The first modified Ilyushin
IL-76TD-90VD freighter is to undergo over 50 test flights to
confirm its compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) requirements before entering service with Volga-Dnepr
Group by the end of the year.
The test programme to monitor the aircraft’s performance
against current and future ICAO noise requirements will be
carried out by S.V. Ilyushin Design Bureau, accompanied by
Russia ’s State Civil Aviation Research Institute and
the State Air Navigation Research Institute. The programme
will be managed through operational bases at the TAPOiC Aircraft
Factory and Zhukovsky flight testing facilities.
The second IL-76 Т D-90VD freighter
to join Volga-Dnepr’s fleet is currently in the final
assembly shop. Modifications to reinforce the wings and install
pylons for the freighter’s new engines have been completed.
The second aircraft is planned to enter service in the second
quarter of 2006.
The test programme has been launched within the ‘IL-76
National Project’ implemented by Volga-Dnepr Group,
Ilyushin Design Bureau, Perm Aircraft Engine Factory and
the Tashkent-based ТАPОiC Aircraft Factory.
The project aims to bring the new IL-76 freighter into
full compliance with ICAO noise and emission requirements
(emission of noxious substances into the atmosphere) and
RNP-1 requirements for navigational accuracy. This will allow
for the full return of this unique freighter to the international
air cargo market. The project has been approved and supported
by the Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Ministry of
Transport of the Russian Federation .
The IL-76 is highly respected as one of the
most capable aircraft to ever be operated by both Russian
and foreign cargo carriers.
Its success is based on the unique services
provided by IL-76 operators as well as its economic efficiency.
By not requiring any additional airport loading equipment,
the IL-76 is a self-sufficient aircraft and can operate to
and from airports with poor infrastructure in markets such
as the CIS, Asia , Africa and Latin America .
The IL-76 offers unique aircraft performance characteristics
and occupies the niche of large aircraft capable of carrying
payloads of up to 50 tonnes of cargo, including outsize loads.
The aircraft has no serious competitors and accounts for
more than 60% of Russia ’s airfreight revenues.
In these circumstances, Volga-Dnepr Group, Russia ’s
leading air cargo carrier, is taking decisive steps to modernise
the IL-76TD freighter by re-engining the jet with PS-90A-76
engines and equipping it with upgraded avionics.
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