Ilyushin Il-12

The Ilyushin Il-12 was a Soviet twin-engine airliner and military transport, developed in the mid-1940s for small and medium-haul routes. Ilyushin started it as a private venture in autumn 1943 to replace the Lisunov Li-2, a licence-built Douglas DC-3, and it was the first Ilyushin design with a tricycle undercarriage. Early studies had four supercharged M-88V engines and a pressurised cabin, but the design changed during 1944 to two engines and, later, Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engines, because the planned ACh-31 would have taken too long to reach acceptable reliability. The aircraft made its maiden flight on 15 August 1945. The production version carried 21 to 32 passengers and flew with Aeroflot, the Soviet Air Force and several foreign operators, including TAROM, until it was replaced by the Il-14.