Antonov An-24
The Antonov An-24 (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 and manufactured in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau.
First flown in 1959, over 1,000 An-24s were built and 880 are still in service worldwide, mostly in the CIS and Africa, with a total of 297 Antonov An-24 aircraft in airline service, as of May 2010.
It was designed to replace the veteran piston Ilyushin Il-14 transport on short to medium haul trips, optimised for operating from rough strips and unprepared airports in remote locations. The high-wing layout protects engines and blades from debris, the power-to-weight ratio is higher than that of many comparable aircraft and the machine is rugged, requiring minimal ground support equipment.
Due to its rugged airframe and good performance, the An-24 was adapted to carry out many secondary missions such as ice reconnaissance and engine/propeller test-bed, as well as further development to produce the An-26 tactical transport, An-30 photo-mapping/survey aircraft and An-32 tactical transport with more powerful engines. Various projects were envisaged such as a four jet short/medium haul airliner and various iterations of powerplant.
The main production line was at the Kiev-Svyatoshino (now "Aviant") aircraft production plant which built 985, with 180 built at Ulan Ude and a further 197 An-24T tactical transport/freighters at Irkutsk. Production in the USSR was shut down by 1978.
Production continues at China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation which makes licenced, reverse-engineered and redesigned aircraft as the Xian [Yunshuji] Y7, and its derivatives. Manufacture of the Y7, in civil form, has now been supplanted by the MA60 derivative with western engines and avionics, to improve performance and economy, and widen the export appeal.
Variants
- An-24 : Original design and prototypes. Twin-engined 44-seat transport aircraft.
- An-24A : (first use) Airliner project powered by Kuznetsov NK-4 turbo-props, discontinued when the NK-4 was cancelled.
- An-24A : (second use) Production 50-seat airliners built at Kiev with the APU exhaust moved to the tip of the starboard nacelle.
- An-24ALK (Avtomatizeerovannaya [sistema] Lyotnovo Kontrolya – automatic flight check system) : Several An-24s were converted for navaids calibration tasks, with one An-24LR 'Toros' re-designated An-24ALK after conversion. This aircraft was fitted with a photo-theodolite and powerful light sources for the optical sensors.
- An-24AT : A 1962 project for a Tactical transport with rear loading ramp and powered by Isotov TV2-117DS coupled turboprops.
- An-24AT-RD (RD – Reaktivnyye Dvigateli – jet engines) : The An-24AT tactical transport project with two turbojet boosters pod-mounted under the outer wings and a wider loading ramp.
- An-24AT-U (Uskoriteli – boosters) : A projected Tactical transport from 1966 with three or five PRD-63 (Porokhovoy Raketnyy Dvigatel – gunpowder rocket engine) JATO bottles , wider cargo ramp and provision for up to three brake parachutes.
- An-24B : The second 50-seat airliner version with one extra window each side, simple-slotted flaps replacing the complex double-slotted flaps and extended chord of the centre-section to compensate for the lower performance flaps. Some aircraft were delivered with four extra fuel bladders in the wing centre-section.
- An-24D : A projected long-range airliner version of the An-24B with a single RU-19 booster jet engine in the starboard nacelle, stretched fuselage with seating for 60, strengthened structure and increased fuel capacity.
- An-24LL (Letyushchaya Laborotoriya – flying laboratory) : The generic suffix LL can be applied to any test-bed, but in the An-24's case seems to refer to a single aircraft equipped for metrology (science of measurement), to be used for checking the airworthiness of production aircraft.
- An-24LP (LesoPozharnyy – forest fire fighter) : Three An-24RV aircraft converted into fire bombers/cloud seeders by installing a tank in the cabin , optical smoke and flame detectors, provision for a thermal imager, racks for carrying flare dispensers and the ability to carry firefighters for para-dropping.
- An-24LR 'Toros' (Ice Hummock)(Ledovyy Razvedchik – ice reconnaissance) : At least two An-24Bs converted to carry the 'Toros' SLAR(sideways looking airborne radar) either side of the lower fuselage, for ice reconnaissance, guiding icebreakers, convoys and other shipping.
- An-24LR 'Nit' (Thread) : One An-24B was converted to with 'Nit' SLAR in very large pods along the lower fuselage sides.
- An-24PRT (Poiskovo-spasahtel'nyy Reaktivnyy [Uskoritel'] Transportnyy – SAR boosted transport) : The production search and rescue aircraft based on the An-24RT, eleven built.
- An-24PS (Poiskovo-Spasahtel'nyy – SAR) : A single An-24B aircraft converted for search and rescue duties, rejected after acceptance trials in favour of a derivative of the An-24RT.
- An-24RR ([samolyot] Radiotsionnyy Razvedchik – radiation reconnaissance [aircraft]) : Four aircraft converted as Nuclear, biological and chemical warfare reconnaissance versions of the An-24B, carrying RR8311-100 air sampling pods low on the forward fuselage and a sensor pod on a pylon on the port fuselage side.
- An-24RT (Reaktivnyy [Uskoritel'] Transportnyy – boosted transport) : Similar to the AN-24T, fitted with an auxiliary turbojet engine.
- An-24RT (Retranslyator – relay installation) : A few An-24T and An-24RT aircraft converted to Communications relay aircraft. Sometimes referred to as An-24Rt to differentiate from the An-24RT.
— — — = = — — —