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IL76?

Yep IL 76. That double row undercart is pretty distinctive, made for rough runways. Neat trick getting those 4 separate 4 wide rows of tyres folded up into the bulges available. never seen it working but would like to!

IL76 good but noisy

Are there seats under the nose with all those windows?

Marc Albrecht -- Many of the Soviet-era aircraft made by Tupelov, Antonov and Illyushin have what was called the "Bombardier Nose" installed. You'll find them on the IL-76 (NATO code name "Candid") seen here, as well as the Antonov AN-12 "Cub" and many other military-use aircraft. You'll also find them on various Soviet commercial airliners, such as various pro-era aircraft and early Soviet passenger jets like the Tupolov 104, 124 and early versions of the 134. My understanding is that wiht all of these older-Soviet-era aircraft, they did not have various radars mounted in the nose like newer aircraft. These "Bombardier Noses" were actually the stations where the on-board navigator would do his/her work during a flight. Granted, in the days before modern radar, many American and European aircraft also had human navigators onboard -- but they did their work in the back of the flight deck, not in a separate compartment to the front of the pilots. From what I've seen, this "Bombardier Nose" navigator station was a uniquely Soviet design.

Thanks Patrick, very interesting.