Ilyushin Il-86

what is it?

The Ilyushin Il-86 (Russian: Илью́шин Ил-86; NATO reporting name: Camber) is a retired short- to medium-range wide-body jet airliner that served as the USSR's first wide-bodied aircraft. Designed and tested by the Ilyushin design bureau in the 1970s, it was certified by the Soviet aircraft industry, manufactured and marketed by the USSR. Developed during the rule of Leonid Brezhnev, the Il-86 was marked by the economic and technological stagnation of the era: it used engines more typical of the late 1960s, spent a decade in development, and failed to enter service in time for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, as was originally intended. The type was used by Aeroflot and successor post-Soviet airlines; only three of the total 106 constructed were exported.

🔎How to recognise it: jet engines · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 48.1 m wingspan

base stats

• built 106made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 50 years ago, in 1976.
• 🚗Wingspan of 48.1 m: about 11 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.2× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1976-12-22

introduced

1980

retired

2011

status

still flying

number built

106

role

wide-body airliner

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Ilyushin, Voronezh Aircraft Production Association

engines

Kuznetsov NK-86

length

59.9 m

wingspan

48.1 m

height

15.8 m

top speed

—

range

—

ceiling

11,000 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

ICAO code

IL86

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.