Soviet to Russian Aircraft - 1950-2035 Viability?

[Pilot Jeb]

Does anyone have experience using Soviet made aircraft and Russian made aircraft for the entire run of a game world? Even with the discounts, the fuel costs of Soviet aircraft is difficult to deal with. And they lack considerable range.

Looking into the future, the IL-96s and Tu204s are miles behind... especially when the A350s, 787s, NEOs, and MAXs start to come out.

Can you really do a whole world while RPing as a nationalist focused USSR/Russian?

[Cedric3108]

I've operated lots of Soviet/Russian airplanes in the game. Some are really bad, others actually get the job done or are even quite decent. The Il-18 comes to mind.
I've never played a full GW with only Soviet/Russian airplanes, but that's probably more due to me dropping out of bordom/disinterest at some point.
It would be hard to fly long-haul, I have to say. You'd have to fly the Il-62MK through the 1980s, which I think is not going to work, unless completely unopposed. But on regional and medium haul routes, you've got a decent selection of airplanes: Il-18, Tu-134, Tu-154M, Tu-204, Il-114 to name a few. Some are a bit limited in range or show up about 10 years after their western equivalents, some - like the Tu-134 - are pretty equal though. It's basically a Soviet DC-9.
Later in the game, when you're stuck with Tu-204 and Il-96s well into the 2000s it's not too bad, because by that time the GW is usually pretty empty and demand is really high. So even at higher costs, you can usually survive. Especially if you are in a place that allows for decent cargo, since most Soviet/Russian airplanes have pretty good cargo variants.

[NZelenkova]

Don't fly the Soviets if your goal is to have the biggest airline with the highest profit margins but it's absolutely viable. The most difficult stretch is probably right after the collapse of the USSR into the 2000's as if you are flying the Tu-134, Tu-154, or An-24/26/28 you may need to keep them in the air until they get close to mandatory retirement age before their modern replacements arrive. The An-140 got me my highest profit margins ever flying domestic routes in Kazakhstan and the An-148 series is a perfect replacement for the Tu-134 if the 334 is taking too long. I personally don't know why the Tu-204 gets so much hate, it has numerous variants some of which can go around the world, and will always be cheaper and more readily available than western counterparts when it comes to ordering new. 204s will often show up in my late game fleets even when I'm not going for a commie airline.

Many players swear by the Il-18 for early game long haul and a few more daring ones will jump on the Tu-104 to get a head start on the jet age. However the early Soviet piston aircraft are very much on par with their counterparts, the Li-2 is literally a DC-3 clone with arguably better utility in the game and the Il-12/14 is great for the post-war generation when pax numbers are still low. The early jets include some seldom used options like the Tu-124 that has its uses on lower demand routes. Antonov turboprops have never once steered me wrong from the hulking An-24 to the tiny An-28/38, one I'd very much like to test next time around is the An-10, it kinda looks like an off-brand Brittania on paper.

In short, there are some rough stretches where you might need to keep planes around longer than you want to and if the plane looks insanely ridiculous on paper it probably is. Beyond that, the Eastern Bloc provides a wide variety of aircraft on the cheap for whatever type of airline you might want to run. The Soviet Union was after all the most massive contiguous state in human history with a wide range of needs to fulfill in different regions plus dozens of satellite states and allies to provide for who couldn't access western aircraft.

There are also two non-Soviet commie-bloc production lines that are often overlooked but nevertheless count for communist ideological purity. One is the East German prototype Baade-152 which works just fine for a first generation jet but often arrives too late. In several attempts on my part to launch the Baade it wasn't that plane but rather my impatience and resulting impulsiveness during the agonizing wait looking for things to do that did me in sitting there in East Berlin. The other is the Czech LET L-410 series which in my opinion is one of the best aircraft in the under-twenty seat category. It's biggest benefit is that the series begins in the 1970s and continues to regularly produce upgraded variants into the modern era, eventually switching to western engines (although optional Czech engines remain cheaper). In the real world no less than 1,200 have been built.