IL-62 in the grass

Orange Anchor

New Member
The narration tells the story.

I went to Moscow on one of these. Pilot, copilot, navigator, engineer, radio operator. When I asked why so many in the cockpit, the copilot said, "...is right of every Soviet citizen to have job. So.. we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us."

Why the aerobraking I do not know but interesting putting such a big machine on grass.

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1. Would have been nice if they just showed the landing vs. cutting to the reaction of the women.

2. Weren't they worried about FOD? Oh wait......

3. Why was the pilot riding in the baggage compartment? :D
 
OA,

While killing some time at JFK maaaaany years ago, we got onboard one of these and chatted with the crew as they got ready to blast off to Moscow. The instrumentation was interesting and looked more like my 1957 Chrysler Imperial than an airplane...HUGE round gages.

The crew was very friendly and spent as long as they could giving us the Kid's Tour. There were so many cockpit crewmembers that "featherbedding" was the first thing that came to my mind.
 
OA,

While killing some time at JFK maaaaany years ago, we got onboard one of these and chatted with the crew as they got ready to blast off to Moscow. The instrumentation was interesting and looked more like my 1957 Chrysler Imperial than an airplane...HUGE round gages.

Then you will remember the ubiquitous rubber blade fans and the device for nosewheel steering. (the little wheel on the Capt's yoke)
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This is a video of a landing. Lots of good info.. LOTS of talking in the cockpit, good view of the instruments including the Russian attitude indicators (god's eye view) and cockpit noise. Note too the automated throttles (the FE handles the throttles while the pilot flies with those WIDE yokes). Also note the hammering on rollout. Russian runways at the three airports I visited ALL were enough to loosen fillings in your teeth.

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The crew was very friendly and spent as long as they could giving us the Kid's Tour. There were so many cockpit crewmembers that "featherbedding" was the first thing that came to my mind.

All the guys I met were good guys... very hospitable and almost ALL smoked there terrible cigarettes that produced a yellow haze. You could get almost anything done with a hard pack of Marlboros. Of course, this was in the late 80s when the USSR was coming apart.
 
OA,

My visit with the Russian crew was even earlier, circa 1975 or so. I remember the captain was in serious need of a bath...smelled like a goat, that needed a bath.

It'd be a long trip home for the other guys with Captain Smellski. :laff:

The video looks like organized chaos. Why were both pilots grabbing the yoke at the same time ?
 
OA,

My visit with the Russian crew was even earlier, circa 1975 or so. I remember the captain was in serious need of a bath...smelled like a goat, that needed a bath.

Granted the hygiene was a bit.. well.. funky but nice guys. And too, remember the diet of cabbage, beets and such. We were at CDG for the Paris airshow one year and when we deplaned I told my wife Aeroflot was in the same hall. She asked how I knew, I pointed to my yet-twice operated on nose. True enough, two gates down an IL-86 was deplaning.

The video looks like organized chaos. Why were both pilots grabbing the yoke at the same time ?

organized chaos.. good analysis. And yes, both were on the controls at the same time. The -62 was not exactly a docile light-on-the-controls machine from my jumpseat observation.

Oh.. and universal. :45 minute after T/O the Capt told the F/O "you got it" and promptly took a nap. ;)
 
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