Here he is, performing his very first test flight at the crack of dawn. After months of grueling, hard work by the talanted mechanics in the hangar, Mikey has been completely transformed. He has received probably the biggest make-over in his life, although that would be a bit of an understatement.
Mikey is now re-born as the IL-18MNK, which was initially a prototype future super-variant of the IL-18 which was too costly so it was scrapped over 50 years ago. A few years ago Mikey had big dreams about what he would've been like if the project would have moved forward. With the help of crowd-funding this dream has now become a reality for him.
Mikey has been completely transformed from a Medium-Range Airliner to a Long-Range Transcontinental Airliner.
This was achieved by adding additional fuel tanks and using some lighter materials, but most importantly, the elephant in the room - The biggest, most-powerful Turboprop engines in the world - the Contra-Rotating Kuznetsov NK-12 (NK-12MPM).
Retro-fitting the IL-18 with these engines was a monumental task. The entire airframe had to be strengthened, the wings, the wing-box have to withhold the colossal power this engine creates, without these modifications the engine would just rip the wings off completely.
With these engines, Mikey is pushed to his limits, increasing his Maximum speed from 686 km/h to 910 km/h, competing with jetliners, breaking the over 60-year old speed world record for Turboprop airliners that was held by the Tupolev TU-114.
Lastly, to celebrate the ceremony, Mikey is currently the first and only airliner in the Baltics and Latvia to be a Transcontinental airliner. His cabin was completely re-done to be an only Business and First class cabin. If you ever dreamed of traveling in luxury in the 21st century onboard a one-of a kind airliner, now is your chance. ❤️