It was a beautiful winter day on the ramp of the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM) in Portsmouth, NH. A handful of us were watching FlightAware and listening to air traffic control on the radio. Just over the buildings to our left, descending on short final, we caught our first glimpse…
We all watched as one of the world’s largest cargo planes touched down, slowed, and turned to taxi. As it approached us, the size really became apparent. This is one big airplane. And I was about to have one big AvGeek experience.
Nose-to-nose with a Volga-Dnepr Il-76. The windows at the forward navigator’s station are a distinctive feature of the aircraft.
With Boeing in our backyard, unusual aircraft are not an uncommon sight at any of metro Seattle’s airports. Antonov An-124s are regular visitors, usually delivering engines to Boeing’s Everett factory. I was recently at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) when a rare bird was there to pick up some cargo.
A crane and flatbed trailer were used to load large crates of specialized welding equipment that was to be delivered to Australia
This particular Ilyushin-76-TD-90-VD is owned by Russia-based Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which operates five of these aircraft. Part of the Volga-Dnepr group, the parent company also owns Airbridge Cargo Airlines and Atran Airlines.
