Was lucky yesterday to get a few shots of the Volga-Dnepr’s Ilyushin-76 cargo plane in Toronto. Interestingly, these Ilyushins has been ‘haunting’ me since a while ago, and I even made a couple of posts, regarding them (28 January, on the one spotted in YYC, and the post of January 20, to which I was inspired by a quick marvel at the 76’s model at YEG airport)
As I mentioned in the latter, it seems the newest versions of the renowned type are about to make an effective ‘comeback’ onto the global market of air cargo transportation. I guess, these two recent occasions of spotting the Il-76s here in Canada may be regarded as an ‘evidence’ supporting the point, although I have no stats giving any idea how frequently such appearances of the type in North America does occur.. I may only assume, the total of times they have appeared here since recently is more than ‘two’, - the number of occasions I’ve had a chance so far to see them by my own eye 
All in all, presence of the ‘Volga-Dnepr’, the plane’s operator, is quite perceptible, and not only in North America, but on the global scene too. And the Il-76TD-90VD, a sufficiently improved machine (the plane I’ve seen yesterday bore the ‘RA-76950′ registration mark), is making a good compliment to the fleet composure in VDA, which is widely know as a main player in a market niche of ‘outseized cargo’ with their giant Antonov-124s cargo planes. It was often said the company is keen on implementing a wide ‘performance spectrum’ using a variety of machines with different cargo capacities. Apparently, the new Il-76, now re-cleared to fly virtually anywhere, is finely boosting flexibility of the company’s operation. Again, to all its virtues, it is a very large ‘bush plane’ too, remember that? Just dare to dream, - some unique logistics’ objectives may be achieved using a full-blown range of plane’s capabilities.
Actually, yesterday was marked by the luck of seeing not only the Il-76. In fact, by pure chance I hit into a ‘mini-parade’ of Russian-built aircraft at Pearson :) See that plane’s tail painted in red and blue behind the Air Canada’s 777? It was another plane of Russian origins, the Tu-204-100CE flying for the Cuban ‘Cubana Cargo‘.
Shortly after they were introduced to Havana-based ‘Cuban Cargo’, they began to appear in Toronto. Last year I saw them a few times resting at Toronto.
Yesterday, for the first time I watched this ‘CU-C1700′ ‘in motion’.
(to be continued..)
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