This week featured the maiden flight of the brand new Russian-made MC-21 passenger plane, which is considered to be Russia's "answer" to the Boeing-737 MAX and European Airbus A320neo. Russia had also recently created the Sukhoi Superjet passenger plane as the country aims to minimize imports.
The An-2 is the largest serial biplane in the world. It was used for agriculture works, and also had transport, sports and passenger modifications.
It was also one of the most massive aircraft in the world. An-2 made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the only aircraft being in production for more than 60 years. This slow, but reliable plane, is still used in several countries, for example, North Korea.
Photo: A An-2 pilot and Uzbek girls at the 22nd CPSU Congress collective farm in the Uzbekistan Republic of the USSR.
It was also one of the most massive aircraft in the world. An-2 made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the only aircraft being in production for more than 60 years. This slow, but reliable plane, is still used in several countries, for example, North Korea.
Photo: A An-2 pilot and Uzbek girls at the 22nd CPSU Congress collective farm in the Uzbekistan Republic of the USSR.
The constructors of the Ilyushin Il-14 plane were tasked with designing a jet which could land even if one of its engines fails. Out of 1,300 Soviet-made planes, 500 were exported abroad. In Russia, it was used up until early 1990s.
Photo: An Il-14 plane of the North Pole 9 expedition lands on a small Arctic Ocean ice field among the hummocks.
Photo: An Il-14 plane of the North Pole 9 expedition lands on a small Arctic Ocean ice field among the hummocks.
The first Soviet jet airliner, the Tu-104, was designed based on the Tu-16 long-range bomber. Before Boeing 707 was introduced, it had been the only passenger jet airliner in the world.
Photo: A Tupolev Tu-104 airliner taxiing into the runway at Moscow's Sheremetyevo-1 airport.
Photo: A Tupolev Tu-104 airliner taxiing into the runway at Moscow's Sheremetyevo-1 airport.
The Il-18 was the first generation of passenger aircraft with gas turbine power plants and one of the most massive passenger airliners in the USSR.
Photo: An Ilyushin Il-18 passenger airliner on the runway of Adler airport, Sochi, Russia.
Photo: An Ilyushin Il-18 passenger airliner on the runway of Adler airport, Sochi, Russia.
The Tupolev 114 passenger plane was developed for intercontinental flights prompted by the development of international relations of the USSR in the 1950s. The country needed a developed air communication system, including an international one. It was also based on a military long-range bomber.
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© Sputnik / Lev Polikashin
The Tu-134 developed in the 1960s with 80 passenger seats is still used in a number of post-Soviet states, including Russia.
Photo: The Tu-134 passenger aircraft at the aviation festival dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Great October Revolution at the Domodedovo airport, Moscow region.
Photo: The Tu-134 passenger aircraft at the aviation festival dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Great October Revolution at the Domodedovo airport, Moscow region.
The Il-62 is the first Soviet-made intercontinental jet airliner. Some third of the produced planes have been exported abroad: to Hungary, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), China, the DPRK (North Korea), Cuba and other Communist states.
The aircraft is able to fly for distances of up to 11 thousand kilometers, take aboard up to 186 passengers. In the Soviet Union, it was the "Air Force One". It was used by Soviet leaders from Brezhnev to Gorbachev. The Il-62 set several world records of speed and range. Currently, aircraft of this type are withdrawn from commercial exploitation, they are used by the special flight detachment "Russia" (serving the highest officials of Russia and the leadership of special services) and the country's Air Force.
The aircraft is able to fly for distances of up to 11 thousand kilometers, take aboard up to 186 passengers. In the Soviet Union, it was the "Air Force One". It was used by Soviet leaders from Brezhnev to Gorbachev. The Il-62 set several world records of speed and range. Currently, aircraft of this type are withdrawn from commercial exploitation, they are used by the special flight detachment "Russia" (serving the highest officials of Russia and the leadership of special services) and the country's Air Force.
The Tu-154 jet airliner was modenized several times and was produced up until 2013. It was supplied by the USSR to China, Iran, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cuba and Poland.
Along with the UK-French 'Concorde', the Soviet Tu-144 plane was one of the first supersonic passenger aircraft in the world. Developed in the 1960s, it had unique technical characteristics, for example, it didn't have some elements in the constuction of its wings. Two catastrophes involving the plane - at the French Le Bourget air show in 1973 and later in 1978 in Moscow - "buried" the underdeveloped project.
The Yak-42 plane was the first USSR-made airliner certified in the US and the UK.
Made in the 1970s by Ilyushin's design bureau, the Il-86 became the most mass Soviet wide-body liner.
The Tu-204 was one of the most modern Soviet-made passenger planes which reminded of the Boeing 757. It started its flights in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Photo: A Tu-204 passenger liner at the MAKS-99 air show in Moscow.
Photo: A Tu-204 passenger liner at the MAKS-99 air show in Moscow.
There are a total of 26 Ilyushin Il-96 planes developed in the 1980s in the world. The Russian special flight unit "Rossiya" and a Cuban air carrier still exploit it. It can carry up to 435 passengers in one of its modifications.
In 2019, its modernized version, the Il-96-400M is set to conduct its maiden flight.
In 2019, its modernized version, the Il-96-400M is set to conduct its maiden flight.
