An Epic Flight - Flying the Ilyushin IL-76 Cargo Transporter to Iraq

(dramatic rock music) - Today's

flight

mission is to fly this Soviet beast behind me, Ilyushin-76. Let's go back to the cockpit of an airplane designed by the Soviets for five men. (dramatic rock music) What is this? This pedal here? Hurry up. (dramatic rock music) Isn't this cool? The best seat in the house! (dramatic rock music) Here we have an oven, self-service. - Over Iranian airspace towards Iraq. - So the contour of the load is perfect, coming from 7-4-7. (dramatic rock music) Very, very bumpy. I don't know, there is a lot of heat. (dramatic rock music) - Sam, do you remember that

cargo

left 7-4-7 yesterday?

Today I am sending you with this shipment to Iraq and I need you to do one thing for me. Please come back safely. (dramatic rock music) - It's not a conventional way to board the plane, is it? Up the stairs. It's almost like a military plane. First thing's first. I want to see the cabin. In reality, it's another ladder to climb. It's a very unique type of operation here. Hello captain. - Welcome to our cabin of the IL-76TD-90. So we operate two pilots. My co-pilot will sit there. Flight engineer. Radio operator. And navigator. We have new engines here.

This is because the plane is called IL-76TD-90. That is why these motors are quieter and more efficient. - Why do you have a new engine? What does it get you? - For noise compliance. - Ah, the noise. - So we had to modernize our planes. Being able to fly to all parts of the world. All airports in the world. - Oh captain, can you explain this yoke here? I am very interested, there are many buttons on this yoke. - Yes. This is stabilizer. - Stabilizer? - Stabilizer, yes. And these are current. - Current in the middle? - Yes. - Oh. - It's about currents.

For us, this is how we fly our plane. - Very heavy? - Eh yes. A little heavier than Boeing and Airbus. - Strong man, you need strong muscles. (laughs) - Yes. We have to fly a long time before doing it manually, instead of doing it on autopilot. - Where is your autopilot? Is there autopilot in this? - Yes, there is an autopilot in the middle here. You can check here. - Is this autopilot? - Yes. - Oh. Lapels. - This one is flaps and this one is ribbons. - The most? - Yes. - Flaps and slats.

And the speed brake is this one here? - If I see. - This is. - Hello, my name is Samir. I am a navigator. Now I show you my office. - Let's check it out. This is below. This is all a secret. Wow. - Navigator. - I love your office. I think you have the best office in heaven. - Yes. - Look at this one! - The view is definitely the best. - Nice view. - Samir, what is this? This looks like a typewriter to me. Or like a record player. - Yes, this is the Soviet GPS. - A Soviet GPS!? - Yes, good.

I see you're using iPad now. That's the Western GPS. - One GPS, two, three GPS. - Three GPS. More VFR. Plus the window view. - Yes. It's connected to autopilot. -UH Huh. And you also have a, what is this? This pedal here, you step on it. - This pedal to talk to the captain and... - Oh, yeah, the push-and-talk button. - Yes. (funky rock music) - I'm with the loadmaster on my

flight

here on IL-76. How many tons of

cargo

can you carry on this plane? - We can carry 50 tons of cargo. - Maximum, 50 tons? - Maximum 50 tons, yes. - Oversized load? - Of course. - Well. - Oversized load. - And how many tons of cargo do we have today? - Today we have 16 tons. (funky rock music) - So I was having fun in the cabin.

All cargo is already loaded inside the IL-76 because it has a rear cargo door. When it opens and the tall magazine pushes the entire load in, very, very fast. (funky rock music) As you can see, the cargo hold is not very big on the IL-76. But it's big, it's very tall. So the contour of the load is perfect, coming from the 7-4-7 to the IL-76. Do you like this plane? - I love this plane, but I have been

flying

on this plane for 22 years. - Right now we are waiting for the exit, but you see that it is a bit like a sauna. - Yes. (laughing) - It's a little warm inside. - A little heat. - The internal crane? - Yes.

This is the crane. Four pieces. Allow us to load, around 10 tons, of oversized cargo by lifting. - 10 tons. - 10 tons, yes. - This is big, let us do the loading in one unit, 30 tons. Cable length - Oh, the cable. - is 55 meters. - Wow, very strong, my God. Well, there are a lot of banks down here. It's like a military

transporter

, right? You just fall down and sit down. - My name is Rasim, I am the first officer of Silk Way Airlines. Today our destination is Erbil. Our flight level, we expect level two-eight-zero, and the speed will be 700 kilometers per hour. - Well captain, I see you have an iPad stand here.

This is very modern. This is your IFE, I think. This is your entertainment. - We no longer have our Jeppesen cards. - Oh yeah. - So we only use iPads, which support us. It's all here. - Our route goes to Iran, and we are going to... - From Iran... - Yes, from Iran. - over Iranian airspace towards Iraq. - Yes, to Iraq. We are going to Erbil. - Good. - From there. (tense music) (aircraft engine hum) (tense music) (aircraft engine hum) (tense music) (aircraft engine hum) (tense music) (aircraft engine hum) (tense music) (voices) (confusing radio voices talking) (airplane engine hum) (confusing radio voices talking) (triumphant music) - We have now reached level 300.

Navigation is done by the navigator below. This is our autopilot system. I'm controlling pitch and stabilizing altitude. The autothrottle is controlled by... - Flight engineer. - Flight engineer, Rafael. - What is the fuel consumption on the plane? - Our fuel consumption now counts for each specific engine. 160 and 43 digits. It is different depending on the engine. - One point eight tons. - Yes. - One ton point seven per engine. - Yes. - Per hour. - One point seven tons. Yes. (plane engine hum) (triumphant music) - Isn't that great!? The best seat in the house! Navigator seat. (triumphant music) Well, actually there is an aft passenger cabin behind the cockpit.

There are like two places here. Perfect for me. The plane feels like a tank. Very, very strong, very stable. It's an amazing plane too. He just looks like a beast. And it also flies like a beast. Is this a Russian GPS? - Yes. This is a multifunctional screen. Which show us the weather, navigation, TCAS and terrain knowledge. We also have additional knowledge of the terrain. It's a Russian system, SM. - So this is a weather radar? - Yes, this is the weather radar. Now we change to TCAS. - Yes. - There's no one around. - Maybe land? - This is the terrain. -Ah.

No land. - Without land. - Well. - And now switch back to navigation. (dramatic rock music) - We just crossed into Iraq from Iranian airspace and it will be our first time landing in Iraq. As I understand it, Erbil is the Kurdistan region of Iraq. (dramatic rock music) We are on final approach on the DME arc toward Erbil's runway one-eight. Very, very bumpy. I don't know. There are a lot of thermals and clouds. (tense music) - This is the indication that we have lowered the landing gears. - The landing gear is down. - The gear is down, yes. (garbled radio voices talking) (landing gear noise) (plane engine roar) (dramatic rock music) - So we're at number three in the landing sequence.

We had to endure. Then we followed the arch and the ILS Yankee one-eight. And we landed, on an unusual and somewhat bumpy ride. So everything was under control. - Ready to work? - Ready to work. (dramatic rock music) - Beautiful day in Erbil. My first time in Iraq. The entire charging process was completed in 15 minutes. All the load has gone to the center. And now let's simply prepare for our return. - I've finished now. - Well. - We're ready to go. - Come on. (dramatic rock music) Ah, it's all empty! You finish. Everything is empty. Wow.

Well. With all the loads coming out, we are enjoying ourselves and having lunch right now. Here we have an oven, self-service and help yourself to heat up lunch. What is this panel here? - This panel is, for example, all this, this light. - Lights? Show me. Ah, the lights. - Yes. - Yes. - But this is it, these buttons here will open the door. - Open doors? - Yes. - Oh. - And close it too. (dramatic rock music) - Now we fly back to Baku. And we are empty for the flight. That's why we will fly fast.

We'll get you there quickly. Landing will be a little more difficult due to the empty weight. And my co-pilot will make the landing. - Hello. (tense music) (airplane engine hum) (confusing radio voices talking) (airplane engine hum) (confusing radio voices talking) (triumphant music) - What an experience, seeing all the engines one by one start up and get back on the plane. And we left Erbil very quickly, and now two hours on the way to Baku. I am a little hungry. So I'm going to look down. I know there's plenty of food on board for the big boys here. (triumphant music) - So we approach Mosul.

As you see, we are

flying

over the Caspian Sea. Is very pretty. And we're almost at runway one seven. (dramatic rock music) (plane rumble) (plane engine hum) - Well, I just want to thank the crew. He brought me safely back to Baku. It has been an absolutely stellar memory for me. It would surely remain in my mind. It's such a memorable flight. Thank you so much. Spasiba. - Bye bye. - Son. This is normally forbidden but this time only for you, because you are my son. The famous Sam Chui is coming to the roof... - Wow! - from Ilyushin Il-76. (laughing) - I'm scared. - Well, put them away, okay? - Save it too, man. - We have to hold on. - Oh.

Oh! Incredible! Be careful. Be careful. (laughing) Unreal! Wow! Now I feel like I'm the king of the world! (laughing) This is incredible. Look at the wing. Wow. The tail. What a strong machine. Wow. (Roar of the plane engine) At the top of IL-76, my father, I love you. - My son. I love you too.