About the russian aircraft IL-76 MDK and its distinctions from other analogous aircrafts from other countries used for Zero Gravity flights for tourists!

Zero Gravity flights in Russia for tourists are conduncted in modern IL-76 MDK aircrafts. The aircraft IL-76 MDK was designed by the design bureau S.V. Ilyushkina. There are as few as 3 units speciall designed for the training of astronauts in Russia. Since the year 2010 all three IL-76 MDK planes were taken by the Russian Federal Space agency (RKA).

It is well known that traditional planes cannot perform Zero-G flights. Precisely because of that the IL-76 MDK aircraft was designed for the training of astronauts. From the outside the aircraft looks like commom airplanes used for civilian flights in other countries, but actually has many technical distinctions from them.

In the USA Zero Gravity flights are performed aboard a Boing 727-200, which is considered a medium-range narrow-fuselage aircraft. In Europe these tourist flights are usually carried out aboard aircrafts such as Airbus А310 and Airbus А340! These are commom civil airplanes that were adapted for ZeroG flights by removing the seats from the cabin and by installing handhandles.

In Russia parable Zero Gravity flights are conducted aboard a special wide-fuselage aircraft from the Russia Federal Space Agency IL-76 MDK.

The IL-76 MDK aircraft has a reinforced hull glider, which is capable of lifting a great amount of weight during the flight. The aircraft construction itself allows it to handle a g-force of 2.5G. The height inside the aircraft IL-76 MDK for Zero-G flight for tourists is of 3 meters, which exceeds any foreigner plane by at least 1,5 meters. The IL-76 aircraft length is of 46,59 meters. During the training flight that lasts around 1,5 - 2 hours the aircraft IL-76 MDK there can be conducted up to 15 Zero Gravity modes.

The IL-76 MDK cabin– floor, walls, ceiling and portholes are convered with a soft material for the tourist’s safety. In the cabin you will find drawers as well for the keeping of small objects during the flight to avoid them from fluctuating around the plane during the Zero G modes. Along the side of the aircraft for the tourist’s comfort you will find wood handhandles that enable you to hold yourself. In the front part of the IL-76 MDK cabin were also installed working places for the personnell from Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, that control the working of the equipment and the whole system during the ZeroG flight, and look after the tourists during the Zero-G modes.

The greatest advantage concerning the safety of the Zero Gravity flight aboard a IL-76 MDK in comparison to its analogues is the fact that the aircraft IL-76 MDK is equiped with a modified system of fuel and oil, that is capable of feeding the engines with fuel and oil on during the regime of weightlessness in the absence of gravity inside the pipes.