 Following the breakup of the USSR various Aeroflot directorates gained their independence and spawned a wide variety of successor airlines, both inside Russia and within the newly independent republics. Kaliningrad found itself in an in-between space whereby it no longer bordered Russia but was still part of it. This enabled opportunity but also risk, which eventually didn't pay off for the Oblast's airline KD Avia.
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 The myriad of new airlines formed in the twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union was amazing, but also symptomatic of an industry where dubious operators were common and crashes rife. It somewhat reminds of the period immediately following WW2 in the USA and the rise of the non-skeds. Tretyakovo Airlines was just one of these airlines that picked up ex-Aeroflot equipment and flew until it had its licence revoked due to a crash!
 The Tupolev 144 (NATO codename 'Charger') is a magnificent looking airliner that pushed Soviet technology to the brink and beyond it. The race to create supersonic passenger airliners was one that faced a range of almost insurmountable problems and in the USSR this led to the continued production of an aircraft that would never have gotten as far as it did if it were made in the West. The Tu-144 was certainly not a success and it wouldn't be out of step to label it a disaster, but the resulting aircraft was without a doubt one of the most impressive civil types ever built.
 Perm is a city of just over 1 million people in central Russia. Long a crossroads and the gateway to Siberia following the breakup of the Soviet Union the successor of the Urals CAD / 1st Perm UAD of Aeroflot became Perm Airlines one of many new airlines of the new Russia. Carrying the Bear logo of Perm the airline was first to fly the new Tupolev Tu-204.
 The Il-62 (NATO codename 'Classic'), in 1967, finally gave the Soviet Union a long-haul jet airliner, albeit one comparable to first generation Western jetliners like the 707 rather than second generation widebodies then under development elsewhere. The original version was then gradually replaced by the improved M variant from 1974, but the 'basic' variant continued in service domestically and was even used to introduce a kind of 1st Class service in 1978.
 Soviet-era aircraft usually come in a dizzying array of, often bizarre, variants and the IL-76 is no different. You may recognise the saucer atop the fuselage of this 76 to mark it out as the AWACs Ilyushin / Beriev A-50 Mainstay variant, but in fact it is something different. It is the 'aircraft 976' SKIP variant, the IL-76SK, used for the AMCS mission. What is that you ask? Read on...
 The Ilyushin IL-86 'Camber' encapsulates a big chunk of what was wrong with the Soviet Union, but also some of the things they did well. By the 1980s when it entered service, it was obsolete. Its development was protracted, its service entry late, its performance anaemic and its production far too prolonged and slow. However despite this it had many unique features, which adapted it to Russian operations well, was solid, strong, reliable and very safe.
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AuthorI'm Richard Stretton: a fan of classic airliners and airlines who enjoys exploring their history through my collection of die-cast airliners. If you enjoy the site please donate whatever you can to help keep it running: Archives
March 2025
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