Ilyushin Il-14

The Ilyushin Il-14 (NATO reporting name "Crate") was a Soviet twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that first flew in 1950, and entered service in 1954. Il-14 was also manufactured in East Germany by VVB Flugzeugbau, in Czechoslovakia as the Avia 14, and in China under the Chinese designation Y-6. The Ilyushin Il-14 was typically replaced by the Antonov An-24 and Yakovlev Yak-40.

Design and development
The Il-14 was developed as a replacement for the widespread Douglas DC-3 and its Soviet built version, the Lisunov Li-2. A development of the earlier Ilyushin Il-12, (that first flew in 1945 ), the Il-14 was intended for use in both military and civil applications. The Il-12 had major problems with poor engine-out behaviour. Also, it had less payload capability than was originally planned (although the Il-12 was intended to carry 32 passengers, in service it only carried 18, which was uneconomic). The development into the Il-14 was a vast improvement over the Il-12, with a new wing and a broader tailfin. It was powered by two 1,400 kW (1,900 hp) Shvetsov ASh-82T-7 radial piston engines. These changes greatly improved aerodynamic performance in engine-out conditions.

Total production of the Il-14 was 1,345 aircraft: 1,065 in Moscow (Moscow Machinery Plant Nr.30) from 1956 to 1958 and Tashkent (Factory Nr.84) from 1954 to 1958. Licenced production of 80 in East Germany by VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden (FWD) from 1956 to 1959 and 203 in Czechoslovakia by Avia, Prague, from 1956 to 1960. It was rugged and reliable, and thus was widely used in rural areas with poor quality airfields.

The type was also used by the East German aircraft industry as a test aircraft for the horizontal stabilizer of the Baade 152.

Variants

 * Il-14 : Twin-engined passenger, cargo transport aircraft.
 * Il-14P : Commercial transport aircraft.
 * Il-14M : Commercial transport aircraft, fitted with a lengthened fuselage, 24-32 seat.
 * Il-14T : Military transport aircraft.
 * Il-14G : Freight or cargo aircraft.
 * Crate-C : Electronic warfare version.
 * Avia 14 / 14P : Ilyushin Il-14s and Il-14Ps built by Avia under licence in Czechoslovakia.
 * Avia 14-32 : 32-seat version of the Ilyushin Il-14M.
 * Avia 14-42 : Enlarged 42-seat version with a pressurised fuselage.
 * Avia 14T : Freight or cargo version of the Ilyushin Il-14M.
 * Avia 14FG : Aerial survey aircraft.
 * Avia 14 Salon : VIP transport aircraft with six individual seats and a six-seat couch, can be fitted with long-range wing-tip fuel tanks.
 * Avia 14 Super : 1960-model with a pressurised cabin for 42 passengers, can be fitted with long-range wing-tip fuel tanks.
 * Y-6 : Projected Chinese production version. Aborted after Y-7 development began.

Operators


The Il-14 soldiered on in the Soviet Union until the 1980s, and also in other small and poor nations like Cuba and Vietnam. However, the unlicenced Chinese built Y-6 remained in the People's Liberation Army Air Force as a trainer until late 1980s.

Military operators
There are no current military operators of the Ilyushin Il-14.
 * 🇦🇫: Afghan Air Force. 26 were supplied to the Afghan Air Force from 1955 onwards. By 1979, the force was reduced to 10, equipping a single squadron.
 * 🇦🇱: Albanian Air Force. 11 have been operated by the Albanian Air Force from 1957. None remain in service as of 1999. 8 Il-14M were delivered from 1957, with four remaining by 1979. A single Avia built Il-14T along with 2 East Germany built Il-14P transports were delivered in 1983 and retired by 1996.
 * 🇩🇿: Algerian Air Force. 12 were delivered to the from 1962, with the last phased out in 1997. Only four were operational by 1979.
 * 🇧🇬: Bulgarian Air Force. 20 were delivered from 1960, including Il-14M and East Germany built Il-14P examples. The Il-14P was retired by 1974, and only 4 Il-14M remained by 1979.
 * The Cambodian Air Force operated 2 Il-14s in 1968.
 * The Cambodian Air Force operated 2 Il-14s in 1968.


 * 🇨🇳: More than 50 have been operated by the People's Liberation Army Air Force from 1955, mostly of the Il-14M (local produced Y-6 did not materialize). Some have been reported in use by the People's Liberation Army Navy as well. Final examples were withdrawn by the late 1990s.
 * 🇨🇬: Congolese Air Force. 5 were delivered from 1960 and remained in service until 1997. All were reported on strength in 1979.
 * 🇨🇺: Cuban Air Force. 20 were delivered from 1961, and served as late as 1992.
 * Czechoslovakian Air Force. 50 were operated from 1958, though most were locally built examples delivered from 1968. Most were retired prior to the split of Czechoslovakia, though a small number may have served briefly with its successor states.
 * East German Air Force. 30 were delivered, beginning with 11 Ilyushin built aircraft from 1956 and deliveries of East Germany built aircraft commencing the following year and totaling 19 examples. 20 remained by 1979, and all were withdrawn by 1990, with none being passed on to the unified German Luftwaffe.
 * 🇪🇬: Egyptian Air Force. 70 were operated by the Egyptian Air Force from 1955. Most were Soviet built models, but at least one East Germany built Il-14P was delivered in 1957. A number of aircraft were destroyed during fighting with Israel, but 26 survived to the peace of 1979. Acquisition of Western aircraft from then on led to the retirement of the Il-14 by 1994.
 * 🇪🇹: Ethiopian Air Force. 2 were acquired in 1965, with one remaining in service by 1979 and finally retired by 1994.
 * 🇬🇼: 4 were in operation in 1979.
 * 🇭🇺: Hungarian Air Force. Two Il-14Ps were operated from 1959 to 1976.
 * 🇮🇳: Indian Air Force. 26 were delivered from 1955 but were withdrawn by 1979.
 * 🇮🇩: Indonesian Air Force. 22 were delivered from 1957 and withdrawn by 1975.
 * 🇮🇶: Iraqi Air Force. 13 Il-14M were delivered in 1958, with 3 remaining by 1979. The last aircraft were withdrawn after the first Gulf War.
 * Khmer Republic
 * Khmer National Air Force
 * undefined: 2
 * Mongolian People's Air Force. 7 were delivered from 1956, with 6 remaining in service by until 1974.
 * 🇰🇵: North Korean Air Force. About 15 have been operated from 1958 with fewer than 10 in service by 1979 and the last withdrawn by 1998.
 * North Yemen: 6 or more were delivered from 1958, with a single example flying in 1979. This was passed on to the unified Yemen.
 * 🇵🇱: Polish Air Force. 12 or more served from 1955, including Soviet built Il-14P, Il-14S, and Il-14T, as well as East Germany built Il-14P and Il-14T models. These served as late as 1974.
 * 🇷🇴 Romania: Romanian Air Force. 33 were delivered from 1955, including 30 East Germany built Il-14P models as well as 3 Il-14M aircraft delivered in 1961. Only 4 remained in service by 1979, with the last Il-14M being retired in 1983. None remained in service by 1993.
 * South Yemen: 4 were delivered from 1966, serving as late as 1988.
 * Soviet Air Force and Soviet Naval Aviation. Serving from 1954, 235 were in service in 1979.
 * 🇸🇾: Syrian Air Force. 16 were delivered from 1957, with 8 remaining in service by 1979. Final examples were in service as late as 1998.
 * Vietnam People's Air Force. 45 were delivered from 1958, with 12 remaining in service by 1979. None remained in service by 1998.
 * 🇾🇪: Yemen Air Force. 1 was inherited from North Yemen in 1990, serving for a short time before being retired.
 * SFR Yugoslav Air Force. One Il-14P was presented by Soviet prime minister Nikita Khrushchev to prime minister Josip Broz Tito in 1956. Six others were given to the Air Force by Yugoslav Airlines in 1963. and were used until 1974. The one presented to Tito is preserved in the Museum of Yugoslav Aviation in Belgrade.

Civil operators
Very few examples remain airworthy, with some still in use for freight duties, and a handful maintained by aviation clubs and enthusiasts. Today at least two aircraft remain airworthy in Russia: one, called "Soviet Union" at Gorelovo airfield near St.Petersburg, another has performed its maiden flight after restoration on 1.10.2012 and now is based at Stupino airfield near Moscow. The restoration team is now working on another Il-14 on the Tushino airfield in Moscow. There is also one IL-14 that is possibly airworthy in the United States.

Yugoslav Airlines purchased six Il-14M aircraft in 1957. They were withdrawn in 1963 because they were not as profitable as the Convair CV-440, used by JAT in this period. They were given to the Yugoslav Air Force after the purchase of the Sud Aviation Caravelle and were used until 1974.
 * Balkan Bulgarian Airlines
 * Tabso
 * CAAC
 * Shanxi Airlines
 * Wuhan Airlines
 * Zhongyuan Airlines
 * Aerocaribbean
 * Cubana – One example is displayed at the Museo del Aire (Cuba)
 * CSA Czech Airlines
 * Government of Czechoslovakia
 * Cubana – One example is displayed at the Museo del Aire (Cuba)
 * CSA Czech Airlines
 * Government of Czechoslovakia
 * Government of Czechoslovakia
 * Deutsche Lufthansa
 * Interflug
 * Malev – 10 were operated in Hungary from 1956, two of them by the Hungarian government, eight of them by Malév Hungarian Airlines. The first three of Malév's planes were built in the Soviet Union, with the remaining five Il-14P produced by East Germany. Malév's planes remained operational until 1970, the two planes of the government were retired in 1978. All the Hungarian Il-14 were sold to the Soviet Union for use by the Arctic aviation.
 * undefined
 * Air Mali
 * Mongolian Airlines – UVS-MNR Air Mongol
 * CAAK; One Il-14 still exists maybe in airworthy condition in the coloures of Air Koryo.
 * Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT operated 20 aircraft between 1955 and 1974.
 * 🇷🇴 Romania
 * Tarom
 * Aeroflot
 * Vietnam Civil Aviation Department – later as Vietnam Civil Aviation (now Vietnam Airlines)
 * Yemen Airlines
 * JAT
 * Tarom
 * Aeroflot
 * Vietnam Civil Aviation Department – later as Vietnam Civil Aviation (now Vietnam Airlines)
 * Yemen Airlines
 * JAT
 * Yemen Airlines
 * JAT
 * JAT