I only few once aboard of a Russian manufactured aircraft – a Россия’s Ty-154M to be precise – and even if it was a pretty scary experience, I highly respect Russian aircrafts. Among those aircrafts, the Iliouchine Il-76 is beautiful. Its first flight was in 1971, more than 900 aircrafts have been produced until 2005! It’s cruising at 750 – 780 km/h, at 9 000 – 12 000 m, has a range of 7 300 km with 20 tonnes on board and 3 800 km with maximum loads, it can also feature some heavy weapons. It can transport huge loads (47 tonnes max). This is a “mainstream” aircraft in Russia, You see a lot of Il-76 in Moscow for instance. Even if it was at first a military aircraft, it is now a perfect cargo aircraft.

This aircraft is a typical Russian made plane, with its green cockpit and its old school communication station, … As You can see on those amazing videos – filmed from Antarctica to Cape Town – the aircraft is featuring some pretty advanced in-flight systems: Auto pilot, GPS, … It is a modern very important aircraft in Russia. Why? Cause Russia is huge and has a lot of destinations only accessible by plane.