinal fin root extension that covered several radio and navigation antennae.

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Ilyushin had plans for a stretched version (with two plugs inserted into the fuselage in front of and behind the wings) with a 2.2m longer fuselage and a maximum capacity of 85 passengers, and also worked on a jet-powered update with engine nacelles on pylons under and in front of the wings. But none of these improvements was turned into hardware, since not only the Tu-124 had become the preferred short/medium haul airliner for Aeroflot, the following Tu-134 had also become the political favorite, and OKB-240 focused on its long-range airliner Il-62.

Il-60 production already ended after only two years in 1964, and Aeroflot decommissioned its last twelve Il-60s on 21 January 1980, after more and more structural problems (wing spar cracks, caused by the NK-6's vibrations) had become apparent and several aircraft had to be grounded.

General characteristics:
Crew: 3 (captain, first officer and a flight engineer),
plus another seat for an optional navigator or a radio officer,
plus a three- or four-person cabin crew
Capacity: 52 – 72
Payload: 8.4 t (9.3 short tons)
Length: 32,54 m (106 ft 7 in)
Wingspan: 34.3 m (112 ft 6 in)
Height: 11,74 m (38 ft 5 1/2 in)
Wing area: 146.7 m² (1,579 sq ft)
Empty weight: 22.2 t (24.5 sT)
Max. takeoff weight: 46 t (50.7 sT)

Powerplant:
2× Kusnetzow NK-6K turboprop engines, rated at 3,318 kW (4,612 ehp) each

Performance:
Maximum speed: 805 km/h (500 mph/435 knots)
Cruise speed: 665 km/h (424 mph/370 knots)
Range (Typical payload, 2 hr reserve): 2,400 km (1,300 nmi/1,490 mi)
Rate of climb: 2,750 ft/min (14.0 m/s)
Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,000 ft)'

1:144 Ilyushin Il-60A (NATO ASCC code: Cake); aircraft "CCCP-60014" of the "Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии" (Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii, Aeroflot Russian Airlines); Moscow Vnukovo Airport, 1976 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A rather simple conversion, but highly effective. The Caravelle's traces are almost not to be identified anymore, even though fuselage and wings consist of OOB material with only superficial modifications or re-locations. The engines on the wings change the look, too, and despite being massive NK-12's they are a good match for the compact airliner – I am very happy with the outcome, even though the overall lines look much more modern than late Fifties design – even though no more modern parts were actually integrated? Weird, but entertaining. J

TheChronicOne · March 04, 2017, 11:04:35 AM

I love it! Book me a flight, comrade.

Glenn Gilbertson · March 04, 2017, 11:16:53 AM

Great idea & beautiful work!

PR19_Kit · March 04, 2017, 02:26:28 PM

You're absolutely right, it looks NOTHING like a Caravelle!

It's the best use of a Ruch kit that I've ever seen too, magnificent work there.

Dizzyfugu · March 04, 2017, 11:22:44 PM

Thank you very much!

zenrat · March 05, 2017, 12:48:39 AM

She certainly is a tall girl with long legs.

Very good.

PR19_Kit · March 05, 2017, 01:40:52 AM

The Il-60 has a distinct 757 look with that 'squashed' nose too, very clever.

NARSES2 · March 05, 2017, 05:10:12 AM

Fantastic work

sandiego89 · March 05, 2017, 06:43:07 AM

Wow great! Well done.

Does row 3 come with heavy ear protectors?

DogfighterZen · March 05, 2017, 11:53:42 AM

Excellent work as always, look very convincing.

loupgarou · March 05, 2017, 12:49:30 PM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 04, 2017, 02:26:28 PM
You're absolutely right, it looks NOTHING like a Caravelle!

It's the best use of a Ruch kit that I've ever seen too, magnificent work there.

Truly! It has a completely different look.
Very convincing as always.

Gondor · March 05, 2017, 03:11:39 PM

I'm going to have to get a Caravelle next month just to build the idea of the jet's under the wing of one of these myself

Such a great looking aircraft and such an inspiration, as if I needed more ideas

Gondor

PR19_Kit · March 05, 2017, 03:23:32 PM

A twin jet Caravelle with engines a la Comet might look good too. Bags of inspiration from your build Thomas.