With a cultural tour to Cuba, my group was to fly Santiago to Havana. Originally expected to be on a chartered ATR (the same craft that brought us to Santiago), we were changed at last minute to a scheduled Aerocaribbean flight. The airplane was an Ilyushin IL-18. This four-engine turboprop was one of the most successful types built in the Soviet Union (all constructed between 1957-1968). The airplane was 2-3 coach seating in three compartments.

When boarding the plane there was no air conditioning on the ground. The plane was very hot. Even the flight attendants were fanning themselves.

The flight from Santiago to Holguin took 20 minutes at an altitude of 8,000. During the flight, no air came from the vents. Reading lights didn't work. But we took off and landed without incident.

In Holguin everyone was required to leave the airplane. We spent about an hour in a holding area enjoying good Cuban beer. When it was time to re-board the aircraft, everyone's hand luggage was searched, just as it had been in Santiago.

The flight from Holguin to Havana was smooth. The rear of the plane was very quiet, although the aircraft was quite noisy near the wings. Some of the signage was Russian. There was no concern about how items were stored in the overhead shelves. No bins - just shelves with things hanging down from above.

Several on our tour got to know cockroachs flying along with us.

Landing in Havana was very smooth. And as we all left the plane we knew we'd had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wonder if this is the only IL-18 still in service? When our charter left Havana on Saturday, the IL-18 was parked where we had left it a day earlier.