An-72 aircraft: technical specifications, features

From the first controlled flight of the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, a little more than a hundred years have passed, but the history of aviation has been enriched by many aircraft models. Civil and military, transport and passenger, huge and not at all big. In the article, we will talk about the Soviet An-72 machine, conceived as a military transporter, but far beyond its project.

Background

The idea of ​​a transport aircraft, which does not require special runways, is as old as the whole history of aircraft construction. Attempts to create a machine that combines high flight performance and low landing speed have been made repeatedly. In the 70s of the last century, the most successful project was the Ar-242 Arado (Germany), which could transport goods to unprepared sites.

In the Soviet Union in 1972, on the initiative of the chief designer at the OKB named after Oleg Antonov , work began on the design of a short take-off and landing aircraft with a high carrying capacity. It was Oleg Konstantinovich who proposed using Coanda's aerodynamic effect (sticking an air stream to the wing) to increase the lifting force, which became the “highlight” of the An-72 military, nicknamed “Cheburashka”, and, according to NATO codification, “Coaler”.

Start

The designers were faced with the task of creating a non-heavy transport aircraft, designed to transport troops and equipment and perform the functions of supplying airfields where military aircraft are concentrated. This machine was supposed to have a load capacity of up to 5 tons, not large sizes, high rate of climb, the ability to take off on poorly prepared sites.

In the project documentation of 1972, the future An-72 was designated as the “200 aircraft,” the design of which was based on the Coanda effect, which gave a 20% increase in lift. A wing, a flap, an engine (it was taken out in front of the center section) took part in ensuring this growth.

The D-36 turbofan engine, which was manufactured at the Progress Design Bureau (Zaporozhye, Ukraine), made it possible to realize the Coanda effect in practice - it provided sufficient air flow, a “cold” exhaust gas stream aimed at blowing the wing. It was a tried and tested engine that was already used on the Yak-42 aircraft, and was economically close to the best western engines.

Optimal car

Design went fast. On the basis of Antonov Design Bureau - Kiev Mechanical Plant - the production of prototypes of “product 72” was underway. There were seven such models. The first flight of the An-72 aircraft with serial number 03 was carried out on 08/31/1977 at the test base in Gostomel. The crew, commanded by the honored pilot of the USSR and the chief pilot of the design bureau V. I. Tersky, were enthusiastic.

In addition to the simplicity of piloting, ease of control, well-thought-out ergonomics of the cockpit, the machine met design requirements. She just “jumped into the sky”, with a load of up to 3.5 thousand tons, the plane took off from the ground at speeds of about 185 km / h, making a run of just 450 meters. These were excellent characteristics of the An-72; a new light cargo aircraft with low landing and take-off speed and the ability to take off in short and unadapted runways.

The publication

The end of 1979 - at the air show in Le Bourget, the light An-72 military transport aircraft performs incredible maneuvers for this class of aircraft: the same “jump into the sky” - take-off with a very short take-off and steep climb, point landing, even a barrel and half loop. The car received enthusiastic responses.

At the Kiev Aviation Production Association, the serial production of this An-72 model was preparing. But the production was the assembly of the An-32, which had great commercial prospects. After long negotiations, the start of production of the An-72 transport aircraft was decided to be moved to Kharkov, and the first serial took off into the sky in December 1985.

And then civil aviation became interested in him, and civilian modifications of the Cheburashka appeared. These specimens had an increased flight range and increased carrying capacity.

An-72: technical specifications

A jet transport aircraft has the following characteristics.

For clarity, you can see the image shown below.

Construction solutions

An-72 is a high-wing aircraft with highly mechanized wings, a powerful keel and a T-tail tail. Above the swept wing are engines located in a retractable gondola. It is this design that allows the use of the Coanda effect to increase the lifting force. In addition, this is why the plane got its nickname - "Cheburashka." Reverse as a bucket.

The chassis has five self-retracting bearings, completely independent suspension of the main struts. The cargo hatch in the rear of the fuselage can be retracted under the bottom or lowered to the surface, which allows you to call in self-propelled vehicles.

Modifications

On the basis of the basic model, a whole family of transport and light jet aircraft was created. Today in the sky fly:

• An-72-100. Transport civil airliner.
• An-72-100D. Cargo and passenger airliner. Converted serial cars, 3 copies are issued.
• An-72V. The only export option for the Peruvian Air Force.
• An-72P. Military aircraft border troops. Patrol naval aviation. Built 18 cars.
• The only An-72PS. Search and rescue machine.
• An-72R. Aircraft of electronic intelligence. On the balance of the Air Force - 4 converted serial machines.

• An-720. Administrative (salon) liner.
• An-72A. "Arctic" aircraft, remade for the northern latitudes (developed as the An-74). Built in a single copy.

Achievements "Cheburashka"

The An-72 has about 20 world records for aircraft of this class. Two of them in 1983:

• The maximum flight altitude is 13,410 meters.
• The height of the horizontal flight is 12,980 meters.

In addition, back in 1985, test pilot S. Gorbik on a closed 2000-km route managed to reach a speed of 681.8 km / h.

In 1986, the Arctic plane rescued 27 polar explorers from the drifting polar station No. 27. It took off from a strip just 300 meters long.

In 1988, the An-72A traveled to Antarctica. In addition to the usual work on communications and supply, he made an unplanned flight to Argentina and delivered to the hospital a sick polar explorer.

But in 1997, 1998 (2 planes) and 1999 (4 planes), these transporters took part in providing the Paris-Dakar rally.

Losses

There were 8 catastrophes associated with this aircraft, the largest of which were:

• 09/16/1991. The plane took off with overload, mechanization collapsed in the air. The car fell in the forest. Killed 6 crew members and 7 passengers.
• 06/05/1994, flight An-72V Novosibirsk - Kiev. Then, in-flight equipment was de-energized during the flight. The reason is the thermal acceleration of the batteries. The plane made an emergency landing in Kurgan, while it rolled out of the runway with the destroyed right rear pneumatic. The crew and passengers were not injured.
• 02/10/1995. An-72V with three crew members accompanied the prototype An-70 with 7 crew members on board. Airplanes collided in the sky over the Borodyansky district of the Kiev region. An-72 survived and managed to land at Antonov airport. An-70 fell into the forest, all crew members were killed.
• 06/07/2000, the flight Mozdok-Moscow. In the air there was a depressurization of the aircraft. From an altitude of 8.5 thousand meters, the plane began an uncontrollable decline, as a result of hypoxia, the crew and passengers lost orientation. However, the crew managed to land the plane in Rostov-on-Don.
• 12/25/2012. The catastrophe near Shymkent. The plane of the border service of the Republic of Kazakhstan in difficult weather conditions fell to the ground from a height of 800 meters. The reason is a crew error. Killed 7 crew members and 20 passengers.

Finally

By the summer of 1993, about 145 of these transport aircraft were produced. With the collapse of the USSR, the An-72 remained the only one under construction at its plants for Ukraine. On the foreign market, this car worth $ 12.5 million could not stand the competition, and the only one leased in the West was an airplane leased by Colombia.

However, numerous orders came from the former Soviet republics. The relatively inexpensive An replaced the old fleet of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

The issue of the release of this model at Russian factories in Omsk and Arsenyev remains open.