Antonov An-22

Infobox Aircraft
name = An-22 "Antei"
type = Strategic airlifter
manufacturer = Antonov

---

caption = Antonov An-22
designer = Oleg Antonov
first flight=27 February 1965
introduced=1967
retired=
status=Some remain in active service
primary user=Soviet Air Force
more users=Aeroflot
Antonov Airlines
produced=1965-1975
number built=68
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=

Antonov An-22 "Антей" (Antaeus) (NATO reporting name "Cock") was the world's largest aircraft, until the advent of American C-5 Galaxy and later the Soviet An-124. Powered by 4 contra-rotating turboprops, the design remains the world's largest turboprop-powered aircraft. It first appeared outside the Soviet Union at the 1965 Paris Air Show.

Design features

The An-22 has the general appearance of an enlarged version of the earlier Antonov An-12 except that it is fitted with a twin tail. This gives the An-22 better engine-out performance, and reduces height restrictions for hangars. Also of note are large anti-flutter masses on the top of each tail.

Being designed as a strategic airlifter, it has the capability to takeoff from austere, unpaved and short airstrips. This is achieved by four pairs of contra-rotating propellers, similar to those on the Tupolev Tu-114. The engines generate significant thrust, and produce a slipstream over the wings and large double-slotted flaps. The landing gear is ruggedized for rough airstrips, and, in early versions, tire pressures could be adjusted in flight for optimum landing performance, although that feature was removed in later models.

The An-22 follows traditional cargo transport design with a high-mounted wing allowing a cavernous cargo space of 33m in length and a usable volume of 639m³. The forward fuselage is fully pressurized and provides space for 5 to 8 crew and up to 28 passengers, but the cargo space is pressurized to only 3.55 PSI / 0.245 bar allowing for a lighter airframe. A door equipped pressure bulkhead is located at frame 14, separating the cargo attendant's compartment from the main cargo compartment. This allows the rear cargo doors to be opened during flight for paratroops and equipment drop. Like the An-12, the aircraft has a circular fuselage section. The An-22 has set a number of payload and payload-to-height world recordsFact|date=May 2008.

Only one production variant was built, the standard An-22. Prototypes, such as the one first featured at the 1965 Paris Air Show had fully-glazed noses that lacked the nose mounted radar of production models. Those aircraft had the radar mounted below the right wheel well fairing, forward of the wheels.

Operational History

The An-22 was originally built for the Soviet Air Force and Aeroflot, the state airline. One unit that operated it was the 566th 'Solnechnogorsk' Military Transport Aviation Regiment, which used the An-22 from 1970 to 1987. Approximately 45 remained in service by the mid-1990s, mostly with the Russian Air Force, but these are slowly being replaced by the bigger turbofan-powered Antonov An-124. The remaining An-22s appear to be operated by an independent military transport aviation squadron at Tver (Migalovo). Currently one An-22 is in use for civilian cargo duties with Antonov Airlines.

A proposed civil airliner version capable of seating 724 passengers on upper and lower decks was not built. (For comparison, a typical Boeing 747 can carry 400-500 passengers.)

As of 2004 there had been 8 accidents with a total of 83 fatalities.

The aircraft is also used in special operations.

Variants

;An-22:Prototypes built at Kiev-Svyatoshino with glass nose, three built.;An-22:Initial production variant with external start system, 37 built at Tashkent.;An-22A:Improved variant with air-start capability, modified electrical system, and updated radio and navigation equipment, 28 built at Tashkent.

Operators

Military

;USSR
*Soviet Air Force.;RUS
*Russian Air Force.

Civil

In August 2006 a single Antonov An-22 aircraft remains in airline service with Antonov Airlines. [Flight International, 3-9 October 2006]

Operators included: ;BUL
*Sofia Air Cargo (leased);USSR
*Aeroflot;UKR
*Antonov Airlines

pecifications (An-22)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

crew=5-6
capacity=29 passengers
payload main=80,000 kg
payload alt=180,000 lb
length main=57.9 m
length alt=190 ft 0 in
span main=64.4 m
span alt=211 ft 3 in
height main=12.53 m
height alt=41 ft 1 in
area main=345 m²
area alt=3,713 ft²
empty weight main=114,000 kg
empty weight alt=251,330 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=250,000 kg
max takeoff weight alt=551,000 lb
engine (prop)=Kuznetsov NK-12MA
type of prop=turboprops driving contra-rotating propellers
number of props=4
power main=11,030 kW
power alt=15,000 shp
max speed main=740 km/h
max speed alt=400 knots, 460 mph
range main=5,000 km
range alt=2,700 nm, 3,100 mi
ceiling main= 8,000 m
ceiling alt= 26,240 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=

Gallery

ee also

aircontent
sequence=
related=
* Antonov An-12
similar aircraft=
* Antonov An-70
* Boeing C-17
lists=
* List of cargo aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS
see also=

References

* Pyotr Butowski, 'Air Power Analysis - Russian Federation Part 2' in International Air Power Review, Volume 13, Summer 2004, AIRtime Publishing Inc., Norwalk, CT.
*
*

External links

* [http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=36 Airliners.net An-22]
* [http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/vvs/an22-01.htm Aeronautics.ru An-22]