Proposed twin-engined variants of the Il-18 by Avia & Ilyushin

In a Mir Aviatsii 1993 issue, there is an article about the development and use of the Ilyushin Il-18 passenger transport.

The article mentions that some construction was proposed to be undertaken by the W.E.B. Corporation in East Germany and Avia in Czechoslovakia. A paragraph that caught my attention was while Avia were planning production of the Il-18, their designers were working on a project to produce a design for their own variant of the "Coot". It was to have a shortened fuselage, shorter wingspan and powered by two Ivchenko AI-20 turboprop engines, instead of the normal four. Similar in configuration to the well known British Aereospace ATP. Soon after, Avia ceased aircraft production and became a vehicle manufacturer.

Does any member know how far this project progressed and if any designation is known or illustrations exist?

Re: Proposed twin-engined variant of the Il-18 by Avia & Ilushin

While searching for the elusive Czech Avia twin-turboprop variant I did come across an twin-engine Ilyushin OKB development project from 1984, designated the Il-118.

In an effort to prolong the life of Il-18’s in-service, the OKB undertook a radical redesign. The four AI-20 turboprop engines were replaced by a pair of Lotarev D-236T propfans driving low-noise contra-rotating airscrews. The D-236T was based on the D-136 turboshaft engine used in the Mil Mi-26 transport helicopter.

The propellers were to be made of glass fibre with a hollow composite spar and integrated electric de-icing strands. The font prop of each unit was to have 8 blades set at 1,100 rpm and the rear 6 blades at 1,000 rpm. The difference was to reduce noise emissions.

Ilyushin decided that all new designs were the way forward and the Il-118 never got past the preliminary design stage.

Sources:

OKB Ilyushin (Y Gordon/D Komissarov/S Komissarov) Midland - ISBN 1857801873

My dear Cy-27,


I heard about that Project,but this twin engined variant was powered by two
ASH-73TK engines.

Could it be that this twin version was based on the original Il-18 that was powered by 4 of the Ash-73TKs?

famvburg said:

Could it be that this twin version was based on the original Il-18 that was powered by 4 of the Ash-73TKs?

Click to expand...

May be my dear Famvburg,frankly,I don't know.