On 27 February 1965, Antonov An-22 "Antei" took off for the first time in aviation history. From then until today, in 55 years of aeronautical history and flights, Antonov AN-22 has been recognized as "the world's largest turboprop aircraft". It has recorded 41 world records.
The inaugural flight was performed with 8 crew members on board:
- Commander: Yurii Kurlin;
- Co-pilot: Volodymyr Terskiy;
- Navigator: Pedro Koshkin;
- Flight Engineer: Volodymyr Vorotnikov;
- Flight Electrician: Michael Rachenko;
- Radio Operator: Mykola Drobyshev;
- Chief test engineer: Viktor Tatalov;
- Engineer: Oleksandr Eskin.
The largest turboprop in the world
For a long time, the Antonov AN-22 was the largest transport aircraft in the world. That is until the appearance of the American model C-5 Galaxy.
As Antonov used to tell us, the AN-22 is superlative. It is about 58 meters long, with a wingspan of 64.4 meters and a height of 12.5 meters. Its propulsion is provided by 4 turboprop engines with counter-rotating propellers.
Antonov AN-22 weighs 114.000 kg (empty). The maximum take-off load is 250 000 kg. In its tanks, Antonov AN-22 can carry a maximum of 43.000 kg of fuel. Flight autonomy can be up to 10950 kilometers with full tanks. The maximum cruising speed is 750 km / h. It needs a minimum of 1300 meters for take-off and a minimum of 800 meters for landing.
On the anniversary day, on February 27, 2020, Antonov aircraft AN-22 UR-09307 Antonov Airlines took off from Gostomel Airport "Kyiv-Antonov-2" to Leipzig, Germany. He operated a commercial flight. We mention that during the period 1966–1976, 68 AN-22 aircraft were manufactured.