An-74 COALER

The name An-74 was extended to the entire family of commercial airplanes, and the An-72 remained for military service. The An-74 derivative of the An-72 featured improved avionics and radar together with an extended wingspan and increased range. It was designed to operate in the polar regions where it can land on ice floes for resupply or rescue work. The An-71 AEW aircraft also featured the extended wingspan, along with a large radar dish on top of the tail. The aircraft is developed for operation over the routes, where transportation of the passengers to one end and cargo on return is required or the kinds of transpiration change from time to time. The aircraft can be converted from a passenger to a cargo aircraft and vice versa.

On February 2, 1982 the Ministry of Aviation Industry and the Council of Ministers of the USSR made the decision about the creation of aircraft An-74 (previous designation An-72[A]) for the work under the conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic on the basis of the modified version of aircraft An-72, which had not gone into series production at KNAPO. On January 26, 1983 was accepted the resolution of the Council of Ministers of USSR about the creation at the Kiev Machinery Plant of the first experiment version of aircraft An-74 with the running landing gear by the modification of experimental aircraft An-72 # 003. On September 29 experimental aircraft An-74 onboard of USSR-780334, series ? 003 accomplished its first manned flight by pilots S.A.Gorbikom and V.A.Shlyakhovym.

In August 1986 took place the first international demonstration of aircraft An-74 "USSR-58642" at the air show in Vancouver, Canada. On September 13, 1990, without waiting until the end official tests, the Ministry of Civil Aviation began conducting flight tests of aircraft An-74 at the base of airport Chersky Kolymo-Indigirskogo joint stock company of the concern Yakutavia. December 13 marked the successful finish of official tests of four pre-series aircraft An-74, that passed in the airfields into Sheremet'yevo Airport, Sochi, Ashkhabad, Borispole, Gostomele, Chersky, Pavlovian- Kamchatka. In April 1991 aircraft An-74 by the resolution of MA is allowed to the operation of civil aviation. On August 2 by the decision of Aviation Ministry of the USSR #14, ANTK im. O.K.Antonova was given out a certificate of the type #13-74 to the aircraft An-74.

An-74 it is created for the operation in the regions of the Arctic and Antarctica, it is intended for the transportation of loads, technology and people on the air lines of small and average extent under any climatic conditions from -60° [s] to +45° [s] and on any latitudes, including under the conditions of the north pole and in the alpine regions. It is possible to exploit on the equipped and unequipped air routes at any time of year and twenty-four hours from the concrete, pebble, ice and snowy airfields, on the internal and international lines. Aircraft An-74 makes it possible to transport load to 7.5 tons, including to 10 passengers, at the height to 10100 meters with cruising speed of 550-700 km/h.

Furthermore, it can accomplish the following specialized tasks: piloting vessels; organization and the maintenance the drifting stations; performing scientific research work in the high latitudes of Arctic and Antarctic Basins; visual ice patrol; the reconnaissance of fish door posts. Under operating conditions aircraft An-74 easily is re-equipped into the sanitary, fire- landing and different versions. Aircraft An-74 satisfies the airworthiness of commercial airplanes.

In the construction of aircraft new construction materials and technological processes are widely used. This ensured the high load ratio of aircraft. Aircraft is executed according to the schematic of high wing monoplane with two turbofan engines D -36 of a series of 2[A] by takeoff thrust on 6500 kG (63,7 kN) established above the wing, and by T-shaped tail assembly. The motor installation with the large extension above the upper wing surface practically forward excludes entry into the engines of foreign objects from the surface VPP with the takeoff and the landing, increases the lift of wing due to the blowout of its upper surface and inboard flaps by the jets of engines and is reduced the level of noise by the locality as a result of the screening the wing of exhaust jets of engines.

An-74-200 provides for transportation of 52 passengers or 10 tones of cargo. The aircraft can be converted from a cargo aircraft to a passenger aircraft and vice versa by the crew for less than 2 hours at the long-haul airport. The flight range for the aircraft transporting 52 passengers is 2800 km, and with 10 t of cargo is 900 km. Folding passenger seats, closed-type folding baggage racks with built-in service panels are allocated along both aircraft sides. The flight attendant takes a seat at the front end of the cabin. The kitchen block furnished with electric oven, water heaters and other appliances is also located there. The aircraft has a lavatory with a complete set of necessary sanitary equipment. The aircraft has four emergency exits to ensure emergency passenger evacuation. The entrance stairs serves as an entry and exit.

In addition to cargo and passenger version arrangements there can be suggested to the customers another two options as follows: 12 passengers + cargo and 20 passengers + cargo. In both versions the aircraft is supplied with a moveable side wall which is carried at the fuselage tail end. Cargo is stowed (stacked) on the deck and fastened with racks. Passengers seats are located at the fuselage front end and are secured with a side wall in case of heavy landing.

As compared with a base model, the aircraft is enhanced with the upgraded radio-electronic aids, in particular, high capacity radar. The aircraft is equipped with a new efficient anti-icing system, advanced cabin heating and ventilation systems. The cockpit and cargo cabin arrangements are improved in compliance with the new purposes.

An-74-200 is equipped with D-36 series bypass turbojet engines, maintaining takeoff thrust constant value up to the outside temperature of +33°. The auxiliary power plant, on board loading and discharging facilities, landing gear with low pressure tires provide for independent aircraft operation both on paved landing grounds and unpaved aerodromes. High-arranged engines exclude ingress of foreign objects into air intakes at takeoff and landing and as well during the operation on pebble aerodromes.

The crew of aircraft consists of four people of the crew: Commander of air vessel, copilot, navigator, and flight mechanic. Flight deck provides a good survey and the possibility of piloting under the conditions of airfields the limited sizes with the takeoff and the landing along the steep trajectories. The arrangement of instruments and control elements in the flight deck is optimized and is worked out on the instrument stands with all in practice possible flight situations. The crew of aircraft consists of four people of the crew: the commander of air vessel; copilot; navigator; flight mechanic; if necessary - operator of the transport equipment. Is possible the operation of aircraft without operator of the transport equipment, in this case its responsibilities are laid on the flight mechanic. Transport cab has overall sizes, optimized according to the dimensions of the main flow of transportable loads, and it makes it possible to transport cargoes in containers and [spaketirovannye] on the rigid pans, nonstandard (packages, flanks and other) loads, and also not self-propelled and self-propelled wheel technology (automobiles of the type [UAZ], [RAF], " Jeep -[S]47" ARE -240 and other) The aperture of cargo hatch is shut by the ramp, which can be gotten down to the earth and used as the ladder, or shifted forward under the fuselage, which ensures convenience in the load of aircraft directly from the body of automobile. Loading and unloading the loads, [spaketirovannykh] on the pans. cargoes in containers and other it is produced with the aid of onboard charging gear by load capacity 2500 kG (24.5 kN). Loading and unloading self-propelled technology is produced under its own power. and not self-propelled wheel technology - with the aid of the tractor and the cable charging gear.