Description

Fuselage Creations celebrate their 5 year anniversary in 2025 and we cannot think of the more fitting tag to mark this occasion but the iconic ‘Candid’ – the IL-76. This tag has been crafted from Ilyushin IL-76MD registered as UR-76618. ‘MD’ stands for a modified long range, which is an improved military transport version. The history of ‘618’ begins with its arrival at the Soviet Air Force in December of 1984 straight from the factory in Tashkent. The ‘Candid’ was delivered to the 363rd Military-Transport Aviation Regiment stationed in Kryvyi Rig, the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic at a time. From there, ‘618’ took part in missions supporting Soviet troops in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and many other locations. The last major public appearance of ‘618’s under the Soviet rule was on Chkalovsky Air Base, celebrating the day of the Soviet Air Force in 1991. The aircraft made its appearance wearing the United Nations livery, showing that the regiment had participated in the UN missions prior to the final collapse of the Soviet Union just a few months later.

In 1991, 363rd Regiment had an inventory of 30 ‘Candids’, which were later inherited by the Ukrainian Air Force. With the end of the Cold War, ‘618’ gained a Ukrainian registration UR-76618 and began commercial operations with LANA Aircompany in 1995 until they stopped in 2002 and the aircraft was returned to its owner, the Ukrainian Air Force. ‘618’ faced the same fate as many other ‘Candids’ there of being stored in Zaporizhia Airport and then scrapped in 2021. That was the place, where our team recovered the IL-76 fuselage parts to preserve its history for decades to come!