DT Custom Models - Il-62sUpdated: May 2023
|
|
In this review I take a closer look at DT Customs Tupolev Il-62s, of which there are now nine versions. For more about DT Customs see the header page:
|
|
Above: The Gemini Jets and JC Wings Il-62 releases Đặng Tùng has used as his donor models
Il-62s haven't been very common as 400 scale releases but the relatively recent Air Koryo example from JC Wings and the more recent Gemini version in Aeroflot colours have opened up options. The Air Koryo, being largely white, makes a decent donor for more difficult customs while the Aeroflot version is handy for carriers that kept the Aeroflot cheatline.
The Original Il-62
As discussed at the Il-62 mould review the original Il-62 'sans suffix' or 'Basic' had less powerful Kuznetsov NK-8 turbofans than the later Il-62M's Soloviev D-30KUs. The later engines also had clamshell thrust reversers rather than the internal cascade type fitted to the original Kuznetsovs. Wonderfully Tùng has managed to 3D print the old style engines and replace them on the Il-62 donors to recreate the first Il-62 'sans suffix' in 400 scale.
He has made one version for me and this model has featured at the avhistory blog here:
Tùng has also made two other versions with the old NK-8 engines - one in the delivery scheme of LOT and the other for CAAC of China.
Il-62Ms
Il-62Ms are of course easier to make as you don't need to change the engines. So far Tùng has made six of which two grace my collection.
Air India surprisingly wet-leased a single Il-62M from Aeroflot for BOM-SVO and DEL-SVO ops from 1988-1991. Air India provided two cabin crew (1 male and 1 female) while the rest of the crew were Russians. The aircraft, CCCP-86512, was a 1980 build aircraft that was returned to Aeroflot by May 1991 and withdrawn in mid-1997. It appeared in basic Aeroflot colours with Air India titles replacing the Soviet airline ones, and the centaur logo on the engines, but sadly no tail logo.
|
Atlant SV Airlines was a Ukrainian offshoot of the Russian airline Atlant Soyuz that operated between 1992 and 1997. The fleet included many Il-76s, a handful of An-12s, Tu-154s and Tu-134s plus a pair of Il-62s and, between 1994 and 1996, a single 737-200.
|
|
Chosonminhang/CAAK was the predecessor of North Korea's Air Koryo. The IL-62M registered P-889 first flew in 1981 and was mostly used for vip flights. The aircraft was destroyed, and all 23 aborad killed, when it crashed into the Fouta Djalon mountains in Guinea Bissau in 1983, carrying construction materials and workers from Pyongyang to Conakry via Kabul and Cairo.
|
|
With the Gemini Jets version hard to find DT made a Cubana 62 in a slightly different scheme to the GJ version. CU-T1283 wears the mid 1990s until early 2001 c/s. It has a slight dark blue, the same reg font as the title, a "member of IATA" logo and lacks the anti glare at the front.
|
Dalavia was a major Russian airline based at Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East. The Il-62M was a major component of the fleet operating the long-haul services to European Russia. At least 12 saw service with them many until the airline's bankruptcy in 2008.
|
Alex Pereslavtsev (GFDL 1.2
|
