“Reporting bird strike.” “ Where were the birds?” “In their nests!”

Capt. Sully had his bird strike and Capt. Badinov will need to explain his squirrel strike.

Thanks for watching, I'm glad you found my video interesting! Greetings from Niš, Serbia! :D

My first overseas flight was on an Aeroflot IL-62 in 1992, on my way to a new job and two years in Russia. As we climbed out of Montreal a galley compartment came open and the dinner cart came rocketing out, shooting through the Business Class compartment and lodging against a seat behind me. A harbinger of what I was to see on Aeroflot domestic flights over the next couple of years. Crazy times. I switched to KLM for international flights.

The only thing keeping the plane off the ground is from the curvature of the earth.

as they say in Russia: "we payed for entire runway so we use entire runway!"

Pilot: " .... " Co-pilot: " ... " Pilot: " ... " Co-pilot: " ... rotate?" Pilot: "Oh shit, is it my turn already??"

Under normal conditions, a loaded (170t) Il-62 requires a 3250 m runway to take off. Niš Airport has 2 runways - 1700 grass one and 2500 asphalt one.

ATC: How much runway do you need for take off? Russian Pilot: Da!

Dangerous.. "Where is V1? Oh, it is on the airport fence up there.."

IL-62 is such a beautiful airplane. Love watching them.

Between 1987 and 1996 I worked as an aircraft mechanic with Swissair at Genève Cointrin Aéroport. Up until about the mid-nineties Geneva Cointrin was one of the best airports in the world for plane watchers. Working there was the first time for me to see so many Soviet built aircraft on a regular and daily basis. Aeroflot would occasionally fly in with Il-62's like in this video. There were also the Boeing 727 look alike in the form of the Tu-154, which was actually bigger and reportedly faster than the 727. Polish airlines LOT had daily flights from Warsaw with the Tu-134, which resembled the MD-80. Before the war, Iraqi Air had regular cargo flights with the Il-76. They were very well maintained and painted green. One common Soviet design feature I noticed immediately about the various Russian built commercial and cargo aircraft was the anhedral (drooping) of the wings. Western aircraft engineers, Boeing, Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas etc, always preferred a wing with dihedral (angled up). Why the Russian boys were so stuck on the anhedral design is a mystery to me. Apparently it had some speed advantages and looked kind of racy. I got a chance to check out all these aircraft very closely since they would ask for technical assistance, or a mechanic on ground for push-back. My favorite Soviet plane was the Tu-134. The first time I went aboard to ask the pilot a question I was amazed at the sheer size of the cockpit. The Tu-134 was not much bigger than a DC-9-51 but had a 5-man cockpit. That's true 1950's style. There was pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, radioman and navigator. Lot didn't use a 5-man crew but the stations were all there. The 134 also had a bomber style, glass nose with a station to lie prone. I'm not making that up. I was told that the 134 was originally designed as a medium range bomber but became a passenger plane instead. That doesn't defy belief once you venture into the cockpit area and see the glass nose. One summer night a Cubanair Il-62 from Havana taxied up to in front of our Swissair maintenance hangar. It was the first time I got to see one really up close. It's a surprisingly huge aircraft and a proper intercontinental passenger jet. Again, I think the Soviets copied the west with their design because it's nearly a twin of the smaller, British Vickers VC-10 of the 1960's. They were having some engine problem on one of the port side engines and asked for a maintenance platform. We pushed one up and they got to work. I asked if I could enter the aircraft and they said ok. This was thirty years ago so I don't remember every detail other than it was surprisingly roomy inside. I think the seating was 2-3-2 if I recall. The cockpit was very spacious. Something very noticeable about the Soviet era jets is the blue paint inside the flight station. It doesn't matter if it's Ilushin or Antonov, military or commercial, they're all painted a sort of greenish blue. If this is still the practice I don't know. Also, the Russian planes I saw were comparatively primitive to western aircraft. Everything was pretty much analog when Swissair and others were increasingly digital cockpits. This doesn't detract from the overall solid construction of the eastern aircraft. As far as Geneva airport was concerned there was rarely any flight delays and missing their slot due to maintenance issues with these Russian planes. I found the Russian planes to be very well built, interesting by their design contrast, reliable by reputation and I took every opportunity to look at little details whenever I got a chance. Your video brought back some great memories so thanks Mentour Pilot. I'm retired now but sometimes miss the noise and hustle bustle of Geneva airport.

Copilot: Bet one bottle of vodka you cant trim the trees at the end of the runway. Pilot: Hold my drink and set flaps 15

"Don't waste the runway length when landing" Russian Pilot : "And Take-off as well, my friend"

There were il-62 pilots that regularly flew at Maastricht/Aachen Airport with cargo. They would always take off like this to use less fuel so they could take more cargo. If I remember correct, they were leaking fuel as well... People living in the surrounding area were not very happy about this...

Back when it was the U.S.S.R. I was on a flight that took off in the same way. Luckily, at the time, the airport was not surrounded by buildings and a leisurely and gentle climb from an altitude of about 5 meters was possible. There was seemingly little concern for the weight of the aircraft.

This reminds me of watching the Nimrod take off from Thurleigh in the 80s. They just cleared the fence and clawed their way up. Very loud with lots of smoke on full chat for many minutes. My friend's house was just at the end of the runway about 100yds from the perimeter fence. Exciting times. Thanks very much for yet another fascinating video.

Thats how planes be taking off with me on it after Christmas holidays 😂

Another thought; The 62 is similar vintage to the 707, which was not known for short takeoffs, or landings. That's why you guys have so much spare runway available.

That is an expensive hedge trimmer.

the IL96 was described as a "relaxed climber" which is putting a nice spin on it.

I'm not sure what was the case here, but I know for fact that these russian cargo planes sometimes use runways way shorter than they normally should, just because there are no other options. IL-62 is an interesting plane, but the 4 engines are there for reason. It is because these engines are not powerful enough to use two or three of them.

I would say he has done his take off calc perfectly! Lowest possible thrust setting to conserve fuel and save the planet.

I thought your use of the word 'shrubbery' was just hilarious! I was rolling on the floor laughing! It just hit me as so very funny; it just isn't a word I expect to hear people speak when not native English speakers. I thought maybe someone might say 'plants' or 'bushes', or maybe 'the short trees' at the end of the runway! Shrubbery is so perfect, so exact but so formal, it just made me laugh and laugh at its correctness and formality. I still laugh hard when I see this, many months after the initial viewing! As funny as any Laurel and Hardy movie. Or The 3 Stooges!

You should review the background of the Il-62. What you seen is typical takeoff for that bird. It's very heavy with poor performing soviet era engines. Some of the older ones have a fourth wheel carriage under the tail to keep the bird from teetering onto the tail when unloading due to the center of gravity being behind the wing landing gear. All controls are manual with little hydraulic assistance.

Hi Mentour Pilot, I would just like to say that you’re a great inspiration to every pilot. Everyone of your videos help a lot to study and improve the understanding. I also bought a shirt that was very cool. Thank you very Mentour Pilot!!!✈️

Looks like they were just taking off with the APU.

In the late 80s I was working in the tower at KISP. TACA was flying charters to the Caribbean in a 727-100, which was already ancient back then. They had a few very long takeoffs. One, off a 5200 ft runway, caused the airport personnel to inspect the approach lights at the departure end of the runway as it was believed they may have struck them. Flight standards investigated and found they were using the Mexican weight standard, which at the time was something like 135 pounds per adult. They were, of course, loaded full with 200 pound New Yorkers.

The airline is Rada Airlines, according to the original video. They're based in Belarus, established five years ago, and do chartered cargo flights with a fleet of two Il-62s. This according to their website (I quickly googled them just now).

"you cannot break the laws of physics"... But you can push the safety margins.

Every time I see a TO like this, it’s always a Vodka burner.

That was a scary takeoff. I remember over 20 years ago I was flying for work here in Alaska. We were Lin a Piper Navajo, I’m a passenger in the co-pilots seat, plane is full with a 100 lb in the aisle. The runway was gravel and it was soft from thawing. We took off with the stall warning going off and we dropped down into a river valley before we started climbing. I had a similar experience in a Cessna 185. I volunteered to set up communications for a checkpoint on the Iditarod Race. After I was done we picked up another tech at a cabin. After we were loaded the pilot didn’t use all the runway and it was another stall warning takeoff. I was sitting next to him with a headset . He said whoops and then asked how much stuff we carry.. I always had weights on my tools and survival gear.

The delorean approach. You'd better hope you reach 88 before you hit that drive through cinema screen.

V1, rotate 5 minutes later: Positive rate..

I love all of your videos. I worked for several commuter airlines and subsequently refueled commercial, private and charter aircraft when I was in my 20's and attending college. I learned quite a bit from pilots, ground crew and the mechanics. It was a great experience. Thanks

I absolutely adore the whine of Soviet engines...

Exactly this aircraft already suffered a runaway excursion in 2018. EW-450TR, Sudan.

IL-62 was the first aeroplane I've even been on. 7hr flight across Russia. I was very nervous when yellow liquid started slowly leaking from the patch on top of the wing. However, frequent flyer next to me reassured me that's normal.

In the 1990s, there was an airline called Tower Air that operated ARN-JFK with a bunch of old 747-200s. Just about EVERY takeoff looked like this - and they had (an obviously full cabin of) passengers onboard... I LITERALLY had my finger on the crash alarm button several times...

When I first saw the vodka burner vid from Australia I didn’t realize how crazy it was. Now I do.

I experiences something like this as a passenger on a charter flight flying out of Kathmandu, Nepal, 11,000 foot altitude. We were due to take off in the early morning, but the whole tour group plus luggage was too heavy for the plane and flight conditions. Interestingly, it worked to just wait for a weather, temperature, and pressure change, and we were good to go. As a group, we chose to wait rather than to split up. I'm glad the pilots knew their stuff and avoided danger for us all.

Russian Captain: "The local farmer is a friend of mine. He asked me if I can do him a favour and harvest all his apples. I said "Da!" "

“It’s a four engines, quite rare Russian aircraft” If they all fly like that it may be a clue as to why they are rare.... ;p

That's "Cross yer Fingers Airways",a division of "Brown Pants "

Thank you, Mentour, for your interpretation of the late take-off by the abovenamed aircraft.

Roll one foot after relesing brakes.. First officer: V1

an explanation for atleast the very "late" takeoff seems to be that the Airport runway is 2502 m long. while the typical takeof length when fully loaded is 2400-2500m for this plane.

We had a US AF jet take off from RAF Gutersloh like that in the 1980s He backed up to the fence so his main wheels were at the edge of the runway. He held it on the brakes until the engines were screaming then he let the brakes off and took off flat and just made it over the end fence. I was told by my mate in ATC at the Gliding Club that it was direct back to the states

That plane is 36 years old. It's pretty amazing that it is still flying :)

That pilot was brilliant! He was simply hedging his bets :)

I flew on one as a passenger many years ago, it was a very comfortable a/c with huge legroom. Was quite something to look out the window at the fixed leading edge droop, and the row of attaching bolts on the flange for the wing. In the end I enjoyed it.

Hi Mentour, Absolutely correctl on that T/O. It’s totally surreal and painful to watch. I see from the comment section that people are often referring to the risk taking or lack of any discipline by Russian pilots to be done kind of craziness attitude. I learn to fly aerobatics with Russians and they are great pilots and fun to be with. It’s important not to generalize the stupidity of a few. There are silly people everywhere. Eric, CV crew.

It wasn't just shrubbery at the end of the runway. The landing gear barely cleared a chain link fence.

Theres a video very similar to this of an IL-76 taking off from Canberra Airport in Australia. It was shot from the control tower

That's the kind of departure I remember watching 707's do in Singapore back in the 1960's.

I love that plane, such a beast! I have filmed it a few times, an amazing machine!

I’m gonna go ahead and theorize overloading to cut corners. Occam’s razor.

When I was at Engineering School we were on the edge of an old wartime airfield (now used by general aviation), and one of our lecture halls was an old hangar near the edge of the field, overlooking the end of the runway and a high pampas grass boundary hedge. The field was also used by topdressing aircraft including an old DC3, and when we heard this thing winding up for takeoff we'd all rush to the windows to watch in case they finally overloaded the Dak too much. Its propwash used to blast the pampas grass as it skimmed over it and once it actually put its wheels through the top of the hedge. It never actually took out the hedge, though, somewhat to our disappointment.

Polish Airlines LOT used Il-62 for transatlantic flights back in the 70s and 80s. This aircraft had many flaws which resulted in two tragic crashes in 1980 (flight LOT 007) and in 1987 (flight LOT 5055). I highly recommend to check those incidents up (especially 5055). One of the LOT pilots flying those machines said that it was always a scary experience to take off on this aircraft fully loaded to reach New York. It required almost entire length of the runway.

I flew internal Aeroflot back in 2006, a Tuplov I believe from Moscow to Volgograd and they had no climb rate. As a frequent passenger (I am military) i was looking at the airfield thinking "we should be rotating now" several times on the runways. Never flying internal Russian again. I remember watching one climb out of Volgograd on the horizon and it's climb rate was virtually nil from one side to the other.

1 day I was in LAX & had a loooong layover! As I watched planes departing I'll never forget the takeoff of an Iberian A340! The plane wasn't going as fast as a 747 & it's climb was soooo flat that where it left the ground it disappeared behind the airport building's & out of sight!!

Wow!! Crazy late rotation! Love the channel!

Until I started watching your videos I had no idea about all the calculations you guys had to do..... luggage weight & loading, passengers weight, etc. Here I was thinking "do,di,do I'm in, let's go"!" I have enormous respect for you guys, taking us safely from point A to point B, thank you!

thank you peter for explaining for us as always. cheers dude

Me: Gets a 30'' screen. Mentour: Puts the video in 1/10th of the screen, while the sofa takes 1/2 of the screen for nothing ^^

"...we could take one more box" captain thought... They ooverweight like hel

I have recently found your channel by coincidence. I think it is very interesting and informative. Thank you for your nice work. Greetings from Istanbul/ Turkey.

6:57 had me laughing , you caught me off guard there !! hahahhaha !

Actually, original video description says "Rada Airlines", which is Belarussian.

I wasn't aware that a micrometer was part of the Minimum Equipment List for establishing positive rate of climb before raising gear!

😂 the look on your face. You are totally mr sensible and to see your reaction was priceless 😂. Brilliant.

Dear mentor pilot: I am an asian in my mid 50s. I have flown so many times in IL 62 & IL 86 and also Tu 154 in my younger years say 90s. Those pilots were amazing. They used common sense which is not so common because we rely on instruments. But I remember a landing in Tashkent where the cloud ceiling was just over 100 meters from the ground. I am a frequent flyer & understood that the aircraft is now going to land. I was seated beside the window and I could see aircraft descending & to my amazement as it came out of clouds it landed. It was TU 154. It was 1992 or 93 but Russian pilots had amazing skills or instruments to support them.

Co pilot: we lost engine 1 Tower: cleared for takeoff Captain: gives copilot side-eye

There is another very close call of a Russian 4-engine high wing takeoff from an Australian airport with some control tower humour put into the mix.

Really enjoyed this thorough explanation

lol @ "Dude?!", Great video description ! thanks again

At V1 Pjotr and Ivan cheered with a vodka and kept calm

Great video 👍

Great video once again

Awesome video 👍

In July, 1968 I managed to get a ride on a C-124 that was going on an overnight trip near my home town on a cargo run. On the return back to my base in the east, the C-124 was carrying cargo and passengers. The plane took off at about 1300 hours from an altitude of 5000 feet. The air temperature was approx. 100 degrees. I was senior NCO, riding on the top deck. (The C-124, a 4 reciprocating engine plane that had two interior decks) so I had the earphones to listen to the crew in case of problems. The pilot was a major, and a lt. colonel was traveling along to get flight time. As the plane accelerated down the 7500 foot runway, I was looking out the window and thought he was taking a long time to get up in the air. Then I saw the 7000 foot marker pass by. The plane hugged the sagebrush for far too many seconds gaining speed, then gradually began to climb, finally climbing enough to turn. At that time I heard the colonel tell the pilot, "The next time you want to do that, please let me know and I'll get off"! The pilot responded, "The book saId I could do it"! When does arrogance overtake intelligence?

What we tend to forget is that wartime bomber pilots had to take off under similar circumstances, due to the extremely low power-to-weight-ratio of their four-engined heavies

A (FAA & ATA) shout out saying LOVE your videos, very educational and informative. From KMDW, Illinois USA.

Great video ! FWIW, many years' back I had an acquaintence that flew DC-8s . In the waning days of that administration he claimed to have lifted a load of expats and slobbered off the end of Tan San Ut with consequent poor performance in climb. Later investigation revealed a great many aboard were ( literally) wearing gold suits hence far exceeding the SOP weight assigned for SOB head count ! True or not it makes for a great tale and a precautionary one !

Standard take off for staying below enemy radar. 😂😂 Either that, or the pilot owns olive trees beyond the runway perimeter, and wants to shake them down, nice and quick...

Ещё бы один ящик могли бы взять. Подумал командир.

Think our Pilot friend was helping Santa out, whole of the Worlds Christmas presents on board. 😂😂😂 Happy Christmas everyone.

Another aircraft mechanic and myself back when we were young and not as wise use to ride our motorcycles to the end of the main runway at GSO in like 1995 and everyday around 16:30 a Tradewinds L1011 rolled straight out of its loading area onto the opposite end of the runway and headed our way. The mains did not leave the ground until they were in the stripes. Seemed exciting at the time having it pass over our heads so close but we would have been so screwed if anything had gone wrong. Lol. I also had a Tradewinds pilot tell me they only pressurized the cockpit so I’m not sure how much training they received before flying this old beast.

I was in an old, creaking 707 that used up the whole runway like this in Mexico City. I noticed the long takeoff and started to get a little worried. Then I heard someone say, "Any time now!" and I looked out the window and saw the end of the runway zip by, a mere heartbeat after the wheels lifted off. I wouldn't have been surprised to see goats and chickens wandering the aisles. My knees touched the seat in front of me, and luggage compartments were loose and rattling.

The runway at Nis is only 8200' and a fully loaded Il-62 probably would eat up every bit of it, especially if it was hot. The pilot probably figured he paid for the runway, he might as well use every bit of it!

I like these types of videos & the explanation.

Now we are talking, I love the IL-62. There are not many left and I wish to keep seeing them continue to fly.

As we usually say "strictness of russian laws is compensated with that no one obeys them" )

As Bony M would have said "oh those Russians!" Mentour Pilot was "extremely heavy" appended to his call sign?

great stuff. good work!! thank you.

Looked like our standard heavy DC-8 takeoff out of KBWI back in the day..................watching from the maintenance truck we thought the bird would take the fence at the end of the runway 🤭

Pilot monitoring: Bring me...A SHRUBBERY!

Unfortunately Russian cargo pilots (especially during the crazy and poor 90s) had not to think about runway length, weight, etc but just only To take the extra non-very-legal overweight and get the extra money for their wifes and kids or let their families starving and may be even loosing the work... That "simple maths" may be was taking here also place...

Scary sh*t! The IL-62 is a very old airplane and if memory serves me right, there was an RTO in the late 1970's at ESSA with the same aircraft type with a runway overrun. Pardon me if this is incorrect, but I believe the switch for the hydraulics to enable the rotation at Vr was left OFF. Nice work, Petter!

Thank you for sharing