An-22 Antei - History - Flight Tests

The new plane was “crude”; all the design flaws immediately began to appear. An example is that the gas exhaust pipes of power plants, made of heat-resistant steel, withstood only a few flights. Then cracks began to appear on them. Gas exhaust pipes had to be changed almost every preliminary preparation. This problem was resolved only when gas exhaust pipes began to be made of titanium.

In the first years of operation of the aircraft, the oil system of the power plants was filled with an oil mixture of 25% MS-20 oil and 75% MK-22 oil. At an outside temperature of -5°C, the oil thickened and the engines had to be heated. Heating of the engines, covered with winter cotton covers, was carried out by two gasoline engine heaters (one heater for two engines), which were very capricious in operation: either the spark disappeared or they simply did not start in the cold. Each heater was connected to canvas sleeves, which had to be suspended from the engine on a special structure made of cables (in common parlance - a “spider”).

The wind sometimes caused this entire structure to fall apart and technicians had to rebuild it several times. In order to have time to warm up the engines, senior power plant technicians and their mechanics had to arrive 4 hours before the start of pre-flight preparation. Sometimes all this work was in vain, because by the beginning of the flight shift, the weather had deteriorated and flights were postponed. Over time, following modifications, a stationary engine heating system from the TA-4FE auxiliary power unit (APU) was installed and the oil mixture was replaced with MH-7.5U oil, which did not lose viscosity down to a temperature of -30°C.

The anti-icing system (AIS) and the air conditioning system (ACS), equipped with pneumatic valves, caused a lot of trouble. In winter, moisture condensed in the thin tubes through which air was supplied to control the taps, the tubes froze and the taps did not open. Over time, this system was also modified by installing electric heating taps.

The KT-109 and KT-110 wheels with ribbed tread and brake drums could not withstand landings with a large landing weight. There were many cases in operation when, on business trips, the plane took off its shoes while landing and the crew had to change several wheels at once (which had to be brought on another plane). According to the modifications, KT-130 and KT-131 wheels and brake drums made of another magnesium alloy were installed, which could withstand up to 10 landings (one after another) during training flights in circles.

In the elevator and rudder control system, the BU-65 boosters (hydraulic boosters) were replaced with more powerful BU-120, and in the aileron control system - BU-120 with BU-190.

Other aircraft systems have undergone similar modifications. The radio communications, radio navigation, radio engineering and aviation equipment of the aircraft were changed and improved. The flight crews had to push for changes to the crew instructions based on the experience of operating the Antey. An example of this is the introduction of changes to the electrical engine starting circuit by the senior on-board technician at JSC V.N. Buzykanov, who proved the need to block the heating of the icing alarm of the SO-4A engine until the engine reaches idle speed. During the engine startup process, the SO-4A was left without air pressure from the propellers for about two minutes, overheated and eventually failed.

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.

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 aircraft 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 re-launch was raised. However, it was not possible to resume production, since the Tashkent plant was fully loaded with Il-76 aircraft.