Montrealguy,
I think what you, and others, have posted justifies , rather than invalidates , my comment.
I didn't claim that the aircraft, if operated/maintained in accordance with its original design brief by a technically competent crew/legally operating company/correctly functioning airworthiness authority, couldn't be safe. But, even without getting involved in African ops, that is not how the majority of these aircraft/companies are conducting their business, so my comment , in the very general sense, stands, and is I believe an accurate reflection of all Soviet cargo aircraft worldwide this last decade or more. Read flight international's annual accident reviews and see how many Soviet cargo aircraft come to grief each and every year.
Final Q, you can get in the back of one of these mothers, or get the train and take a few days longer, what you gonna choose ? me, I'll let the train take the strain thanks.
Look at some of the related videos appearing on youtube, like the curvature of the earth aided take-off.
These aircraft ,through no fault of their own, are being operated by individuals/companies/regimes that don't have the first idea, and even less concern for, anything relating remotely to flight safety. Sad but, evinced by the number of smouldering wrecks each year, all too true.