The Russian IL-76 cargo plane can lift a payload of 1 million pounds. When she is taking off on a warm and calm day in Australia, every inch of the runway will be needed.
Download this great video, shot from the tower, to see just how fine those Russian pilots had cut it. You can hear the Australian controllers talking (what a lovely accent!) as they “wish” the Vodka Burner into the air…. Don’t miss this one!
Grrrrreat shot! Imagine the guys in the cars passing by on the road near the threshold! What a THUNDER they were hearing! The controller’s black humour is also worth noting: “I’m running out of film … no film left to take the crash…”
Terrifying, but surely there is a decimal point or something missing from the reported IL76 payload … 500 tons (= about 1 million pounds)? 50 would be nearer the mark. These pesky points keep shifting or disappearing to the embarrassment of everyone – recently the Conservative Party in the UK launched an attack on the Government by noting the catastrophic decline in the country’s morals as shown by a staggering 54% of girls who became pregnant while still teenagers… it should have been 5.4%
On the dot ALex, thanks! We should have checked the figure… The correct payload is indeed 50 tons. Thank you for the correction!
… on the other hand, maybe they really were trying to lift 500 tons on that take-off, which would certainly lengthen the run!