AN 10 aircraft in civil aviation. Aviation, travel and all sorts of stories
Let's return to the summer time and the museum in Monino. This time we were able to visit the An-10. He may not be in the best condition, but current time progress is obvious: a person is assigned to the plane and it begins to be brought into decent shape, so in a year or so we will be able to see it completely different. So: An-10 "Ukraine" (According to NATO codification: Cat - "Cat") - Soviet medium-range passenger airplane. Created under the direct leadership of Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. A total of 108 aircraft were built, of which 12 were lost in disasters.
As always, I use information from sites
http://www.airwar.ru
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki
and other sources I found on the Internet and literature.
First, some information about our aircraft:
An-10A USSR-11213 (0402406) The operator was Syktyvkar OAG Civil Air Fleet (since September 15, 1964 SOAG GA, since February 1966 Komi UGA), Syktyvkar OJSC, 75 LO. It had a salon for 100 passenger seats. Entered January 18, 1961. Registered January 30, 1961 as USSR-11213. During operation, it was converted into a version with 112 passenger seats. Decommissioned on August 27, 1973 due to unsatisfactory technical condition. In January 1976, it was transferred to the Air Force Museum in Monino. On January 14, 1976, he made his last flight to Monino. SNE flight time 16360 hours 55 minutes; PPR flight time 2271 hours 35 minutes. Exhibited in the main exhibition of the museum.
We, the same team, under the leadership of Matvey and Zhenya, are moving through the grass to the plane. There will be a lot of photos, I don’t know any other way :-)))
This aircraft became the first among OKB O.K. passenger aircraft. Antonov, it became the first airliner with a theater engine in the USSR, the first among such machines to be put into mass production, the first to enter Aeroflot's lines, but also the first to be taken out of service.
In the Soviet Union, airlines at that time only used aircraft with piston engines. Since 1954, in the OKB A.N. Tupolev was developing the Tu-104 jet, but at that time there were only a few airports in the USSR capable of receiving such a machine. For example, in Ukraine there were none at all. And time required connecting with the help of modern air transport not only the capital with republican or regional centers, but also to establish interregional and intraregional communications.
At OKB O.K. Antonov's first project passenger plane, which received the H index, was prepared in 1954. The military transport An-8, equipped with turboprop engines, was taken as the basis. The new car was designed to transport 57 people in a comfortable cabin and was not particularly demanding for airfields.
On November 30, 1955, Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR 1956-1055 was issued, and on December 9, Order MAP 766 (Ministry of Aviation Industry. In 1957-65, its functions were performed by the State Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers for Aviation Technology GKAT), prescribing GSOKB-473 (State Allied OKB 473. This was the name of the Antonov OKB in the period from December 11, 1953 to January 8, 1965) to build a four-engine passenger aircraft under the designation product U (universal), later - An-10. And on May 25 of the following year, the Council of Ministers signed a resolution on the creation of the Il-18 airliner, which is very similar in size. Even then, Aeroflot determined the scope of application of these machines: An-10 - servicing a wide network of regional and republican air lines, Il-18 - transportation over long distances throughout the country.
The Antonov Design Bureau began designing a new aircraft with enthusiasm. Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov was very concerned about the company’s lack of experience in creating an airliner with such a large pressurized fuselage. To avoid major mistakes, he turned to A.N. Tupolev with a request to familiarize his subordinates with the already proven design solutions. He respected his colleague’s request and provided the Kyiv designers with documentation on the Tu-16 and Tu-104, which contributed to successful construction An-10 in a relatively short time.
The design of the "U" product was carried out from November 1955 to August of the following year. In May 1956, the defense took place preliminary design, and in September a mock-up of the aircraft was built. Work on the new airliner was led by A.V. Bolbot and A.Ya. Belolipetsky, N.S. was appointed lead designer. Trunchenkova, and then, from November 1960 - A.M. Kondratieva. The aerodynamic layout of the dozen was carried out by the aerodynamics team headed by E.L. Smelyansky from the research and design department (head A.A. Borin). The general brigade was led by N.A. Nechaev, strength - E.A. Shakhatuni, fuselage - S.D. Elmesyev, wing - A.A. Batumov. The development of the chassis design was headed by N.P. Smirnov, hydraulic systems - A.M. Kondratyev, electrical equipment - I.A. Pashinin and M.S. Galperin, radio equipment - V.A. Danilchenko. Layout power plant and its linkage with numerous aircraft systems was carried out by the department under the leadership of V.G. Anisenko. All passenger equipment of the An-10, including seats, was developed by a specially organized team led by N.A. Pogorelov. Possessing artistic taste, this designer paid attention not only to comfort, but also to the beauty of the design of the An-10 passenger cabins.
Despite the fact that the aircraft being created was a passenger aircraft, its aerodynamic design, fuselage cross-section, and main design parameters of the wing, tail and landing gear were determined primarily based on the military transport purpose of its twin, the An-12. The aircraft had to be operated from short, relatively unprepared, and often completely unpaved runways. Therefore, the upper position of the wing is quite justified. This made it possible to increase the overall aerodynamic quality of the aircraft and, at equal flight masses, reduce fuel consumption. In addition, the high location of the engines made it possible to remove the air intakes and propeller blades to a considerable distance from the ground, due to which the likelihood of damage to them by soil particles and foreign objects was sharply reduced. Accordingly, the durability and reliability of the power plant, as well as the safety of flights from poor airfields, have increased.
The poorly equipped airports of regional centers were distinguished by another feature: passengers there often walked along the apron to the plane, forming a poorly controlled group. But even the most undisciplined of them were not in danger of falling under the rotating propellers of the An-10, because... the tips of the blades were at a height of 1.9-2.1 m from the concrete. And various vehicles could pass freely under the wing, which made it possible to park aircraft more densely in parking lots.
The high-wing design also has other advantages that make the aircraft easier and cheaper to manufacture and maintain. In particular, due to the fact that when the flaps are extended on a high-wing aircraft, the horizontal tail falls into a more oblique flow than on a low-wing aircraft, a greater force is developed on it, which largely compensates for the increase in the diving moment associated with the extension of the flaps. This makes the aircraft control system less complex.
The fuselage was huge for those times cross section, determined from the conditions of transportation military equipment, allowed Antonov to provide An-10 passengers with unprecedented comfort. The height of the cabins was 2.5 m. The sides of the fuselage were covered with light non-flammable fabric, the lower hard panels were covered with light coffee-colored plastic. At the same time, the impression of a hall was created and the feeling of cramped space, usual for airplanes, disappeared. Soft passenger seats with convenient backrest tilt adjustment (up to 45), as well as individual lighting and radio equipment helped maintain the good health and mood of air travelers. Thanks to the upper position of the wing, all windows in the passenger compartments could be opened equally. good review. But there was also a kind of guest box at the tail of the plane, reminiscent of a separate cabin in a prestigious restaurant.
In the underground space of the fuselage it was possible to organize fairly large compartments for luggage and mail with a volume of about 20 m3. The loads there were secured with belts and nets to the walls of the compartments, and the loading hatches, made on the starboard side, were located at a small height from the ground. All this made it possible to simultaneously board passengers and load luggage without the use of additional devices.
The large diameter of the fuselage made it possible to easily solve such a specific problem of a high-wing aircraft as providing the necessary track for the landing gear, the main supports of which had to be retracted into the underground space. The fuselage of the An-10 itself resolved this issue, and the relative track width (the ratio of its width to the wing span) of the aircraft turned out to be greater than that of many similar machines (for example, for the An-10 this figure is 0.142, and for the Chase C -123 - 0.106, Lockheed C-130 - 0.108). In addition, for a given volume, a short fuselage has smallest area surface, therefore, its friction resistance is minimal.
A fuselage of such a large volume had its drawbacks, the main one being the difficulty of ensuring its tightness. Here the main problem was created by numerous cutouts for entrance doors and all kinds of hatches. And to ensure normal conditions for passengers flying at an altitude of 7-8 thousand m, the pressure drop should have been at least 0.5 kgf/cm2. The problem was aggravated by the fact that this difference had to change with high cyclicity, due to the relatively short routes for which the An-10 was intended. This created the danger of rapid fatigue of the fuselage structure and, accordingly, a decrease in its strength.
The cost of one ton-kilometer (based on the results of operation in 1961 of the entire An-10 fleet, even with an average commercial load of 62.6%) was only 18.5 kopecks. This was achieved due to economical theater engines, a large share of commercial load - 26% of take-off weight(for the Il-18, as a longer-range aircraft, it is 21%), good aerodynamics and a fairly high cruising flight speed - up to 650 km/h.
The aircraft received its propulsion system as a result of serious competition between design bureaus:
The development of the theater of operations, designated NK-4, was undertaken by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. The NK-4 design used a 6-stage axial compressor, the blades of the first four stages of which had a supersonic profile; 3-stage turbine; an annular combustion chamber and a planetary gearbox. Specific fuel consumption turned out to be low (0.245 kg/e.h.p. h), the engine itself was technologically advanced and lightweight (dry weight - 850 kg). Its length was 2450 and its diameter was 930 mm. These characteristics looked very impressive, but the innovations introduced into the NK-4 turned out to be insufficiently researched, which subsequently negatively affected its reliability.
Kuznetsov's competitor, Zaporozhye Design Bureau A.G. Ivchenko was young and ambitious. The chief designer clearly understood that it would not be easy to compete with Kuznetsov’s team. Since the AI-20 engine was intended for passenger transportation, they decided to rely on the simplicity of its design and reliability in operation. The engine turned out to be 200 kg heavier than Kuznetsov’s, 645 mm longer, but almost 100 mm smaller in diameter. The maximum specific fuel consumption of the AI-20 was 0.280 kg/e.p. hours. The initial resource is 200 hours, while the NK-4 has 50 hours. (Later, the service life of the AI-20 before the first repair was systematically increased and increased to 6000 hours, and the general technical resource - to 20,000 hours, which put it at this level comparable to the world's best examples).
In Antonov’s team, NK-4 and AI-20 had their supporters and opponents. The arguments of both sides looked very convincing, and then Oleg Konstantinovich made a Solomonic decision: to build a passenger vehicle with the NK-4, and a military transport vehicle with the AI-20, and based on the test results, determine which version of the power plant to give preference to.
The construction of the first copies of the An-10 was carried out at its own base GSOKB-473. By that time, the pilot production (headed by M.S. Rozhkov) already had the ability to assemble two An-10 type aircraft at once. On December 4, 1956, the airframe of one aircraft was transferred for statistical testing, which ended on May 24, 1957. In February of the same year, it was commissioned the first flight prototype of the An-10. Thus, from the start of design to the rollout of this machine, only 1 year and 4 months passed.
The Antonov Design Bureau did not yet have its own airfield, and the flight test service itself was taking its first steps towards its establishment. The newly created flight experimental station (LES) was headed by V.E. Chebotarev. He was subordinate to a small team, in particular, a group of test engineers V.A. Domenikovsky, two flight mechanics, two flight radio operators, one navigator P.V. Koshkin and the only test pilot V.A. Kalinin, who did not have sufficient experience in flying multi-engine aircraft. Therefore, Hero was sent from LII to conduct factory tests of the An-10 Soviet Union ME AND. Bernikov, who had already participated in similar work on the An-8, as well as pilot V.A. Shevchenko.
On March 7, 1957, the crew consisting of commander Ya.I. Bernikov, co-pilot V.A. Shevchenko, navigator P.V. Koshkina, flight mechanic A.V. Kalinichina, flight electrician I.D. Yevtushenko and leading testing engineer A.P. Eskin was first lifted into the air by an experienced An-10 (USSR-U1957) from the airfield of the Kyiv aircraft plant in Svyatoshino (the Il-18 Moscow made its first flight on July 4). The plane landed at a military airfield in Boryspil.
The experienced An-10 received its own name Ukraine. Its passenger cabins were decorated with views of Ukrainian cities: Kyiv, Zaporozhye, Kharkov, Poltava, Kakhovka. Factory tests continued until June 25, 1958. During this period, 80 flights were performed with a total duration of 95 hours 38 minutes. In addition to Bernikov and Shevchenko, the plane was piloted by Kalinin, as well as I.E. SHLI graduates who had just arrived at the company. Davydov and Yu.V. Kurlin. During testing, the An-10 was based at the Kiev Zhulyany airport, where parking was allocated for it in the civilian and military sectors. Maintenance of the aircraft was carried out by OKB teams. Flight management, airfield support, etc. carried out airport services, although during test flights there was always a representative of the Antonov Design Bureau at the control tower (CPC) or at the start. Sometimes the airfield of the Kyiv aircraft plant was used for testing.
The first flights of the An-10 showed that the aircraft had insufficient directional stability. Aerodynamicists warned about this problem even at the calculation stage and proposed increasing the area of the vertical tail. However, the head of the aerodynamics team, Domenikovsky, who was distinguished by his gentle character, was unable to defend these views in the face of the pressure of the strength experts, who had their own arguments. The aircraft had to be modernized by significantly enlarging the forklift and installing vertical washers at the ends of the stabilizer. Subsequently, the area of the washers was slightly reduced, and the keel itself was increased, and in this configuration the aircraft went into mass production.
In addition, the An-10 also had insufficient lateral stability. This was discovered during a flight with a simulated failure of one engine, when slipping appeared, and then the plane very sharply went into a roll. If, according to Air Force OTT standards, the roll speed should not exceed 30 degrees. for 5 s, then the An-10 had more than 40. To eliminate this aerodynamic disadvantage, it was recommended to install an aircraft wing with a positive transverse V (before this, the wing did not have a transverse V). The result was unexpected: during the first flight of the modified aircraft, Bernikov with With difficulty he calmed the rocking plane and declared that it was impossible to fly on it. Then the wing was modified again, giving its middle part a transverse V +1 degree, and the consoles - 3 degrees. As a result, it was possible to achieve acceptable lateral stability.
During factory testing of the prototype An-10, several accidents occurred. The first of them happened on July 22, 1957, when, during landing at the LII airfield in Zhukovsky, the right main landing gear collapsed and did not lock. The aircraft received minor damage and was quickly returned to service. The accident that occurred on February 21, 1958 during landing at Svyatoshino (Davydov’s crew) had much more serious consequences. At the moment of touching the runway, the propeller of the third engine was not removed from the stop, and the remaining propellers turned out to be feathered. Turning and heeling moments arose, as a result of which the An-10 left the runway, broke the left landing gear and continued moving, damaging the fuselage, the left half-wing, one engine nacelle and two propellers. This time, the repair of the aircraft took more than three months.
The NK-4 engines caused a lot of headaches for the creators of the An-10. Despite their advanced design, they required numerous modifications, for which flights often had to be stopped. Factory tests were delayed. Against this background, Ivchenko’s engine proved to be more reliable. Antonov made the final choice in favor of the AI-20
Such engines were installed on the first production An-10 (series 01-01, onboard USSR-L5723). On November 5, 1957, from the Pridacha airfield of the Voronezh aircraft plant, this aircraft was lifted into the air by a crew that included representatives of the Antonov Design Bureau: commander I.E. Davydov, flight engineer E.M. Dumnov and leading test engineer V.S. Popov, as well as factory specialists: co-pilot B.V. Sharlikov, navigator T.F. Bevz, flight radio operator A.M. Brazhnikov. Factory tests lasted until October 24, 1958, with the aircraft remaining on the ground for 203 calendar days during various modifications. In total, 54 flights were carried out during the year with a total duration of 83 hours 11 minutes. In addition to I.E. Davydov and B.V. Sharlikov, during these tests the plane was piloted by Ya.I. Vernikov, as well as factory pilots A.V. Larionov and A.I. Shovkunenko.
It should be noted that the An-10 tests were interrupted not only for modifications and repairs, but also for presentations. For the first time, the An-10, together with the Il-18, was demonstrated to party and government leaders, representatives of the diplomatic corps, Aeroflot employees and journalists at Vnukovo airport on July 10
1957 In August, in Zhukovsky, these vehicles were inspected by representatives of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, and at the airfield in Kubinka they were shown to the Minister of Defense of India and the King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah. International recognition for Antonov's new airliner came in July 1958 at an exhibition in Brussels (Belgium), where the aircraft was awarded a Grand Gold Medal and a Diploma (two prepared models of the aircraft were exhibited there on a scale of 1:10 in configurations for 100 and 130 seats)
In the same year, a very important stage began in the An-10’s biography - the prototype was transferred to State testing. According to the practice adopted in the USSR, they took place at the Air Force Research Institute (Chkalovskaya airfield). By that time, IL-18s were already being worked on there. The leading test pilot of the An-10 was V.I. Kuznetsov, and leading engineers - B.V. Sorokin and N.M. Zazimko. In January 1959, the first production An-10 01-01 arrived at the Air Force Research Institute, which was also used in State tests. They were successfully completed on June 13 of the same year, the aircraft received the go-ahead for regular operation on Civil Air Fleet airlines. Later, the prototype aircraft was installed in the Antey pioneer camp belonging to the Antonov Design Bureau, and the 01-01 machine became a visual aid at the Kuibyshev Aviation Institute.
The resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers on the development of the An-10, issued on November 30, 1955, immediately provided for the deployment of its serial production. On March 26, 1956, Government Decree 424-261 appeared, which also concerned the serial production of the An-10. This was to be done by Plant 64 of the Voronezh Economic Council (SNH), which had the following aircraft construction plan: in 1958 - 40 copies, in 1959 - 75, in 1960 - 100.
Production of the An-10 at the Voronezh Aviation Plant began simultaneously with the completion of the Tu-16 program.
Soon the enterprise was headed by A.G. Belyavsky, during whose leadership the vast majority of An-10s were produced. To provide effective assistance, a branch of the Antonov Design Bureau was organized at the Voronezh plant, where different time Kiev residents N.P. worked Sobol, A.M. Kondratyev, V.P. Teplov and Ya.D. Goloborodko.
The initial period of production of the An-10 turned out to be difficult not only for the main production of the plant, but also for its flight service. In 1958, the second production vehicle (01-02) was destroyed on its first flight. Crew A.V. Larionov faced a very difficult situation. On the plane, the leftmost engine failed, and at the same time the automation reduced the power of the rightmost engine (this was how they tried to fight the turning moment, which was soon abandoned). Then the internal engines began to fail. It was possible to increase the power of the far right AI-20, but, obviously, the crew did not have enough experience... I had to carry out forced landing in a field near a small river. It turned out to be very rough, the plane was destroyed, the flight engineer was killed, and the co-pilot and flight radio operator were seriously injured.
One of the areas of improvement of the aircraft during its serial production was the fight against increased noise in passenger cabins. However, it was not possible to radically reduce it.
The initially planned number of An-10s were never built. On June 18, 1960, the Chairman of the GKAT, Dementyev, signed order 238, which stated: In order to quickly equip the BTA with transport and landing aircraft in accordance with the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR 601-246 of June 1, 1960, I order: - to organize, starting in 1961, on plants 64 of the Voronezh SNK and 84 of the Tashkent SNK serial production of the An-12; - stop production starting in 1961 passenger aircraft An-10 at the plant 64 and An-8 transport and landing aircraft at the plant 84.... In total, instead of 215 An-10, Voronezh produced 108: in 1957 - 1, in 1958 - 20, in 1959 . - 46, in 1960 - 41. They made up 26 series: 16 with 3 cars and 10 with 6. .
The serial number of the An-10 is deciphered as follows: the first digit is the year of manufacture, the second and third are the plant number, which for the purpose of secrecy did not correspond to reality, the fourth and fifth are the series number, the sixth and seventh are the number of the aircraft in the series. For example, our 0402406 means: 0 - 1960, 40 - plant 64, 24 - 24th series, 06 - the second car in the series.
The basic version of the An-10 provided for the transportation of 85 passengers. To improve the efficiency of the airliner, its first modification, the An-10A, was developed, designed for 100 passengers. The external geometry of the aircraft remained unchanged, and the increase in the number of seats was achieved through internal rearrangement. At the same time, the rear pressurized partition was moved 2 m back, 26 seats were placed in the front cabin, on average - 42, in the rear - 16, in two compartments in the center section - 5 each and in the rear compartment - 6. The rear compartment was distinguished by the greatest comfort, where We installed 2 sofas that could be turned into sleeping places. Between the front and middle salons, just in the area of the propellers, there was a luggage compartment. At the same time, a number of changes were made to the design of many units and systems of the An-10A, adopted based on the results of various tests.
In December 1957, the An-10A model was presented to the commission of the Civil Air Fleet Scientific Research Institute, and the first such machine (serial 16-02) took off in October 1959. All An-10 latest episodes were produced in this version, and in 1963 the conversion of the An-10s that were in service into An-10A began.
During operation, it was noticed that when a flight speed is reached greater than M = 0.62, shaking occurs empennage.Then we decided to get rid of the vertical washers installed on it. In February 1961, the An-10A (ser. 20-02, board USSR-11185) was modified by replacing the washers, and at the same time one small ventral ridge with two enlarged ventral ridges with a total area of 9.06 sq.m. Tests showed that the shaking disappeared, and the stability and controllability of the aircraft remained virtually unchanged. After that, over the course of several years, all An-10s in service were modified in a similar way.
In general, the results of the tests established the possibility of safe regular operation of the new Antonov airliner on Aeroflot airlines in various weather conditions, day and night, from concrete and dirt runways, and also identified the features of its piloting and maintenance. The An-10 entered service without flying in conditions of high and low outside temperatures, and the study of its behavior during natural icing was carried out in a very simplified manner. Soon it was necessary to pay the most to gain precious experience. high price
After a series of disasters, it became clear that further operation of the An-10 was possible only after the causes of the incident had been eliminated, and they were still unknown. It was suspected that the control system had failed. It was based on reports from several crews who that winter encountered strange behavior of the An-10 during landing approach, when, for no apparent reason, the plane suddenly tried to go into a dive. However, special studies and re-analysis of State Test materials did not confirm this version.
The basis for another version, which at first seemed unlikely, was the discovery of small ice residues on the fragments of the stabilizer. It was this find that was destined to become the key to unraveling the destruction of the planes.
They found out that it was the icing of the stabilizer that caused the planes to crash. The reason for this behavior of the aircraft was the development of a premature flow stall on the lower surface of the horizontal tail when the flaps were deflected, the critical angle of attack of which decreased due to icing of the stabilizer nose.
To continue safe operation, the An-10 was quickly modified. The toe of the stabilizer was equipped with a more powerful electro-thermal anti-icing system (the so-called knife) and a backlight for its inspection, and the steering column was equipped with a spring loader, which eliminated the loss of effort when pushing the steering wheel away from you. In addition, the crews received a recommendation to reduce the landing angle of the flaps when there is a threat of icing.
In 1962, Aeroflot operated 75 An-10s, which were distributed among the following departments: Ukrainian - 30 copies. (Kiev - 11, Kharkov - 7, Lvov - 6, Donetsk - 6), Belorusskoe - 6 (Minsk), Moldavskoe - 5 (Chisinau), Privolzhskoe - 8 (Kuibyshev), North Caucasian -10 (Rostov-on-Don ), Komi - 5 (Syktyvkar), East Siberian - 6 (Irkutsk - 3, Khabarovsk - 3) and Ulyanovsk ShVLP - 5. The next year, the number of An-10s in the Civil Air Fleet reached its maximum - 80 vehicles. According to the MGA, the Antonov airliner was the most profitable aircraft.
Aeroflot employees called Antonov's car Big Anna. The plane could land on a more or less suitable field and accept passengers. There were cases when tickets were sold directly in its cabin, and the An-10 took off immediately when it was filled with passengers. By the way, the price of an air ticket was equal to the price train ticket in a compartment carriage.
The loss of 8 new aircraft in 13 years (almost 10% of the fleet in service) is incredible by modern standards.
On May 18, 1972, an event occurred that put an end to the An-10’s career. On the morning of that day, 12 km from the Kharkov Osnova airport, already on the landing course, an An-10A (serial 25-02, board USSR-11215), flying from Moscow, crashed in the air. The left and right wings of the aircraft suddenly rose up, closed over the fuselage, and then fell off completely. The fuselage also began to fall apart. Everyone on board died.
At the end of the summer of 1972, the State Commission, having once again examined all the materials of the investigation of the disaster, and also taking into account the results of tests and inspection of the fleet, decided to remove all An-10s from service on Aeroflot lines. As of January 1, 1973, there were 67 An-10s in the MGA, 11 in the Air Force, and 3 in various tests. The rest of the An-10s had already been written off. On August 27, MGA order 32 was issued, according to which 40 An-10s were to be written off. And on November 5, by order of MAP 401, 25 An-10s were transferred from the civil aviation to the aviation industry, where they were going to be used as cargo vehicles to support the operation of aircraft factories. In 1974, only 3 of these aircraft remained in service and another 19 were awaiting the necessary modifications. However, the following year not a single An-10 took to the skies.
The aircraft is an all-metal cantilever high-wing aircraft with a single-fin tail and retractable landing gear, equipped with four wing-mounted turboprop engines. The crew consists of seven people: the left (ship commander) and right pilots, a navigator, a radio operator, a flight mechanic and two flight attendants.
Photo 130.
Photo 131.
Photo 132.
Photo 133.
Photo 134.
The aircraft's power plant consists of four AI-20A turboprop engines with metal four-blade variable-pitch propellers AV-68I, pulling, left rotation, feathered, with a diameter of 4.5 m. Engine power (under ISA conditions) at takeoff mode is 4000 e.l. s, at nominal mode near the ground - 3400 hp. The engine control is mechanical, the wiring from the throttle lever is cable. The engines are started electrically, using starter-generators STG-12TM, powered by aircraft batteries or an airfield power source. The engine is located in the engine nacelle in front of the wing so that its axis is oriented at an angle of 40" to the chord plane.
The aircraft landing gear includes four supports: a front one, two main ones and a tail safety one. The landing gear base is 9.58 m, the track (along the axes of the struts) is 4.92 m. All landing gear supports are retracted into the fuselage, while the main ones are rotated to the axis of symmetry of the aircraft, the front and tail ones are turned back in flight.
Photo 137.
Well, since we’re here on this site, let’s look around, this
In addition to An - 8, in the OKB of O.K. Antonov in 1955-195 7. two turboprop aircraft were created: the passenger An-10 and the cargo An-12 with maximum unification.
The An-10 was the first domestic wide-body passenger aircraft with turboprop engines to transport 84 passengers on medium-haul airlines, and the An-12 was the first cargo turboprop four-engine aircraft with a payload capacity of 20 tons.
Initially, the An-10 passenger aircraft was equipped with four NK-4 turboprop engines designed by N.D. Kuznetsova. The first flight of the An-10 took place on March 7, 1957, it was performed by test pilots Ya.I. Vernikov, I.E. Davydov and navigator P.V. Koshkin. The first prototype of the An-10 aircraft was called “Ukraine”, and it was built at an aircraft plant in Kyiv. The An-10 factory testing program was completed by test pilots I.E. Davydov and V.A. Kalinin.
The An-10 "Ukraine" aircraft is an all-metal monoplane with a high wing with an area of 121.73 m2.
The plane has 84 soft, comfortable seats with reclining backs. A light table is inserted into the arm of the chair, on which you can put a book or magazine or place a tray with food, since all passengers will receive hot meals along the way. The plane has two wardrobes, toilets, and a buffet kitchen. In the lower part of the fuselage, under the floor, there are two pressurized cargo spaces that accommodate 4,000 kg of cargo and 350 kg of passenger luggage.
Seats for passengers are located in three separate comfortable salons, illuminated by two rows of lampshades.
The fuselage of the An-10 aircraft is located very low above the ground. The wings with engines are raised very high, so that a gaping passenger can even pass under the rotating propellers without any harm to himself. Cars and fuel tankers pass freely under the propellers.
The pressurized cabin is heated and air-conditioned, with little engine noise audible, so you can talk without raising your voice. Spacious and comfortable pilot's cabin, well glazed workplace navigator reduced crew fatigue and had a positive effect on flight safety.
The crew consisted of five people: two pilots, a flight mechanic, a navigator and a radio operator.
The An-10 aircraft is designed to land at small, ubiquitous airfields and does not require long concrete strips for takeoff and landing.
The second experimental and at the same time the first production An-10 with the AI-20 theater was first flown into the air by OKB test pilot I.E. Davydov November 5, 1957 in Voronezh. Factory tests took place until June 1958. The An-10 was produced serially until December 1959.
In 1958, at the World Aviation Exhibition in Brussels, the An-10 was awarded a large Gold Medal and Diploma.
Since 1959, a modified An-1 OA aircraft with a fuselage extended by 2 meters for 100 passengers with an AI-20A theater engine with a power of 4000 hp entered serial production, and then Aeroflot. and AB-68I propellers.
The An-10A aircraft made its first technical flight on April 27, 1959. On June 22, 1959, a car with passengers went on its first flight on the route Moscow - Simferopol. In December 1959, the An-10A flew to the USA.
The pilots of the Ukrainian Directorate were the first to master the An-YA aircraft civil aviation E.V. Balashov, I.I. Boguslavsky, M.I. Dubovik.
The An-YuA was equipped with radio navigation and radar equipment that was advanced at that time, and modern flight instruments. Pressurized cabins and air conditioning units made it possible to fly high altitudes, provide convenience and comfort for the crew. The An-YuA aircraft can continue to fly if one, two or even three engines fail. The ability to take off from unpaved platforms, ease of maintenance and good efficiency helped the An-YuA to securely gain a foothold in several republican and regional Aeroflot departments at once.
In addition to the An-10, An-YuA, other modifications were developed. An-YUB, built in 1962 in a single copy, was distinguished by the latest radio equipment and a cabin layout that could accommodate 132 passengers. The An-YuV, with a fuselage extended by 6 meters and a capacity of up to 174 passengers, did not go into mass production. The remaining project on paper is the An-1 OD with a capacity of up to 124 passengers and a flight range of up to 4,400 km. Back in 1957, the An-16 was being developed - a modification of the An-10 for transporting 130 passengers with luggage, mail and cargo with a total weight of up to 14,000 kg over a distance of 2,000 km. The increase in seats was achieved through a 3 m cylindrical insert into the fuselage of the base aircraft. This project was not implemented.
During the years of serial production (1957-1960), 108 An-10 and An-YA aircraft were built at the Voronezh Aviation Plant.
Since 1958, all An-10s were equipped with AI-20 engines. In the same year, the plant produced 16, in 1959 - 39 and in 1960 - 46 aircraft. By the end of 1963, Aeroflot was operating 81 An-10s.
By 1971, the “tens” carried 35 million passengers and a million tons of cargo. The An-10 took first place in Aeroflot in terms of passenger turnover.
The “airbus plane,” or, as the An-10 was also called, the “dolphin plane,” confidently conquered the “fifth ocean” and was preparing for new achievements.
In May 1972, a plane crash occurred near Kharkov, killing 116 people. The disaster near Kharkov forever crossed out the fate of the An-10. By voluntary decision, all An-10 aircraft are removed from Aeroflot lines. Since 1973, not a single An-10 aircraft with passengers has taken to the skies.
The An-10 is the first passenger aircraft with a turboprop engine in the Soviet Union to begin flight tests. It was the first to go into production, the first to reach airlines, and the first to be withdrawn from service.
BASIC DATA AH-10A
Take-off weight, kg 54,000
Curb weight of the aircraft, kg 35,600
Commercial load weight, kg 14,500
Number of passenger seats, people. 100
Number of crew members, people. 5
Flight range, km 1800-3000
Practical ceiling, m 10 200
Cruising speed, km/h 600-650
Landing speed, km/h 190-200
Fuel capacity, kg 11,260
Required runway length, m 1800
Mileage, m 700-800
Run, m - 500-650
Aircraft length, m 34.00
Wingspan, m 38.00
Wing area, m2 121.73
Aircraft height, m 9.83
Fuselage diameter, m 4.1
First domestic passenger airliner with turboprop engines, designed on the basis, it was distinguished by high reliability and ease of operation. The An-10, like most Soviet-made gliders, was famous for its unpretentiousness to runways.
An economical and profitable model of Soviet aviation unexpectedly failed its creator, and left the bright pages of history as quickly as it appeared...
The birth of Antonov's brainchild
From idea to layout
The history of the creation of the An-10 began in 1954 at the Antonov Design Bureau. At that moment, the bureau prepared a project for a comfortable 57-seater passenger airliner based on the An-8, and received the index “N”.
In the summer of 1955, when the design bureau visited N.S. Khrushchev, the designers proposed an even more ambitious option: the creation of military transport and civil aircraft on the same base. Such a project could provide the Air Force with a new transporter and civil aviation, the Antoshkas of which could also be quickly converted to meet the needs of the military.
For the domestic industry, which had survived a devastating war and was embarking on a cold war, this was an ideal option for saving production capacity on two types of aircraft.
The resolution of the Council of Ministers and the order of the Ministry issued by the end of the year Aviation Industry, set the task of creating in the Antonov design bureau a new airliner under the symbol “U” - universal, and later An-10.
In accordance with the specifications, the equipment was designed for medium-haul flights from 500 km to 2000 km on regional routes.
The military twin brother was named An-12, according to all design parameters and schemes of which the civilian version was built. This was due to the fact that this equipment will be used in difficult conditions, in undeveloped runways, sometimes on unpaved airfields. The design of the “ten” was carried out from November 1955 to August 1956, and in September a mock-up of the airliner was built.
Undeclared competition
The documents suggested equipping military An-10s with Kuznetsov engines, and civilian gliders with Ivchenko Design Bureau engines. Kuznetsov had experience in theater construction, having created heavy-duty power plants for bombers. Ivchenko Design Bureau was just embarking on the path of new jet engine construction and understood that it would not be easy to compete with Kuznetsov Design Bureau.
- Kuznetsovsky NK-4 was designed with the introduction of the latest technologies, showing excellent results, but in the end this negatively affected its reliability.
- The AI-20, developed by the Ivchenko Design Bureau, was primarily aimed at simplicity and reliability. The “Soldier’s” motor used subsonic technologies that reduced technical risks and increased efficiency. Units and components were selected taking into account high requirements in favor of durability.
- The AI-20 turned out to be heavier and took longer to be tested than its competitor. Therefore, the first An-10, which took off for the first time, had NK-4 engines.
Later, for reasons of economy, they decided to build two models of the theater, conduct tests and select the best one, which will be equipped with all gliders.
Video - history of creation
For practical testing of power plants, a special flying laboratory was built on the basis of the four-engine Tu-4, nicknamed “Crooked Spit”. The outer left engine was replaced with an NK-4, and the right one with an AI-20. This was a flying laboratory for comparing two theaters in operation.
Based on the results, it became clear that the Ivchenko design bureau engine turned out to be more reliable and the necessary modifications were made faster than on the NK-4.
At the end of the 1950s, power plants from the Kuznetsov Design Bureau were removed en masse from the Il-18, replacing them with the noisier and more cumbersome AI-20. NK-4 were much more economical, but not improved in terms of reliability.
The beginning of the An-10 career
In December 1956, all necessary tests of the first airframe began, ending in May of the following year. On March 7, 1957, the debut flight of the prototype “tens” with the NK-4 theater took place. This specimen received the name “Ukraine” and registration number“SSSR-U1957”, capable of carrying 85 air passengers.
Subsequent Antoshka production aircraft were produced with AI-20 engines. A crew of six specialists lifted the car from the airfield of the Kyiv plant in Svyatoshino, and landed in Boryspil, which is about 30 km from the take-off airfield. In July 1957, at Vnukovo airport, a presentation of the first plane to the country’s leadership, Aeroflot employees and journalists took place.
Experimental test flights continued until the summer of 1958. Various situations and tasks were practiced, the results of which formed the basis of instructions for ordinary crews. Until 1959, “tens” carried only cargo, and after successful government tests, the government gave the go-ahead to carry passengers.
Flight characteristics of AN-10
| Wingspan, m | 38 |
| Length, m | 34 |
| Height, m | 9,83 |
| Wing area, m2 | 121,73 |
| Weight, t | |
| Empty | 31,61 |
| Maximum takeoff | 51 |
| Fuel | 10, 78 |
| Engine | AI-20 |
| Power, pcs. x l/s | 4 x 4,000 |
| Maximum speed, km/h | |
| On high | 675 |
| Near the ground | 520 |
| Flight range, km | 2 000 |
| Practical ceiling, m | 10 000 |
| Crew, people | 5 |
| Passengers, persons | 132 |
| Paratroopers, persons | 100 |
| Load, t | 12 |
| Run length, m | 750 |
Description of An-10
First impression
The design of the airframe is 80% identical to its brother An-12. The main difference comes at the rear aircraft. In case of war, it was prescribed that civilian “tens” should be converted into military transport vehicles by quickly changing the tail section as on the “twelfth”.
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The fuselage with a maximum diameter of 4.1 meters and a length of 34 meters is technologically divided into 4 sections. The fuselage contains special nacelles for retractable landing gear. Two regular doors were located on the left side of the body, and two cargo doors on the right for the transport version. There were also 5 spare escape hatches. Cargo compartments and a trunk are located under the cabin.
The spacious passenger cabin of the An-10 is 3.9 meters wide and maximum height Soviet citizens immediately liked 2.9 meters.
The interior upholstery was done primarily in soft coffee tones, and photographs of USSR cities were located above the windows. The seats had armrests and were mounted on rails that could be moved as much as 37 cm.
The adjustable tilt angle of the seat backs up to 45 degrees also provided high level comfort. In the tail compartment there was a separate passenger room with sofas for 6 travelers.
Due to the high location of the An-10 engines above the ground, the entry of dust and dirt into the air intakes was minimized. The high position of the propellers allowed various vehicles to pass under them, the passage of people and a compact location at the airfield.
Basic systems
In the middle of the center section there are 22 tanks with aviation fuel (T-1, TS-1 or T-2) with a capacity of 14,700 liters. On the top of the wing there are filler necks for mechanical filling by gravity. The right landing gear nacelle is equipped with fittings for automatic fuel supply by a pressure pump. The free space in the fuel tanks is filled with carbon dioxide, which serves as an auxiliary fire extinguishing agent.
The fire extinguishing system consists of six fire extinguishers divided into three groups. The fire-fighting mixture from the first group is supplied automatically to the burning compartment, and the remaining groups are switched on mechanically from the cabin. The fuel system and engine nacelles also have an automatic fire extinguishing network. At emergency landing on the “belly”, the fire extinguishing mixture is supplied by all lines of fire extinguishers to all sections.
In the hydraulic network, the working fluid is a special oil.
The system drives all the main moving elements of the airframe: flaps, landing gear, brakes.
The anti-icing system takes warm air from the turboprop compressors and distributes it to the air intakes of the engine nacelles, to the air and oil coolers, and blows the pilots' windows from the inside. The electric thermal network heats the propeller blades, elevator and front windows.
On aircraft There is an air conditioning and thermal heating system from engine compressors. Warm air heats the interior through special channels between the sections, heating the internal panels. A radiator is installed in the left chassis nacelle to cool air for air conditioning.
Navigation equipment was mounted primarily on the pilot's panel. Included aids for effective aircraft navigation. Various altitude barometers, external and internal thermometers, many compasses and locators, variometers, horizon indicators and autopilot.
Operation at Aeroflot
In July 1959, Aeroflot began operating airliners on the Moscow-Simferopol route. Due to its large passenger capacity, the liner was considered one of the most cost-effective compared to the Ili and Tupolev. Transporting passengers on a Tu-104 was more profitable than a “ten” only on long-distance flights.
This year, serial production of the An-10A with 100 passenger seats began. Subsequently, the capacity was increased to 118, and later to 132 seats.
In 1958, at the World Aviation Exhibition in Brussels, the An-10A earned a diploma and a medal. Despite the fact that representatives of foreign countries were present at the presentation of the Airbus to the government of the USSR in Vnukovo, and several airliners were prepared for delivery abroad, Aeroflot remained the only company operating the “tens”.
Antoshka design errors
Diseases from saving time
Flights of the airliners were quickly interrupted after several disasters. At the development stage, there was a version about the rapid fatigue of the structure, since the airliner was supposed to operate at short distances - this would cause a rapid drop in pressure and loads on the excessively “potbellied” body of the aircraft. This hypothesis has not been practically tested in a wind chamber.
Calculations at the development stage and the first flights indicated insufficient stability of the Antoshka aircraft at speeds of more than 620 km/h. The occurrence of dangerous oscillations and vibrations was the result of insufficient vertical tail. This could have been prevented by devoting not a year and a half to designing the airframe, but two.
In this regard, the installation of vertical washers on the horizontal tail unit began already during operation.
And later it was decided to remove these washers back and install two ventral fins of increased area. All these improvements required significant resources and time. According to statistics, during the first years of operation, “tens” were under repair longer than all other aircraft, and spent a significant number of aircraft hours in factories.
Irreparable losses
The first aircraft was lost in April 1958 during landing: both right engines failed during a test flight. One of the five crew members was killed, the rest were seriously injured. The blame was placed on the pilots who were not fully briefed.
During landing, in February 1960, the second plane crashed near Lvov. Of the 33 people, one passenger survived. An investigation into the causes of the tragedy showed icing of the tail unit, which is responsible for the stability of the vehicle in the air. The flights were postponed until the existing anti-icing systems at the Voronezh plant were improved. By this time, about thirty ships had accumulated there, requiring improvement.
This event finally crossed out the further fate of the An-10. When landing, the left wing of the plane folded upward in the air, and after a few seconds the right wing. A moment later the entire hull began to crumble. The entire destruction lasted about 7 seconds, after which he fell piece by piece to the ground. Flights of all models in this series were suspended until the cause of the tragedy was determined.
A version was put forward about fatigue cracks in the main fastening elements of the wing. After dismantling two An-10A, this hypothesis was confirmed. The commission concluded that the failure was caused by fatigue cracks, the possibility of which had not been verified during factory tests back in the late 1950s.
This defect was in the center section, which was difficult for a mechanic to reach, and the regulations did not require checking these components. The metal alloys used in load-bearing elements simply could not withstand long-term use. In the production of parts, these materials were processed chemically in order to save money. This defect was built into all aircraft at the design and production stage. But at that time, the domestic aircraft industry did not have the ability to predict the appearance of fatigue cracks.
To write off and dispose of all aircraft - this was the decision of the Ministry of Aviation after the results of the commission.
Modifications
- An-10A. The fuselage was extended by 110 cm, allowing it to accommodate 100 passengers. The maximum number of seats in the latest version of the release has reached 132.
- An-10B. An improved cabin that can accommodate 118 air passengers.
- An-10V (An-16). Remains under development. A modification that increases the fuselage to 40 meters and passenger capacity to 174 people.
- An-10VKP. Air command post designed to control combat operations. The board is equipped with special radio equipment and special equipment. Several copies were built.
- An-10D. A project left on paper. Increased flight range up to 4400 km due to the use of free wing spaces as tanks. Accommodation for 124 “tourist” seats. Increasing the middle part of the monoplane by 1 meter to distance the power plant from the fuselage and minimize noise. Placement in the wide section of a small cinema.
- An-10TS. Military transport modification, increased payload capacity to 14.5 tons and the ability to land airborne troops.
Results
By 1971, Antonov's airliners took leading positions in transportation on domestic airlines, transporting hundreds of million cargo and 35 million people. During its operation, 370 people died in plane crashes. For example, 1,359 people died on the Il-18 during the same period. The majority of the accidents were caused by machine malfunctions, but investigations also revealed the presence of a human factor.
In August 1972, 40 An-10A units were written off and Aeroflot stopped operating the An-10. In the fall, 25 aircraft were transferred to enterprises to make design changes for production needs. In 1973, only 3 passenger cars were converted, and in 1974 “dozens” completely stopped flying.
The cars were scrapped or used as monuments, exhibits and various leisure facilities of the era.
Today, only one An-10A has been preserved in the Monino Museum, as well as individual elements of the fuselage from a private person. The experience of building the “ten” at the Antonov design bureau became a key factor for the successful creation of the An-12, which still flies today.
Video inside An-10
The rapid growth in demand for passenger air travel in the early 50s led to the creation of a number of fundamentally new machines. One of them was the An-10 "Ukraine" - the first domestic wide-body airliner.
It was created to transport large quantity passengers over relatively short distances, mainly from Central Russia to the south. At that time, the airfields of a number of southern cities had unpaved or, at best, metal runways and could not accommodate the high-speed Tu-104. The long-range Il-18 was ineffective on such lines. An aircraft was required that could be operated on unpaved runways and at the same time transport as many passengers, mail and cargo as possible. At the same time, the task was set to unify the passenger and cargo versions of the vehicle in order to reduce the cost of their operation.
This is how the An-10 and An-12 were born. The An-12 cargo plane was destined for a long life; these planes continue to fly to this day, transporting, for example, humanitarian cargo in Africa - in such conditions, a better alternative has never been found. The fate of the An-10 was sad. Just over 15 years passed between the flight of the first prototype and the removal of the entire fleet from Aeroflot lines.
The An-10 was originally designed to carry 85 passengers on lines up to 2,000 km long at a speed of 650 km/h. The safety margin built into their design made it possible to subsequently create 100- and 132-seat modifications without major alterations.
The An-10 was very reliable in operation, and fuel consumption and transportation costs were practically the lowest in its class of aircraft, even taking into account foreign models. The An-10 was one of the few types of aircraft, the operation of which brought significant profits to Aeroflot.
The first “alarm bell” rang on March 31, 1971, when USSR-11145 crashed near Voroshilovgrad (now Lugansk). The cause of the disaster was never found; everything was attributed to an explosion of fuel vapor in the wing tanks. The entire An-10 fleet flew quietly for another 13 months.
On the afternoon of May 18, 1972, exactly 35 years ago, the An-10A USSR-11215 of Kharkov OJSC was preparing to take off from Vnukovo airport on a Moscow-Kharkov flight. During the takeoff run, a strong vibration arose, the crew stopped the takeoff and taxied back to the parking lot to correct the problem. The flight was delayed for several hours, which helped several more passengers secure tickets. Among these passengers was the very famous parodist Viktor Chistyakov, who was flying to Kharkov on tour.
After repairs, all 114 passengers and 8 crew members took their seats again, and the An-10 took off from the concrete of Vnukovo Airport. The first hour of the flight was relatively calm, but in the Belgorod area the PIC reported strong vibrations and asked to prepare a route for a direct approach to Kharkov. Shortly before Kharkov, the vibration became so intense that the crew decided to turn off two of the four engines. During this operation, the structure of the aircraft went into resonance, the power panel in the center section collapsed along fatigue cracks, the half-wings with engines separated, and the aircraft crashed to the ground near the village of Russkaya Lozovaya, not reaching the airfield about 15 km.
The commission investigating the causes of the disaster discovered that almost the entire An-10 fleet had fatigue cracks in the power elements of the center section, which were undetectable due to the sealant layer during routine inspections. All An-10s at Aeroflot were discontinued and they never carried passengers again.
It is noteworthy that the An-12, due to the specifics of its service, had reinforced panels. They preferred to install standard ones on the passenger version. The previously discovered cracks on the An-10 did not alert the design bureau, and it did not insist on correcting the dangerous defect...
Photo from the article by V. Zayarin and A. Sovenko. It is noteworthy that the An-10 was filmed during a successful flight experiment with 3 out of 4 engines turned off. This plane was so “flyable” that before landing two engines were simply supposed to be turned off in order to land it on the ground...
Almost simultaneously with the An-12 cargo aircraft, the development bureau, headed by O.K. Antonov, handed over for testing a new multi-seat passenger aircraft to serve medium-haul long-haul airlines. The first copy of the aircraft was named “Ukraine”. Its salons had 84 seats for passengers. In addition, the plane could take up to 3.5 tons of cargo. At the beginning of 1957, pilots Y. Vernikov and V. Vasin made their first flight on it.
Further comprehensive tests confirmed that the new machine is reliable and very economical; its operation is possible at airfields that do not have concrete runways.
The aircraft accepted for mass production was initially called . The operation of the machine on Aeroflot lines has shown that with minor changes its efficiency can be increased without compromising flight performance.
The designers lengthened the fuselage by 1.1 m and rearranged the layout passenger seats in salons. This variant became known as the An-10A. He has already taken 100 or more passengers. Factories built a significant number of machines of this type, which for a long time successfully operated on many airlines in the country. At the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958, the An-10A aircraft was awarded a diploma and a Big Gold Medal.
Monoplane of all-metal construction. Four AI-20K turboprop engines with a power of 4 thousand e. hp installed in a relatively thin high wing with an area of 121.78 m2.
With a load of 15 tons, the An-10A develops a cruising speed of 630-650 km/h at an altitude of 8 thousand m. The aircraft's service ceiling is 10.2 km, landing speed is 190-200 km/h. The take-off length is 700-800 m, the run length is 600-650 m. The machine is capable of continuing to take off with three engines running, and horizontal flight with two. The empty weight of the aircraft is 32.5 tons, the maximum take-off weight is 54 tons.
The first copy of the aircraft. The An-10, named "Ukraine", was built by a design team headed by O.K. Antonov in March 1957.
In 1958, at the World Exhibition in Brussels, the An-10A received a diploma and a Big Gold Medal. In 1961, the An-10A set a speed record when flying along a closed route with a total length of 500 km - 730.616 km/h. The same aircraft in a cargo version with a modified fuselage (An-12) flew from Moscow through the tropics to Antarctica, where it was used for scientific research on the icy continent. The An-10A is an all-metal high-wing aircraft with a cantilever wing, conventional tail and retractable ten-wheel landing gear. The aircraft is equipped with four AI-20 turboprop engines with a power of 4000 hp each. With. at 12,300 rpm. The propellers are metal, four-bladed, with pitch adjustable in flight. The wing has a small reverse transverse angle V at the end sections. The trailing edge of the central part of the wing up to the ailerons is occupied by double-slotted flaps. On takeoff they deviate downwards by 25°, and on landing by 33°. Each aileron is divided into two parts along its span; the inner part has a trimmer.
The fuselage is equipped with small fairings on the sides below - “gills”, where the struts of the main landing gear, consisting of four two-wheeled bogies, are hidden during flight. The carts themselves are hidden in the fuselage. A headlight is located in the toe of the left fairing to illuminate the runway. The radar fairing is located at the bottom of the forward fuselage. There are antennas on top of the fuselage. The front landing gear, like the main landing gear, is retracted into the fuselage in flight and has a two-wheeled bogie. Thanks to the large number of wheels, low tire pressure and increased engine power, the aircraft can easily take off from unpaved airfields. The fuselage diameter is 4.1 m, while the internal volume of the passenger cabin is quite large. The height of the main passenger cabin is 2.5 m; films are shown here. The cabin has air conditioning, heating and automatically controlled boost.
Crew - 5 people. The cockpit contains modern instruments and radio equipment, allowing you to fly the aircraft in any weather. In the absence of visibility, the radar signals the crew about oncoming obstacles and thunderstorm fronts along the route. There is an anti-icing system. In the rear part of the fuselage, in front of the empennage, there is a tail heel retractable in flight in the form of a crutch with a shock-absorbing strut. The tail of the aircraft has rudders equipped with axial compensation and trim tabs, adjustable by the pilot in flight. The AN-10A aircraft can continue to fly if one, two or even three engines fail. The coloring of the An-10A is as follows: the upper half of the fuselage up to the glazing of the cockpit canopy, including the vertical tail and the central part of the wing, is painted white. The rudder trim and leading edge of the fin are painted silver. Along the length of the fuselage, at the location of the passenger compartment windows, there is a red zigzag line with a white border, tapering towards the tail.
The lower part of the fuselage under the red line, engine nacelles, wings and horizontal tail surfaces are painted silver. The engine nacelles have a red double border and triple longitudinal straight lines. Above the red line in the area of the first portholes is written in red handwritten font: “An-10A”. Under the orange wing, in small print, “AEROFLOT” is written in black and the emblem is drawn in red. A waving red flag is painted on the fin and rudder. On the fuselage under the last three windows there is an inscription in black: “USSR-11185”, the same inscription on the wings, top and bottom.
The aircraft data is as follows: wingspan - 38 m; length - 34 m; height - 9.8 m; wing area - 121.73 m2; maximum take-off weight - 56 g; maximum speed 777 km/h; working altitude - 8000 m; operating flight speed - 640 km/h; range at a maximum load of 14.5 tons - 2200 km, take-off length - 750 m; run length - 600 m.
