Aero Caribbean Ilyushin IL-18 – CU-T1532

In 1982, the state-owned airline Cubana founded Aero Caribbean as a subsidiary for charter flights within Cuba and to destinations on neighboring islands and countries around the Caribbean Sea, such as the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico. Initially, six IL-18s were used, but these were later supplemented and finally replaced by modern ATR-42s and ATR-72s. One of these Ilyushin IL-18s was CU-T1532, originally built for Interflug in 1968 and used there as DM-STO. After a stint as D-AOAU with Berline, a short-lived airline founded by former Interflug employees in 1991, it flew for Bulgarian Air Zory for four years before being sold to Cuba in 1995, where it remained in service in this unusual livery until well into the new millennium. Due to an engine fire, CU-T1532 was forced to abort takeoff from the eastern Cuban city of Holguín on March 6, 2004. After the incident, which resulted in no injuries, the aircraft was used as a spare parts depot for several years until all remaining IL-18s were finally retired by 2011.

A true-to-scale, miniature model for adult collectors.