Ilyushin Il-18

The Ilyushin Il-18 (Russian: Илью́шин Ил-18; NATO reporting name: Coot) is a large turboprop airliner that first flew in 1957 and became one of the best known and durable Soviet aircraft of its era. The Il-18 was one of the world's principal airliners for several decades and was widely exported. Due to the aircraft's airframe durability, many examples achieved over 45,000 flight hours and the type remains operational in both military and (to a lesser extent) civilian capacities. The Il-18's successor was the long range Il-62 jet airliner.
==Variants==
*Il-18: Designation of the sole prototype of the Il-18 family.
*Il-18A: The original production model, equivalent to pre-production, powered by either Kuznetsov NK-4 or Ivchenko AI-20 turboprop engines. Circa 20 built.
*Il-18B: First major production model, a medium-haul airliner that could seat 84 passengers.
*Il-18 Combi: Il-18 aircraft modified to mixed passenger / cargo configuration.
*Il-18D: Similar to Il-18I, but equipped with an extra center section fuel tank for increased range. The Il-18D is fitted with four 3,169 kW (4,250 shp) Ivchenko AI-20M turboprop engines.
**Il-18D Communications Relay: Three aircraft modified to provide communications relay between VIP aircraft and Government bodies.
**Il-18D Pomor: A single Il-18D converted to a fisheries reconnaissance aircraft (Pomor = person who lives by the sea)
**Il-18D Salon: VIP version of the Il-18D
**Il-18DORR: Two Il-18Ds modified as fishery reconnaissance aircraft for the Polar Institute of Oceanic Fishery and Oceanography, the modification mainly involved the fitment of specialized mission equipment. First flown in 1985 they were later modified back as standard Il-18Ds.
*Il-18E: Similar to the Il-18I, but without the increased fuel capacity.
**Il-18E Salon: VIP transport version of the Il-18E.
*Il-18Gr: Aircraft converted to cargo configuration, (Gr - Gruzovoy - cargo).
**Il-18GrM: Several Il-18 aircraft modified to Gr standard with the addition of a pressurised side cargo door.
*Il-18I: Equipped with more powerful Ivchenko AI-20M turboprop engines, producing 3,169 kW (4,250 shp). Seating increased to 122 passengers in an enlarged cabin gained by moving the aft pressure bulkhead rearwards by 1.64 m (5 ft).
*Il-18LL: (Letayuschchaya Laboratoriya - flying laboratory), one aircraft modified from an Il-18A to be an anti-icing test-bed and an Il-18V used by the Czechoslovak flight test center as an engine testbed.
*Il-18RT: Two Il-18Vs were modified as Telemetry Relay Aircraft to rocket and unmanned air vehicle trials.
**Il-18RTL: Prototype for Il-20RT, converted from Il-18A c/n 188000401.
*Il-18S: VIP variant of Il-18B.
*Il-18SL: Designation of a number of different test and research aircraft, normally had a letter suffix like SL-18D for avionics trials.
*Il-18T: This designation was given to civil and military cargo transport aircraft converted from Il-18A/B/V aircraft.
**Il-18AT: Military transport/medevac version based on the Il-18A.
**Il-18AB: Military transport/medevac version based on the Il-18B.
**Il-18VT: Military transport/medevac version based on the Il-18V.
*Il-18TD: One Il-18T was modified as a military transport variant to take either 69 stretcher cases or 118 paratroopers. Not wanted by the military it was converted to Il-18D standard.
*Il-18USh: One Il-18V was modified as a navigator trainer including two dorsal astro-sextant windows. Although it was tested and found acceptable the Soviet Air Force used a variant of the twin-jet Tupolev Tu-124 instead.
*Il-18V: Standard Aeroflot version, which entered service in 1961. The Il-18V was powered by four Ivchenko AI-20K turboprop engines, seating 90-100 passengers.
**Il-18V Salon: VIP version of the Il-18V.
**Il-18V/Polar: A single Il-18V modified for Polyarnaya Aviatsiya - Polar Aviation use.
**Il-18V-26A: A single Il-18V modified for Polyarnaya Aviatsiya - Polar Aviation use with an auxiliary fuel tank in the cabin, revised window layout and enlarged oil tanks on the engines, covered by protruding fairings on the engine nacelles (sometimes referred to as the Il-18D, before the real D model emerged).
**Il-18V Calibrator: A single Il-18V operated by Interflug for navaid calibration.
*Il-20M: COMINT/ELINT reconnaissance airplane version.
*Il-20RT: Four Telemetry aircraft used to support the Soviet space activities, later replaced by a variant of the Il-76.
*Il-22: Airborne command post version.
*Il-22M: Same as the Il-22 but had new mission equipment.
*Il-22PP: Electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft
*Il-24N: Two Il-18Ds modified for ice reconnaissance similar to the Il-20M but with civilian reconnaissance equipment, both later modified back to standard configuration and sold.
*Il-38: Maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare version.
*Il-118: A proposed upgrade powered by two Lotarev D-236-T propfan engines.
==Users==
*Afghanistan
**Afghan Air Force
*Algeria
**Algerian Air Force
*Bulgaria
**Government of Bulgaria
*Czechoslovakia
**Czechoslovakian Air Force
*Georgia
**Georgian Air Force
*East Germany
**East German Air Force
*Indonesia
**Government of Indonesia
*North Korea
**Korean People's Air Force
*Poland
**Polish Air Force
*Romania
**Government of Romania
*Russia
**Russian Air Force
**Russian Naval Aviation
*Soviet Union
**Soviet Air Force
**Soviet Navy
*Vietnam
**Vietnam People's Air Force
*Yemen
**North Yemen Air Force
*Yugoslavia
**SFR Yugoslav Air Force
==See Also==
===Related Development===
*Ilyushin Il-38
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