I've never flown on any Russian-built aircraft, but I did fly on the VC10 that the Il-62 was designed after. My fondest memory of the Il-62 was when an old school friend of mine, his girlfriend and I were on our way to Candlestick Park to watch a Giants game. On the way we passed San Francisco International Airport, and just as we drove past on the freeway near the end of Runways 10L and 10R, I heard what sounded like an extremely loud Hoover vacuum cleaner overhead. For fun I shouted, 'Incoming!'. As I looked up, I saw that it was an Aeroflot Il-62 flying directly above us, heading out toward the Pacific, evidentally on its way to Khaborovsk in the Russian Far East - the schedule had them stopping at Anchorage enroute.

According to statistics, this aircraft is surprisingly sound despite numerous crashes early in its existance. It does meet international standards and FAA requirements on U. S. bound flights, even during the Soviet era. Today, it is slowly being phased out and being replaced by newer aircraft. In recent years Aeroflot has been buying Boeing 767s and 777s to compete with the world's airlines. "

--Harald A