Údržba letadel ČSA (1979) - IL-62
Video from the channel Letecká Videa about Ilyushin Il-62, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 8:57. Video type: Archive footage.
What it shows
Period film about the maintenance of the fleet of Czechoslovak Airlines (ČSA). Hundreds of technicians work in the company's hangars, some of whom trained with the manufacturer in the Soviet Union when the new types arrived. The aircraft undergo periodic inspections of different levels, and parts that still work but have exhausted their service life are replaced. In the laboratories, navigation and safety instruments are checked: a single Il-62 carries more than 50, and the most important ones are triplicated in the cockpit. An aircraft that has just arrived from Cuba leaves the hangar to fly to Singapore that same night.
When and where it was filmed
It was filmed in Prague and at Aeroflot's repair plant in Tashkent. There, a ČSA Il-62, after 16,000 flight hours, is disassembled for overhaul, just like the Il-62s of all operators. The naming ceremony of an Il-62M is also shown, the fleet's newest type, with new engines with lower fuel consumption, an additional tank, a range of up to 10,000 km and a renovated cabin.
Context
The film reviews the company's history with jet aircraft. The first flight of a Tu-104 with Czechoslovak registration was on 9 December 1957, and the Prague-Moscow route was the world's first international route served only by jets. In 1960 the Tu-104 began flying to the southern hemisphere. The first Il-62 arrived at Ruzyně in 1969. The fleet was rounded out with Yak-40s for domestic flights and Tu-134As for Europe and North Africa.