Antonov An-22 Totally Explained

Everything about Antonov An-22 totally explained

Antonov An-22 Антей (Ukrainian 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 contrarotating turboprops, the design remains the world's largest turboprop-powered airplane. It was 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's 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 deleted in later models.
   The An-22 follows traditional cargo transport design with a high-mounted wing allowing a cavernous cargo space of 33 m in length and a usable volume of 639 m³. 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 allowing the for a lighter airframe. The door equipped pressure bulkhead located at frame 14, that separates the cargo attendant's compartment from the main cargo compartment, 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 records.
   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), commanded in 2004 by Lt. Col. V. Borisenko. 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 wasn't 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 airplane is also used in special operations.

Variants

An-22 ť Prototypes built at Kiev-Svyetoshino with glass nose, three built.

;An-22 ť Initial production variant with external start system, 37 built at Tashkent.

An-22A ť Improved variant with air-start capability, modified electrical system, and updated radio and navigation equipment, 28 built at Tashkent.

Operators

Military

Gallery

Image:Antonow An-22 Cockpit.jpg|Cockpit Image:Antonow An-22 Navigator Cockpit.jpg|Navigator's station Image:Antonow An-22 Navigator Cockpit 2.jpg|Navigator's instruments Image:Antonow An-22 Loading bay.jpg|Cargo bay Further Information

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