Soviet designers developed a heavy cargo aircraft, the An-22 model, which was equipped with turboprop engines. In the literature, its second name “Antey” is often found, and according to NATO codification it is designated as Cock, which translated means “Rooster”. This device became the first wide-body aircraft of the USSR, which could lift a load of 60 tons. At the time of its creation, this was a record among all cargo aircraft in the world. It was also the largest truck in the world with turboprop engines. The An-22 first flew in 1965. Over the entire period of serial production, 68 machines of this type were manufactured. At the moment it is used on the territory of Ukraine and is part of the Russian Air Force.
The history of the creation of the An-22 aircraft
The An-22 aircraft project is the brainchild of Antonov’s design bureau; A.Ya. was appointed chief designer of this development. Belolipetsky. During the initial stages of design, the device was designated “product 100.” The first studies began in 1960.
When developing the cargo compartment, the designers took into account the dimensions of military and civilian equipment that could be transported by this airliner. The cargo compartment was originally designed to transport cargo weighing up to 50 tons. To reduce roll during turns, a two-fin tail was used. The possibility of landing on unpaved airfields was also taken into account. For this purpose, a multi-wheeled chassis system was developed, which was equipped with pneumatic tires with a low pressure rating.
An-22 video
The device was planned to be equipped with four turboprop engines designated NK-12MV. These installations were equipped with AB-90 model propellers, which had a diameter of 6.2 meters.
In the middle of the summer of 1961, a commission meeting was held, which approved the layout of the An-22 aircraft project. Two years later, production of a prototype of the device began, which was completed in the early summer of 1964. Flight tests of the device began on August 18, 1964, and it was at this time that the vehicle was christened “Antey.” For the first time, the An-22 aircraft took off from the runway on February 27, 1965 at the Kiev airfield. The vehicle was driven by a crew of six people and one test engineer. "Antey" was presented to the general public at the world air exhibition in Le Bourget.
The Tashkent aircraft plant was engaged in serial production of the An-22 aircraft. The first devices began to arrive in the Air Force at the end of 1969. Full-scale production was carried out until 1976. During all this time, 68 vehicles of this class were manufactured, among which there were many modifications to perform certain tasks. According to official data, in 2010 there were 7 vehicles of this type in operation, and another 18 were in storage.
Design features of the An-22
The vehicle is designed as a high-wing aircraft with four turboprop engines. The fuselage is equipped with a double fin, and the tail section is equipped with a large cargo hatch.
The hull is made of stringers, beams and frames, which are combined into a single structure.
The entire aircraft is divided into four compartments:
The bow is completely sealed and houses the cockpit, which consists of two decks. The navigator's seat is located in the lower compartment of the cabin; behind him there are two passenger cabins. The upper part of the cabin is intended for the rest of the vehicle's crew. There are also three lounges on the upper deck. In an emergency, the crew can evacuate through a special inclined tunnel.
The middle section of the vehicle is represented by a cargo compartment, which is equipped with a corrugated floor made of durable titanium alloy. The aircraft has a ramp that allows loading operations both from the ground and from the platform.
The tail part is made in a sealed design, it includes a cargo hatch and the end of the cargo compartment. This part of the apparatus ends with a ramp, which consists of two doors.
The last section of the body is the tip of the fuselage.
The wings are made of the caisson type and have a trapezoid shape. The wing consists of seven separate components, namely: a center wing, two detachable parts and four elements of the middle part. Ailerons and servo compensators are installed on the trailing edge. Also, the rear part of the wing has slotted flaps along its entire length. Engines are installed on the middle parts of the wing.
The tail empennage has a cantilever structure and is composed of a stabilizer and one elevator. There are also two keels with flight rudders installed here. The keel consists of two spars and ribs with a panel. All control rudders are made of one spar and servo rudders.
The landing gear system on the An-22 aircraft is represented by three legs, among which there are two main legs and one steerable nose gear. The structure of the main supports includes three racks with double wheels, which have a braking system and a shock absorption system. The struts have a lever suspension structure. The release of the racks was ensured by a hydraulic system represented by hydraulic cylinders. The nose gear also has two brake wheels. A special feature of the chassis system is the ability to release racks both simultaneously and one by one. All wheels are low-pressure pneumatic.
The Antey power plant is represented by four turboprop engines, designated NK-12MA. These motors drive huge AB-90 propellers. Each engine produces 15 thousand horsepower during takeoff. Due to the well-thought-out design of the wing and power plant, 45% of the wing airflow from the propellers was achieved. The An-22 is equipped with huge soft fuel tanks that could hold 127 thousand liters of fuel. For the oil system, 200 liter tanks were installed on each of the engines.
Based on the standard An-22, many modifications were developed, which were manufactured taking into account the wishes of the customer.
An-22 characteristics:
| Modification | |
| Wingspan, m | 64.40 |
| Aircraft length, m | 57.92 |
| Aircraft height, m | 12.53 |
| Wing area, m2 | 345.0 |
| Weight, kg | |
| empty plane | 114000 |
| normal takeoff | 225000 |
| maximum takeoff | 250000 |
| Internal fuel, kg | 43000 |
| engine's type | 4th theater of operations KKBM (Kuznetsov) NK-12MA |
| Power, e.h.p. | 4 x 15000 |
| Maximum speed, km/h | 760 |
| Cruising speed, km/h | 560 |
| Practical range, km | 10950 |
| Range, km | 5250 |
| Practical ceiling, m | 7500 |
| Crew, people | 5-6 |
| 290 soldiers or 150 paratroopers or 4 units of heavy equipment or 60,000-80,000 kg of cargo |
In the early 60s, the USSR Ministry of Defense set the aviation industry the task of creating a complex for the air transportation of intercontinental ballistic missiles - the basis of the offensive nuclear potential of the Soviet Union. According to the plan, special cargo (rocket, launch equipment, etc.) were to be delivered by plane to the airfield closest to the launch site, and then by helicopter directly to the silo launcher. The development of such an aircraft was entrusted to OKB Antonov O.K. At the same time, the army wanted to get a full-fledged strategic military transport aircraft capable of transporting all military and engineering equipment transported by rail. The aircraft received the code name “product 100”.
The single-fin tail unit previously used on Antonov's transport aircraft was abandoned: it was considered that the fuselage, weakened by a huge cutout, would not be able to absorb the significant torques characteristic of such an empennage, which arise when the rudder is deflected, the aircraft glides, or is exposed to a side gust of wind. Reducing these loads was also important in order to reduce deformations of the hatch area, because the cargo hatch was sealed: to transport personnel it was necessary to ensure fuselage pressurization to 0.25 kg/cm 2 . They decided to make the tail with a double fin, but they encountered an unexpected problem - installing vertical tail washers at the ends of the stabilizer sharply reduced its critical flutter speed. The question of the plumage scheme remained open for a long time. “Once, waking up at night,” Antonov recalled, “I began, out of habit, to think about the main thing, about what worried and worried me most. If the tail washers, placed on the horizontal tail, cause flutter with their mass, then it is necessary position them so that the mass from a negative factor becomes a positive one. This means that you need to push them out strongly and place them in front of the rigidity axis of the horizontal tail... How simple!” This is how the two-fin tail design characteristic of the “Product 100” was born, in which the washers are shifted forward relative to the stabilizer and installed at 70% of its span.
The new aircraft was planned to be equipped with four NK-12MV turboprop engines developed by N.D. Kuznetsov Design Bureau, which were mass-produced by the Kuibyshev Engine Plant No. 24 and installed on the Tu-95. The engines were installed on the "weave" so that 45% of the wing area was intensively blown by the propellers, due to which the load-bearing properties of the wing increased by almost 30%. To obtain the specified take-off characteristics, the maximum power of the NK-12MV is quite sufficient, however, the coaxial AV-60 propeller with a diameter of 5.6 m used on the Tu-95 was designed for cruising flight modes and had a starting thrust of only 8800 kgf. For the “hundredth”, a new propeller with a starting thrust of at least 13,000 kgf was required. OKB-120 Zhdanova K.I. (Stupino, Moscow region), having carried out a large amount of computational and experimental research together with TsAGI, developed the AV-90 propeller with a diameter of 6.2 m, and the Kuznetsov Design Bureau adapted the engine for it, assigning it the designation NK-12MA. A unique propulsion system was obtained with a maximum thrust of 14,600 kgf and cruising fuel consumption of 224 g/kWh, which had no equal for more than 30 years.
When designing the "hundred" in its design, for the first time, monolithic parts were widely used (fifteen-meter pressed panels and large stampings up to 5 m long and weighing up to 1 ton), which ensured a reduction in the weight of the airframe by 5 tons and metal consumption by more than 17 tons. At the same time, , the number of parts has been reduced by approximately 550 pieces, and fasteners by 114,000 pieces. These parts were stamped at the Kuibyshev Metallurgical Plant with the most powerful hydraulic press in the world, developing a force of 75,000 tf, from the new high-strength aluminum alloy B93, developed by VIAM together with the Verkhne-Saldinsky Metallurgical Plant. Subsequently, operation revealed a significant drawback of the B93 - corrosion and stress cracking, which significantly affected the aircraft's service life.
In August 1961, under the chairmanship of the commander of the BTA, Air Marshal Skripko N.S. A mock-up commission for “product 100” was held. During its work, the transport capabilities of the aircraft being created were demonstrated: 112 samples of various military equipment were alternately loaded into the model of the aircraft. This made a huge impression on the commission members.
"Product 100" was created at a rapid pace. In December 1961, detailed design began, and on April 20, 1963, on the birthday of V.I. Lenin, the fuselage of the first flight prototype No. 0101 was removed from the slipway. In January of the following year, the assembly of stat machine No. 0102 was completed. Both were built in Kyiv at the pilot production facility GSOKB-473 in broad cooperation with other industry enterprises. Huge “weaving” wheels, which in size (1750x730 mm) were second only to the wheels of the ANT-20 Maxim Gorky aircraft, were manufactured at the Rubin enterprise (Balashikha, Moscow region) and the Yaroslavl tire plant. To vulcanize their tires, a special chamber was built at the Kiev Bolshevik plant. In the summer of 1964, the first flight prototype of the aircraft was ready.
On August 18, the Day of the USSR Air Fleet, in a solemn ceremony the transfer of machine No. 0101 (USSR-46191) for flight tests took place. It was rolled out of the assembly shop without the GLASSES (detachable part of the wing), because the wingspan exceeded the gate opening by almost 20 m, and wooden pads were installed under the front landing gear to lower the tail - the keels also did not fit through the gate. From that moment on, the new aircraft received the designation An-22 Antey. Since the AB-90 propellers were not yet sufficiently tested, the first aircraft was equipped with NK-12MV engines with AB-60 propellers.
At the beginning of 1964, to ensure the first flight of “product 100”, a special brigade was formed, freed from other work. It included about 100 of the most experienced specialists from among the engineering and flight-lifting personnel. The pilots were selected by a commission chaired by A.N. Gratsiansky, Deputy Chief Designer for Flight Tests, Hero of the Soviet Union. The famous test pilot Gallay M.L. participated in its work on behalf of LII. Four candidates were selected for the first flight: Yu.V. Kurlina. , Davydov I.E., Tersky V.I. and Mitronin A.F. They were sent to the LII, where they made several flights on the Tu-95 under the leadership of I.M. Sukhomlin. - chief pilot of the Tupolev Design Bureau. After this, Yu.V. Kurlin was appointed commander of the first “weaving” crew, and V.I. Tersky, who by that time had 7500 hours and 2500 hours of flight time, respectively, was appointed as the second pilot.
When the engine was first started, a curious incident occurred. “As soon as I,” recalls flight engineer V.M. Vorotnikov, “transferred the throttle from low throttle to takeoff mode, A.P. Eskin (chief of the operations team) ran into the cabin. He said that a powerful jet of gases knocked him off his feet. passing by Belolipetsky, and turned over the booth with the Vokhrovets and threw it to the side.”
The first taxis and runs of the An-22 took place in August. The aircraft was brought into the workshop several times for modifications: titanium was replaced with stainless steel in the design of high-altitude equipment, the hydraulics were redone, etc. The cause of many problems was the multi-post chassis. Subsequently, most of all the troubles during testing of the An-22 were associated with the chassis.
Due to the fact that the airfield of the Kiev aircraft plant No. 473 in Svyatoshino, which is used by the Antonov Design Bureau, has a short runway length (according to documents - 1800 m, and according to Kurlin, who personally took measurements, - 1750 m), for safety in case of interruption After takeoff, sand was poured at the end of the runway. But on February 27, the sand froze, and the safety zone turned into a very dangerous one. However, they decided not to postpone the flight. The crew's confidence in the successful completion of the mission played an important role. The An-22 was lifted into the air by the crew consisting of: commander Yu.V. Kurlin, co-pilot V.I. Tersky, navigator P.V. Koshkin, flight engineer V.M. Vorotnikov, flight radio operator N.F. Drobyshev, flight electrician M. Rachenko. P., leading flight test engineer V.N. Shatalov
On February 27, an aircraft with a take-off weight of 165 tons, having run 1200 m, easily took off from the runway. Since the unpaved airfield of the OKB flight test base in Gostomel, which had become soggy during the recent thaw, froze that day, the landing was made at a military airfield in the city of Uzin, Kiev region. The first flight lasted 1 hour 10 minutes. and, according to the crew members, went well. The next time "Antey" took off a month later. In Uzin, the aircraft performed 3 flights to determine takeoff and landing characteristics, and on May 10 it flew to Gostomel, where its tests were continued.
In June, the tests were interrupted - they decided to show the plane at the Paris International Air Show. After the show, the An-22 received the NATO code name "Cock" ("Rooster"). Returning from France, the An-22 continued testing. Soon, one of the NK-12MV engines was replaced on the plane with an NK-12MA, and after a number of test flights it was completely equipped with new propulsion systems.
The tests of the first "Antey" did not go smoothly. One day, during a flight from Boryspil to Gostomel, a prerequisite for a serious flight accident occurred. Immediately after takeoff, two powerful blows were heard in the underground part of the fuselage. After the inspection, flight engineer Vorotnikov reported to Kurlin that the hinge units of the right front main landing gear had been destroyed. Before landing, only the rear support was released on the starboard side - the middle pillar, as was discovered already on the ground, was also torn off, although the cause was a manufacturing defect, however, the KT-109 wheels (weight 530 kg) were replaced with lighter KT-130 (450 kg) ). Subsequently, during operation in combat units, this defect was repeated on two aircraft. In the early 80s, during scheduled flights in the 566th flight on the USSR-09340 aircraft, after takeoff from the Seshcha airfield, the flight director saw that something had separated from the aircraft while the landing gear was being retracted and gave the command to the crew to inspect the aircraft. According to eyewitnesses, the tattered shock absorber with pneumatics, when it hit the ground, jumped to the height of a five-story building. The crew, having examined the chassis, discovered a break in the front right main strut. Having received the flight director’s command to proceed to Ivanovo (at the same time to develop fuel and a repair plant nearby), the crew safely landed the plane at the Severny airfield.
In 1993, on an aircraft RA-08839 (0201), when carrying out transportation from Baltic airfields after takeoff from the Panevezys airfield (ship commander Lieutenant Colonel V.E. Mikhailovsky, assistant ship commander Captain Shpakov V., ship navigator Major S.B. Latun, onboard engineer captain Yarovoy V.A.) the retracted position lamp of the right front main landing gear did not light up. By visual inspection through the windows in the landing gear niches, the crew determined that the strut shock absorber had ruptured. The stand hung on one bracket. There was no way to remove the stand in flight. In order to reduce the landing weight as much as possible, the crew was asked to land at their Ivanovo-Severny airfield. Thanks to the skill of the ship's commander, the landing was made with minor damage to the aircraft. The shock absorber and landing gear doors were replaced.
In the fall, due to unstable weather conditions in Kyiv, the first Antey flew to Tashkent, where its testing continued. At that time, the Tashkent Aviation Plant, which had previously participated in cooperation on the construction of the first An-22, in accordance with MAP order No. 119 dated June 10, 1965, launched mass production of these machines.
On November 16, An-22 No. 0103 (USSR-56391) rolled off the plant's stocks. The first Tashkent "Antey" was lifted into the air on January 27, 1966 by a crew led by Kurlin. During 1966-1967, the plant produced another 7 aircraft of the first experimental series. Factory tests of these machines mainly took place at the OKB flight base in Gostomel.
In June 1967, Antey was again presented at the Paris Air Show. Machine No. 0103 (USSR-56391) did not take part in demonstration flights, but after making several flights, it delivered almost the entire Soviet exposition to Le Bourget, including the Vostok spacecraft. Soon the An-22 was publicly shown in the Soviet Union. On July 9, at Domodedovo Airport near Moscow, the first three production vehicles demonstrated the landing of military equipment during an air parade dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. On October 17, the crew led by I.E. Davydov. on machine No. 0103 (USSR-56391) he lifted a load weighing 100444.6 kg to a height of 7848 m. To load the aircraft, concrete blocks weighing from 6 to 12 tons each were specially made. To date, the absolute payload records set by the An-22 have been broken by the S-5A and An-124, however, even today the number of Antey’s world records reaches 41. Twelve of them were set by the crew under the command of Marina Popovich.
State tests of "Antey" began in October 1967. Leading specialists from the Air Force Research Institute took part in them: test pilot A. Timofeev, test navigator M. Kotlyuba, engineer N. Zhukovsky and others. During the tests, 40 flights were carried out to determine stall characteristics. For safety reasons, an anti-spin parachute was installed on the plane, the 100 m long fastening halyard could withstand a force of 50 tf. The flights were carried out over desert terrain in the Tashkent area with a reduced crew: commander - Kurlin, co-pilot - Ketov, flight engineer - Vorotnikov, who also performed the work of navigator and radio operator. As a result of these tests, it was concluded that with correct and timely actions by the pilot, the An-22 recovers from a stall without delay and therefore getting into a spin is unlikely. To recover from a stall, it is enough to deflect the steering wheel “away from you” with neutral ailerons and launch vehicle. However, full deflection of the steering wheel leads to a steep dive and makes it difficult to bring the aircraft into level flight. The anti-spin parachute was never used in the tests, although it was tested in one of the flights: on the horizontal section the parachute was released and fired after 8 seconds. The characteristics of a steady spin in a wide range of alignments (16.6-39.5% MAR) were studied using a dynamically similar model in the TsAGI vertical wind tunnel.
In June 1969, the An-22 for the first time, as part of the Paris Air Show, performed several demonstration flights, including a spectacular low-altitude flight: machine No. 0103 (USSR-56391), piloted by Kurlin, flew no higher than 20 m with two engines turned off. starboard side (on the spectator side).
Starting from the second series of production, on the An-22 the flight and navigation complex "Polyot-1" with the "Initiative-4" radar was replaced with the more advanced PNK "Kupol-22" and the aircraft acquired the characteristic shape of the nose. Later, while continuing to improve the machine, most electricity consumers switched from direct to three-phase alternating current. A more powerful APU was installed, consisting of a “twin” of TA-6AI turbo units, and the electric start of the engines was replaced with an air start. The control system uses steering actuators that combine the functions of a hydraulic booster and a mechanism for switching from booster to manual control mode. These and a number of other improvements made it possible to reduce the weight of the aircraft, increase its operational reliability and reduce labor costs for maintenance. First, they modified machine No. 0203, which was in the OKB, and, based on the results of factory and state tests, in 1972 they decided to produce such a modification, starting with the 5th series, under the designation An-22A, but this designation did not take root among the troops.
In 1973, the Research Institute for Operation and Repair of Aviation Equipment (NIIERAT) of the Air Force, together with the Design Bureau, developed a test program for the An-22 flagship aircraft. It provided for the controlled operation of machines with advanced operating time in hours and landings. These works have now made it possible to increase the aircraft's assigned service life to 8,000 flight hours or 3,000 landings. Unfortunately, this program could not be completed. Of the entire Anteev fleet, there were only two leading aircraft: USSR-09330 (0305) in landings and USSR-09334 (0209) in flight hours - both from 81 flights. An-22 No. USSR-09330 in 1992 once again stopped at the end of its landing life. Documents to extend the landings took a long time. During this time, all the scarce components for other aircraft were removed from the aircraft and, after standing from 1992 until the spring of 1999, the aircraft was cut into metal at the TECH 81 Vtap parking lot. An-22 USSR-09334 On March 13, 1987, in a thunderstorm and in the absence of runway lighting, it made a rough landing (landing speed - 265 km/h, G-force - 2.35) in Addis Ababa. The left middle main landing gear was destroyed, the landing gear fairing and the wing in the center section area were damaged (the landing gear “shot out”). The plane was restored, but its further operation was considered inappropriate. On September 30, this An-22 made its last flight and landed in Monino, where it joined the exhibition of the Air Force Museum.
For great achievements in testing the An-22, test pilots Kurlin (in 1966) and Davydov (in 1971) were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In April 1974, for the creation of the An-22 aircraft, the Kiev Mechanical Plant (as the Antonov Design Bureau became known) was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and the leading designers Anisenko V.G., Kabaev V.I., Rychik V.P. and Shatalov V.N. became laureates of the Lenin Prize. A year later, a large group of KMZ specialists was awarded orders and medals of the USSR, deputy chief designer P.V. Balabuev. and Belolipetsky A.Ya. and turner Naumenko V.V. awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
After the completion of the test flight program, machines Nos. 0101, 0103 and 0203 remained at the disposal of the OKB, fatigue tests were carried out at No. 0104 from October 1969, and Nos. 0105, 0106 and 0107 were transferred to 81 VTAP (Ivanovo) in 1973, 1974, respectively. and 1977.
At the end of the 1960s, An-22 Antey aircraft carried out a huge amount of work transporting various cargoes to develop the Tyumen oil deposits and increase diamond production in the Mirny and Yakutsk region. At that time, tests of the An-22 had not yet been completed, but the need for the aircraft was so great that the Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers A.N. Kosygin. signed a decree to remove it from testing to accelerate the development of Siberia and the Far North. Thus, in March 1969, OKB crews on aircraft No. 0101 (commander V.I. Tersky) and No. 0103 (Yu.N. Ketov) performed 24 flights in the Tyumen region and transported 625 tons of large monocargoes for the needs of oil workers and geologists, including including mobile gas turbine power plants (weight 30 tons), pumping units (27 tons, dimensions 11.4x4x3.6 m), bulldozers (36 tons), well heating units (38 tons, length 32 m) and other equipment. The following year, Yu.V. Kurlin’s crew worked a lot on car No. 0101 in Siberia. Ensuring the construction of the Aleksandrovskoye - Anzhero-Sudzhensk oil pipeline, he flew up to 240 hours a month. For landings on unfamiliar sites, Yuri Vladimirovich even developed a new method, the so-called “conveyor”, for which he received an author’s certificate. The method is as follows: descent, touching the ground, running a few tens of meters and taking off. Next is the missed approach and landing. On November 25, 1970, the crew of Davydov I.E. in vehicle No. 0106 (in the 81st Vtap - USSR-08837) he carried out a unique transport operation - from Leningrad to Cape Schmidt he delivered a diesel power plant weighing 50 tons.
Operation in the harsh conditions of Siberia and the Far North demonstrated the high reliability of the Antey. So, in 1970 Kurlin Yu.V. on An-22 No. 0101 with a load of 60 tons (two excavators), took off in Surgut from a runway covered with more than 1 m of snow. He also had to land on a swamp, which was frozen to only 40 cm. Various loading options were tested , the aircraft's transport equipment was tested under high-intensity flight conditions. Particularly effective were steel ramps (called “curva” from the names of the authors: Kurlin and Vasilenko), laid on a ramp and used for loading and unloading self-propelled tracked vehicles under their own power. Operation of the An-22 in these regions turned out to be highly profitable. “Only one Antey aircraft saved the Siberians a year of time and at least added a million tons of oil” (Pravda newspaper, 05/18/1970).
The first four production aircraft were lifted into the sky by Kyiv crews, and all subsequent ones by Tashkent crews. Thus, the fifth vehicle (serial number 6340105 USSR-08822) took off in December 1966 under the command of factory test pilot K.V. Beletsky. Test pilot V.I. Sviridov also made a great contribution to the testing and fine-tuning of production aircraft. (awarded the Order of Lenin), Tver's navigators B.Ya. and Demagin V.V., flight test engineer Vasiliev V.M. The release of "Anteev" proceeded at an increasing pace. If in 1969 5 aircraft were built, then in 1975 - 11. In 1976, serial production of the An-22 was completed. From November 1965 to January 1976, 66 Anteevs rolled off the TAPOiCh stocks, including 28 in the An-22A variant. Later, given the great need of the national economy for this aircraft, the question of its relaunch was raised. However, it was not possible to resume production, since the Tashkent plant was fully loaded with Il-76 aircraft.
By Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU No. 4-2 of January 3, 1974, the An-22 aircraft was adopted for service.
The exhaustion of the aircraft (0105, 0106, 0107) service life before the first overhaul in the early 80s posed the task of determining the basis for its implementation. It was decided to master the repair of the An-22 at the Ivanovo military repair enterprise (since 1997 - 308 ARZ), which had previously been engaged in the restoration of the An-2, An-24, An-26 and An-30. In a short time, the plant received repair documentation and increased its production capacity. On January 18, 1983, the first updated Antey (USSR-08822, 0105) was released by this enterprise. A systematic withdrawal of aircraft for repairs began, which in subsequent years, with the accumulation of experience, was reduced to 7-8 months.
After the collapse of the USSR, several Anteevs remained in Ukraine.
On December 13, 1988, during takeoff in Aden (Yemen), the An-22 8th Vtap No. 0509 (USSR-09307) crashed due to premature retraction of the landing gear. This aircraft was restored on site until 1992, then transported to Kyiv, where work was continued. Currently, the machine is operated by Antonov Airlines. Aircraft No. and, and later 0203 and 0509, became an integral part of the Antonov Design Bureau. They tested design improvements, carried out additional tests and carried out transportation necessary for the design bureau.
A special feature in the biography of "Antey", which showed its new transport capabilities, was its use for transporting on an external sling the center sections and wing consoles of the An-124 "Ruslan" and An-225 "Mriya" aircraft from Tashkent to Kiev, and later to Ulyanovsk Aerodynamic and strength studies have shown that transportation of the center section (special cargo No. 1) and the cantilever part of the wing (special cargo No. 2) can be carried out on an external sling and, therefore, does not require significant modification of the aircraft. In 1987-1994, six flights were carried out to deliver center wings and consoles for two An-225 copies. The practical implementation of this project, designated “Transport,” was preceded by a large amount of calculation and research work on a comparative analysis of land, water and air transportation methods. Air transportation turned out to be optimal, ensuring a high degree of technological completeness of the delivered wing units, their safety and regularity of deliveries. Since the center section was planned to be delivered first, Antey No. 0101 (USSR-46191, later UR-64459) was first modified to transport special cargo No. 1: two front hitch units were installed on its center section in the fairings, and on the fuselage behind the center section - two rear hitch units, connecting them via rods to the cargo compartment floor frame. The aircraft modified in this way, designated An-22PZ (“Carrier”), flew to Tashkent in July 1980. In the TAPOiCh assembly shop, the center section of the future An-124, equipped with nose and tail fairings, was installed on it. On July 15, this unique transport system departed for Kyiv. The first flight of the An-22PZ was accompanied by more than 100 KMZ specialists. Although the Antey with cargo had been flown around Tashkent the day before, the long-distance flight required courage from the crew, headed by test pilot Ketov. Shortly after takeoff, the plane began to vibrate and then shake. Its intensity was such that the pilots were forced to hold the instrument panels with their feet in order to see the instrument readings. I had to urgently land at a military airfield in Krasnovodsk. After inspecting the aircraft, it was determined that the vibration was caused by a break in the fairings of the front hitch units. After consulting, the Antonovites decided to continue the flight. Having made another stopover in Mozdok, the Carrier landed safely at the airfield in Svyatoshino.
To transport special cargo No. 2, another hitch option was developed. The long console of the "Ruslan" was located along the fuselage of the "Antey" and was attached to its center section, as well as through a system of struts and frames to the floor of the cargo compartment in its bow and tail sections. To increase directional stability, an additional keel was installed on the Carrier - the vertical tail of an An-26 aircraft with a locked rudder. The first transportation of the console was carried out in February 1982.
In 1983, another Antey, the USSR-56391 (0103) vehicle, was modified for the Carrier variant. In the same year, regular flights began to transport An-124 wing units from Tashkent to serial plants in Kyiv and Ulyanovsk, which continued until 1988. In addition, in 1987-1994, six flights were carried out to deliver center wings and consoles for two An-225 copies. The last such flight was made by vehicle No. 0101 (new registration number UR-64459) under the control of the crew of V.A. Samovarov. October 23, 1994. In total, over 14 years of operation, the Carriers performed over 100 flights, proving the versatility of the Antey. For the creation and implementation of this air transport system, a group of KMZ workers was awarded the State Prize of Ukraine in 1985.
An-22 No. (USSR-46191, UR-64459) and 0103 (USSR-56391, UR-64460) served their time. Machine No. 0203 has been in disassembled condition since 1993. "Antey" No. 0509 (former USSR-09307) continues to operate, having the registration number UR-09307. The service life of the An-22 aircraft No. 0103 was extended to 33 years. In 1992, it was leased for six months by the Bulgarian airline Air Sofia, where it flew under the registration number LZ-SG. Kurlin V.Yu. and Lysenko V. performed flights on it to many countries, in particular, they transported Mi-8 helicopters to the Seychelles. In 1997, An-22 No. 0103 supported the construction of the An-140 aircraft in Kyiv: in February it delivered a wing from Kharkov, and in September it delivered an engine from Zaporozhye.
On December 28, 1999, An-22 No. 0103 (UR-64460) was transferred to the Technik-Museum Speyer in the German city of Speyer. The crew of OKB test pilot V. Goncharov had a difficult task: to land a heavy aircraft on a runway only 1000 m long, and the approach had to be made on a steep glide path, because At both ends of the runway, at a short distance, there were residential buildings and an ancient cathedral. After completing two test runs, the plane landed safely. This once again confirms the uniqueness of "Anthea".
"Antey" No. 0509 (UR-09307) in February 1995 made a rough landing with a roll in Khartoum (Sudan), as a result of which one of the power beams securing the main landing gear was deformed. 
The car was restored using a beam from aircraft No. 0203, and was put back into service in October 1996.
The event of the transfer of aircraft No. 0103 evokes conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it’s good that “Antey” fell into good hands and will decorate the museum’s collection, and will not go to scrap metal, like the 81st aircraft. On the other hand, it’s a shame that in Russia, except for the Air Force Museum in Monino (which is not so easy to get into), there is not a single aviation museum accessible to ordinary people! At the 308 ARZ in Ivanovo, the An-22 RA-08830 (0702) was restored for the VTA museum (based on 610 pulp and paper and plc). At one time, this aircraft, owned by the 8th Airborne Troops, underwent a major overhaul, but the repair was not completed due to lack of funding.
As statistics show, on average, only 20% of Anteevs carried out freight transportation (average trip load - 22.5 tons). The remaining aircraft were idle for modifications, or were used for training flights. The leading aircraft did not even fly 5,000 hours. Thus, the significant potential of the An-22 fleet was unclaimed. Nowadays, the Russian Air Force’s lack of funds necessary to extend its operation has led to an unprecedented decision to write off vehicles of the 1st, 2nd, and partially the 3rd and 4th series, which have reached the end of their service life (25 years).
At the end of 2001, according to the directive, only one separate squadron remained from the 8th Guards Vtap (76th Guards). The commander of this separate squadron was the former deputy commander of the 81st brigade, Lieutenant Colonel V.V. Borisenko. A storage base for An-22 aircraft has been established at the Migalovo airfield. At this base there are aircraft of the disbanded 81st Vtap that flew on January 21, 1998 and non-flying aircraft of the 8th Vtap.
According to the plans of the command, in 2006-2007 it was planned to return to operation of An-22 aircraft, carrying out work on them to modify the equipment and extend their service life. It is hard to believe that by that time the airframe of the aircraft will not be completely destroyed by corrosion. Proof of this is the fact that representatives of the Antonov Design Bureau, who inspected two An-22 aircraft Nos. RA-08833 and RA-08835 8 Vtap, stood idle at the Ivanovo-Severny airfield for more than six years with the aim of restoring, purchasing and ferrying them to Ukraine. The planes are in a deplorable condition, the places where duralumin and steel come into contact are completely corroded... Representatives of the Antonov Design Bureau abandoned their idea. Currently, there are 4 flying An-22s left in the Russian military aviation aviation, the service life of which has been extended to 35 years. The remaining non-flying aircraft of the former 8 Vtap are in Tver, 9 aircraft of the 81 Vtap were transported to Tver, and 19 aircraft of the 81 Vtap were cut into metal. Due to the lack of funding and spare parts, 308 ARZ was unable to assemble the Antei, which were overhauled and disposed of.
According to the latest data, they decided not to finalize “Anthea”. According to Colonel General Mikhailov, “An-22 aircraft are working out their service life and leaving.”
The An-22 aircraft set 41 world records:
- On October 27, 1966, the crew of test pilot I.E. Davydov lifted a load of 88.103 tons to a height of 6600 m, setting 12 records in one flight. The world record achieved in 1958 by the American J.M. Thompson on a Douglas C-133 aircraft (53.5 tons of cargo at an altitude of 2000 m) was immediately surpassed by 34.6 tons.
- On October 17, 1967, the crew of Davydov I.E. lifted a load weighing 100444.6 kg to a height of 7848 m.
- February 19-21, 1973 by the crew of test pilot M.L. Popovich. 12 world records were set in flight along a closed route of 2000 km with a load of 30, 35, 45 and 50 tons at a speed of 580 km/h.
- The 41st record was set in April 1975 by the crew of the commander of the Military Air Forces, Honored Military Pilot of the USSR, Colonel General G.N. Pakilev. With a load of 40 tons on a 5000-km route, the average speed was 584.042 km/h.
Honored test pilot of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union Yu.V. Kurlin, who flew the Antea for about 3,000 hours, described it as “a large barge sailing on the ocean of air. Low speed, large load, ease of operation, all-terrain capability and unpretentiousness in operation - the main features of this hard-working aircraft." Thirty years of experience in operating the Antey has confirmed the correctness of the conceptual solutions incorporated into it. "Antey" has mastered airfields in 89 countries on five continents.
The Soviet-made An-22 aircraft was presented to the general public in the summer of 1965 at the international air exhibition in Paris. As stated, the air giant could accommodate 720 passengers and about 80 tons of cargo. On the initiative of the general designer O. Antonov, the unit was given a second name - “Antey”. The overall impressions of the show, as described in the press, were very positive from the huge, but elegant and comfortable car presented. Let's consider the features of this vessel, its characteristics and scope of application.
Description
In mid-December, the An-22 aircraft made its first real takeoff, with a carrying capacity of 16 tons. The main purpose of the vehicle is to transport personnel, equipment and equipment of airborne units. It was quite possible to transport, for example, a T-54 tank to the desired point.
At the beginning of the summer of 1958, the Antonov design bureau developed the An-20 project with the ability to transport a pair of NK-12M fuel injection pump power plants. The aircraft is designed to transport engineering and combat equipment with a total weight of up to 40 tons. The cargo compartment could easily accommodate more than 140 paratroopers, and there was the possibility of dropping cargo.
The ejection of soldiers was planned through a pair of hatches in the front part of the cargo room, as well as through two rooms in the rear. Since the cargo compartment is not airtight, transportation of people in it is not provided at an altitude of more than 6 kilometers, even with the presence of oxygen tanks. In the front part of the fuselage there is a cell for 27 people, which meets the required sealing parameters. According to the project, the aircraft was equipped with a DB-35-AO type guided artillery mount with a pair of 23 mm caliber guns.
Feature: the multi-wheeled chassis made it possible to use the vehicle on takeoff even from unpaved airstrips.
What's next?
After work on the creation of the An-20 was curtailed, the designers began manufacturing an even heavier air vehicle. Technical development of the vehicle was completed in the summer of 1960 (working designation - VT-22). The aircraft was intended for transporting cargo up to 50 tons over a distance of about 3,500 kilometers and airborne landing of single objects weighing up to 15 tons. The An-22 was equipped with four NK-12MV power plants with a maximum power of 15 thousand e. l. With.
A pair of main landing gear were retracted into the motor cells of the internal engines, and the other two similar parts were retracted into the fuselage fairings. The wing is made of the “reverse gull” type and has a bend at the internal power unit. It is also possible to process the element with a boundary layer. The cabin of the An-22, due to its dimensions, made it possible to solve a maximum of problems related to the transfer of all engineering and military equipment that was relevant at that time.
Development
In the early 60s of the last century, the USSR Ministry of Defense instructed the aviation industry to create a complex for the air transfer of intercontinental missiles. In theory, the foundations of the offensive nuclear potential were to be transported to the airfield closest to the launch point, after which they would be relocated directly to the silo installation by helicopter.
The parameters of the VT-22 prototype for the most part corresponded to the stated goal; the development of the final version was entrusted to the Antonov Design Bureau. The result should have been a full-fledged aircraft capable of transporting both ICBMs and all equipment transported by rail. The national economy also needed aircraft of this type, especially in the developing regions of Siberia and the Far North, where it was not possible to deliver many structures without disassembly in any other way.
Plumage
The An-22 abandoned the single-fin tail, which was previously used on Antonov transport aircraft. This is due to the fact that the fuselage, weakened by a significant cutout, will not cope with the characteristic torque loads that arise when the rudder is deflected or equipment slides under the influence of side gusts of wind.
Reducing such stresses became a prevailing point, the cargo hatch was made hermetically sealed, and for the transportation of personnel it was necessary to ensure a fuselage pressurization of at least 0.25 kgf/sq.m. cm. As a result, the tail of the An-22 aircraft became double-finned.
However, the designers faced a certain problem. It was expressed in the installation of VO washers along the edges of the stabilizer, which significantly reduced its maximum flutter speed. This problem haunted the designers led by Antonov for a long time. As a result, it was decided to arrange the washers in such a way that the mass was transformed from a negative position into a positive factor. The solution turned out to be quite simple: the elements were shifted forward relative to the axis of the rigid GO by 70% of the stabilizer span.
First tests
During the first testing of the An-22, sand was poured at the end of the runway. This was due to the fact that the Svyatoshinsky airfield had a relatively short length (1.8 km). However, in winter the sand froze and the safety strip became problematic. We decided not to postpone the flight. This was largely influenced by the determination of the An-22 crew consisting of Kurlin (commander), Tersky (co-pilot), Koshkin (navigator), Vorotnikov (flight engineer), Shatalov (lead test engineer) and Drobyshev (on-board radio operator).
State tests
To determine the possible fuel capacity of the An-22 and other technical capabilities, state tests of this aircraft began in the fall of 1967. Leading pilots and navigators conducted 40 flights. For greater safety, a parachute was installed on the aircraft against spin drifts. The fastening halyard of this design could withstand a force of 50 tons.
The maneuvers were carried out over a deserted and deserted area in the Tashkent area. As a result of the testing, it was determined that with skillful and timely actions by the crew, the aircraft can easily be pulled out of a stall, eliminating it from going into a spin. Full deflection of the steering wheel led to a steep dive, which made it difficult to adjust the vehicle to a horizontal position.
The anti-spin parachute was never used in real conditions, but it passed the test. This was done on a horizontal section, where the element was released and shot after 8 seconds. The parameters of the steady spin were 16.6/39.5% of MAR. The same data was demonstrated when testing the element in a wind tunnel.
Antey conducted its first demonstration flights in the summer of 1969 as part of the Paris Air Show. Among the elements is a spectacular flight at low altitude (no higher than 20 meters with a pair of power plants on the starboard side turned off).
An-22: technical characteristics
Below are the main parameters of the aircraft in question:
- Wing length/span - 57.3/64.4 m.
- Machine height - 12.53 m.
- Normal/take-off/empty weight - 205/225/118.72 tons.
- Fuel mass - 96 tons.
- The An-22 engine type is four NK-12MA turboprop engines.
- Maximum speed is 650 km/h.
- Flight range (practical/ferry) - 5225/8500 km.
- Payload - 60 tons.
- The crew consists of 5 to 7 people.
- Passenger capacity - 28 people.
Serial and experimental modifications
Based on Antey, several versions were developed, designed to perform specific and complex tasks. Among them:
- Basic variation under index 22.
- No. 22-A - model with a commercial load of up to 80 tons.
- Modification 22P3 - the possibility of transportation for other aircraft on the fuselage is provided.
- “Amphibian” - the vehicle was supposed to be used to supply submarines, carry out rescue operations and lay mines on the water.
- PLO is an aircraft designed to counter nuclear-capable submarines. The model has a huge flight range and is equipped with a specially configured reactor.
- PS - search and rescue version.
- R - for transporting ballistic intercontinental missiles.
- Sh - a machine with an enlarged fuselage.
- KS - fuel tanker.
- In addition, a passenger version was developed based on the Antey.
Use in the national economy
For economic purposes, the An-22 began to be tested at the factory testing stage. In March, models 01-01 and 01-03 made more than 20 flights to the Tyumen region. At the same time, they transported large monocargoes for geological and oil development, weighing over 625 tons: pumping units, gas turbine stations, bulldozers, devices for heating wells and other specific equipment.
In addition, Antey worked in Siberia, ensuring the construction of the Sudzhensk-Anzhero - Aleksandrovsk oil pipeline. The total flight time was about 240 hours per month. The chief designer even developed a special scheme for landing in unfamiliar territories. In this direction, Yuri Vladimirovich received an author's certificate. The method involves descending, touching the ground, then jogging and taking off. Then a missed approach and final landing are performed. In November 1970, the crew of I. Davydov delivered a diesel power plant weighing 50 tons from Leningrad to Cape Schmidt.
The use of Antey in the harsh conditions of the Far North showed the high reliability of the aircraft. For example, under the leadership of Kurlin in 1970, a flight was made with two excavators (total weight - 60 tons). In this case, the takeoff was made from a runway in Surgut, which was covered with a meter-long layer of snow.
The possibilities of landing in a swamp, in which the water was frozen to only 40 centimeters, were tested, as well as various loading options with testing of the aircraft under conditions of increased flight intensity. The steel rods developed by Kurlin and Vasilenko performed well. They were placed on a ramp and served for loading and unloading self-propelled tracked vehicles.
An-22 aircraft crashes
In July 1970, five Antey aircraft delivered humanitarian aid to the people of Peru, which suffered from a severe earthquake. 60 flights were made, about 250 tons of cargo were transported. At the same time, the first accident with the An-22 occurred. On July 18, model 02-07, heading to Lima, disappeared over the ocean 47 minutes after takeoff from Keflavik, Iceland. There was a cargo of medicines and 26 passengers on board. There were no radiograms from the crew about the crash. What happened?
A special coordination center was created to search for the plane. As a result, a special life raft and the remains of medical supplies were discovered. Experts concluded that the accident could have occurred due to an explosion on board. There were other versions. However, the exact reason could not be determined.
Considering how much the An-22 weighs, operating this aircraft requires great skill and careful checks before departure. In December 1970, another accident occurred with Antey. The four units were on a special mission to deliver various cargo to India, many regions of which were affected by floods. 40 minutes after takeoff from Pakistan, all four engines on modification 02-05 switched off. We managed to start one of the engines and bring the car to the airfield in Panagarh. However, the crew was unable to land the plane at high speed (150 km/h). "Antey" flew over almost the entire runway, collapsed and burned. The commission determined that the cause of the disaster was a broken blade on one of the propellers.
After the accident in India, flights on the An-22 were resumed only in February 1971. A year later, the vehicle fleet consisted of 17 units, which were operated within the country and abroad. The main areas of use are the transportation of military equipment, as well as goods for national economic purposes for the northern regions.
Having accumulated experience in creating tactical military transport aircraft (MTC), it began researching the appearance of heavier vehicles capable of solving strategic problems, transporting the entire range of divisional weapons, up to medium tanks, over a distance of several thousand kilometers. The development of such aircraft became possible after the appearance in the USSR of the unique NK-12 turboprop engine, created to equip the Tu-95 strategic bomber.
In June 1958, the preliminary design of the An-20 was completed, and in 1960, the VT-22 project was completed, which served as the basis for the creation of the An-22.
Work on the An-22 heavy transport aircraft began in accordance with the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of October 13, 1960 and the Order of the GKAT of November 9, 1960. Work on the aircraft was headed by A.Ya. Belolipetsky, leading designer - V.I. Kabaev. The An-22 aircraft was designed as an integral part of a transport system for delivering large cargo weighing up to 50 tons to airfields or unpaved sites, including those covered with snow or ice, with their subsequent transportation to their destination by helicopter (Mi-12). The range of cargo specified by the customer was very wide: intercontinental ballistic missiles, military and engineering equipment, cargo in containers and in any container, large and oversized cargo. The aircraft was supposed to provide the ability to land monocargoes weighing up to 20 tons.
In terms of the fuselage diameter - six meters - the new Antonov machine was supposed to become the “fattest” aircraft in the world.
The powerful NK-12MA turboprop engine (15,000 hp), developed in Kuibyshev under the leadership of N.D. Kuznetsov, was chosen as the power plant. To obtain the required thrust of 14,500 kgf for the theater, new gearboxes were created, and chief designer K.I. Zhdanov created coaxial propellers with a diameter of 6.2 m. Despite the relatively low aerodynamic quality of the aircraft (14), due to its cargo purpose, the use of highly economical The theater of operations largely smoothed out this drawback. 
The terms of reference, which provided for the operation of a 225-ton aircraft from unpaved airfields, placed stringent requirements on the landing gear. A design was chosen with three independent wheeled bogies on each side, having a total of 12 large-diameter wheels with rotating front pairs, which made it easier to turn on the ground.
In parallel with the construction of the full-scale machine, flight tests of radio-controlled models of the An-22 were carried out. This made it possible to better refine the aerodynamics of the aircraft and refine the characteristics of stability and controllability.
The prototype of the aircraft was built by mid-October 1961, detailed design began in December 1961. The first two vehicles (one for flight, the second for statistical testing) were built in Kyiv (at KMZ). The An-22 prototype (tail number USSR-46191) with NK-12MV engines and AB-60 propellers was rolled out of the workshop on August 18, 1964. The vehicle was prepared for flight tests only at the end of the year, almost two years later than planned. On February 27, 1965, the crew under the command of test pilot Yu.V. Kurlin took the An-22 aircraft No. 01-01 into the air for the first time.
A copy for statistical testing was installed in the OKB laboratory in September 1964, and components and assemblies were tested on it until December 1966. 
The first production aircraft produced by the Tashkent aircraft plant was taken into the air on January 27, 1966. In October 1967, state tests began. The following year, the first production Antey entered the VTA. After testing and fine-tuning, production An-22 aircraft with NK-12MA engines and AV-90 propellers were accepted into service in the military aviation aviation in 1969. By 1971, two BTA regiments were equipped with An-22 aircraft. With the advent of these machines, the problem of air transportability of weapons and military equipment for all branches of the Armed Forces was solved. It was capable of transporting by air 90% of the equipment of the Strategic Missile Forces and almost 100% of the equipment of the Ground Forces (including operational-tactical missile systems and medium tanks such as T-62 and T-64).
In September 1969, Antey made its first international flight, delivering urgent cargo to Hanoi, and the following year, the four An-22s established perhaps the longest (17,000 km) “air bridge” in the history of domestic military transport aviation. The purpose of the flight along the route Moscow - Keflavik - Lima was to deliver aid to the people of Peru affected by the earthquake. One of these aircraft (ship commander - Major A. Boyarintsev) went missing. The reason for his disappearance has never been determined. Despite the tragedy, the appearance in Peru of the world's largest military transport aircraft made a strong impression on the military elite of this country and certainly influenced the decision made by the Peruvian government several years later to focus on purchasing military equipment from the USSR.
The disadvantages of the An-22 aircraft include the limited service life of the wing, due to the insufficient fatigue strength of the structural materials used.
Still, the unique transport potential of “Antey” significantly outweighed its disadvantages. In June 1965, the An-22 aircraft was shown at the international aviation show in Le Bourget, receiving there the most enthusiastic reviews not only from journalists, but also from specialists. Before the advent of the Lockheed C-5 aircraft, the Antey was the largest aircraft in the world.
The machine's capabilities were confirmed by a series of world records. In December 1965, the crew of test pilot I. Davydov lifted the An-22 with a load of 88,103 kg to a height of 6,600 m, setting 12 world records in one flight. In October 1967, a vehicle piloted by I. Davydov lifted a load of 100,447 kg to a height of 7,848 m. In April 1975, the crew led by the commander of the Military Aviation Administration, Colonel-General of Aviation G.N. Pakilev, covered a 5,000-km route with a load of 40 tons on board with an average speed of 584.042 km/h. In total, the aircraft set 41 world records. 
The An-22 became a kind of record holder for the mass of cargo dropped: parachute landing was practiced using the method of breaking cargo weighing up to 22 tons.
To date, the An-22 is the only aircraft in the world that is capable of landing on and taking off from unpaved runways with a heavy load. In terms of transport capabilities, the An-22 is 1.4 times superior to the Il-76M.
From November 1965 to January 1976 from the stocks of the Tashkent Aviation-Industrial Association named after. Chkalov produced 66 Anteevs, of which 22 were in the . Later, the question of resuming production was raised, but TAPOiCh was fully loaded with the production of Il-76.
Since the serial production of "Ruslans" for military orders has practically ceased, and the creation of a new operational-strategic military transport aircraft Il-106, designed to replace the "Antey", has been pushed back to an indefinite future, the modernization of existing equipment has begun. Currently in service there are An-22 aircraft produced back in 1968. In the early 1990s, the service life of the Anteev was extended for another 20 years (i.e. until the 2010s). In the future, it was planned to improve the navigation equipment of the An-22 and install satellite navigation system receivers on board. However, as a result of the reduction of the Air Force, it was decided to abandon further operation of the Anteev. 
It is in service with the Russian Air Force, and is also used by Aeroflot and (since 1992) by the Bulgarian civil airline (one aircraft purchased). In 1993, there were 55 aircraft in service. In 1997, it was decided to write off some cars of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th series that had reached the end of their service life (25 years). By the second half of the 1990s, approximately 45 An-22s remained in service with the Russian Air Force, a third of which were idle at the repair plant in Ivanovo. In addition, several aircraft of this type remained in Ukraine.
An-22s taken out of service are transferred to storage bases. Deep preservation of the aircraft will make it possible, if necessary, to return them to service by modernizing them into the An-22-100.
An-22 No. 03340209 is on display at the Air Force Museum in Monino. This plane was transported to the museum at the Monino airfield on September 30, 1987 by the crew of Lieutenant Colonel Borovskikh (military unit, Ivanovo). Engines NK-12MA No. F242A09, F822A06, F032A07, F212A03.
On December 29, 1999, An-22 UR-64460 (01-03) flew from Kyiv to the German city of Sinsheim, where it was installed in the exhibition of a private
An-22 Antey aircraft , NATO code "Rooster" - a heavy theater aircraft manufactured in the USSR. This is the world's largest aircraft, designed to transport large heavy equipment and airborne troops.
"Anteus" is a great giant from ancient Greek myths who draws his strength from the earth and therefore he is always strong and invincible.
In the summer of 1965, when the sixteenth international “air flight” took place in Paris. The press reported that the largest airliner in the world had arrived from the USSR, which could accommodate more than seven hundred passengers and was able to take off with an 80-ton cargo. An elegant, neatly landing plane without flaws - this is how it was described in France. The first “wide-body” aircraft - that’s what O.K. called it. Antonov.
In the early 60s, work began on the creation of the An-22, A. Ya. Belolipetsky was responsible for the project. The aircraft was designed with a two-fin tail, with a multi-wheel landing gear for a dirt runway and four HK-12MB theater engines. A photo of the An-22 is presented below.
At the end of 1957, the military set a task for the An-12 designers to create a huge vessel that could transport equipment, including tanks and ground forces. Next summer in the design bureau named after. Antonov developed a sketch of the An-20 with two HK-12M turboprop engines. According to the project, the aircraft could transport up to forty tons, and it could accommodate up to 170 people. The pneumatic multi-wheeled chassis made it possible to work on unpaved runways.
This turned out to be not enough, the project was closed and work began on a heavier military transport aircraft called VT-22. The aircraft according to the project could transport fifty tons of cargo over 3,500 kilometers, had 4 HK-12MB turboprop engines with a total power of 60 thousand hp. With.
In the 60s, the need arose to transport by air not only intercontinental ballistic missiles, but also special cargo, military equipment and huge embodied ideas of engineering. What was needed was a military-technical vehicle of wide application. And the VT-22 project came in handy. A.Ya. was appointed project manager. Belolipetsky, and the chief designer - V.I. Kabaev.
Of course, there was experience in creating military transport ships, but of such a scale... we had to solve many problems with aerodynamics, the issue of strength, layout, design and technology, all this had to be solved from scratch. We had to abandon the single-fin tail, installed a double-fin one, and again encountered a number of problems. They tried to reduce weight by using monolithic spare parts, tried to simplify the design, and made cable wiring.
The entire system worked so perfectly on the An-12 that if the boosters in the An-22 fail, control of the aircraft will remain the same. Due to the technical specifications set by the customers, the aircraft had to land on a ground runway, so it was decided to make a multi-wheeled landing gear.
We installed four HK-12MB theater control systems on the wing so that almost half of the wing was blown by propellers, and, accordingly, this helped to increase the load-bearing properties by thirty percent. True, the propellers were modernized, after which the SU was given the designation HK-12MA with a thrust of 14,600 kgf. The result was an excellent propulsion system and for 30 years it had no competitors.
By the way, the use of monolithic spare parts in Antey made it possible to reduce the weight of the aircraft by 5 tons and material consumption by 17 tons!
At the end of the summer of 1961, a mock-up commission was held, where the loading of equipment onto an aircraft was demonstrated, which surprised everyone. The commission immediately had a question: will Antey really take off with such a weight? The creation of the aircraft proceeded by leaps and bounds, and by December 1961 detailed design began. In the spring of 1963, the first fuselage was born. In January 1964, the collection of the statistical machine was completed. And in the summer of the same year, the first An-22 was ready.
In mid-August, the aircraft was solemnly handed over for flight testing. For the first flight, a separate team of about one hundred people was allocated, freeing them from other tasks. It included specialists of various specializations, but, despite the serious selection of personnel, the tests proceeded very slowly; first, the aircraft was tested on the ground. “Antey” was constantly modified, redesigned and parts were replaced in it. The chassis created the most problems.
As for the flight itself, it was often rescheduled. The plane took to the skies for 70 minutes under the leadership of Yu.V. Kurlin at the end of winter 1965. And the next flight took place only a month later. The second copy for static testing was transferred to the laboratory of the design bureau and tests were carried out there until the end of 1966.
In June 1965, the aircraft was demonstrated at the Paris Air Show, causing a sensation, and upon returning home, testing continued. In the fall of 1965, the first production An-22 rolled off the assembly line, and 2 months later it flew. Over the course of two years, seven more prototype aircraft were produced. And in the fall of 1966, as many as 12 world records were set, one of which was for lifting cargo into the air.
After the cargo was sorted out, landing tests began. First they dropped mannequins and mock-ups of equipment, and a little later they started working on light equipment, in the form of small tanks weighing eighteen tons from a height of one kilometer.
In the summer of 1967, the An-22 visited Paris again and was also presented in the USSR, continuing to break all records.
This time, more than a hundred tons were lifted to a height of almost 8 kilometers. In 1969, at the same Le Bourget, flights at low altitude with a pair of engines turned off were demonstrated. In the fall of '69, fatigue tests began.
Serial operational production began in 1973 at the aircraft plant named after. Chkalov in Tashkent. In just 11 years, 69 aircraft were manufactured at the aircraft plant in Tashkent, some of which are still in use by the Russian Air Force and Ukrainian Airlines.
Design
The fuselage is divided into four parts. In the center, respectively, is the center section of the wing and stabilizer. In the nose of the aircraft there is a sealed compartment for the crew with a separate cabin for the navigator, behind it there are 2 passenger compartments. The cargo compartment of the An-22 is located in the middle of the fuselage.
In the tail there is, again, part of the cargo compartment, a hatch and an unpressurized compartment with access to the stabilizer. The empennage is tail, cantilever. A caisson trapezoidal wing, constructed of seven parts, on which there are ailerons with servo compensators and servos, a power plant and fourteen fuel tanks.
Three-wheel landing gear with high-profile wheels and a tire pressure of 5 kgf/cm 2, for quiet operation on unpaved runways. 4 HK-12MA turboprop propulsion systems, each with a power of 15 thousand hp. With. The engines are located on the wing and have their own anti-icing system. Each control unit has an oil tank of 198 liters. The auxiliary control system, presented in the form of an autonomous power unit - a TA-4FE gas turbine engine, was later replaced by two TA-6A1 control systems.
The fuel system is presented in the form of 30 tanks. The full fuel supply of the An-22 is 127,619 liters.
The aircraft has left, right and booster hydraulic systems. The first two contain one ninety-two liter hydraulic tank. The booster hydraulic system has its own two power sources responsible for mixed flight control - automatic and manual servo control.
The plane has fire extinguishers against fire, there is a warning system - three alarms and an automatic fire extinguishing system in three stages. The aircraft has the ability to transport cargo, equipment, ammunition and airdrop all this, as well as places for the wounded, landing troops and oxygen equipment. It is possible to transport cargo from the outside under the wing.
To save people in the event of an accident, there are parachutes, boats and rafts on board.
The aircraft's power supply includes four personal generators for each GS-18M engine, a PO-750 converter, a secondary AC network, transformers, generators for autonomous power supply and batteries in case of emergency.
Aircraft navigation includes a radio compass, PNPK, landing equipment, radio altimeter, PSBH-7C, long-range navigation system, speed and airspeed meter, drift angle meter, identification and targeting equipment, radiation warning system, SD-67 rangefinder, collision warning system aircraft, automatic control of the complex, control computer complex, aircraft piloting system in combat conditions.
The Antey is equipped with cameras for day and night aerial photography.
Among the instruments on the ship there is an automatic angle of attack, a turn indicator, a heading angle indicator, a resistance sensor, a gas thermometer, a variometer, an attitude indicator, an altimeter, an indicator of pitch angles and the position of the levers of fuel units, a speed indicator, a speed indicator, and a gearbox.
The liner contains 48 liters of pure oxygen in cylinders and oxygen equipment. The ship's radio equipment includes a tape recorder, magnetic recorder, code communication, dosimeter, several radio stations, intercom, transmitter and receiver. You can also install bomb racks and holders for radio beacons on the aircraft.
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