Antonov 22 AN-22 AnteII, 2nd Edition, features the Antonov AN-22 turboprop cargo plane. The Antonov AN22 was designed by the Soviet Union's Antonov design bureau and first flew in 1965. It was designed as a strategic airlifter and is able to take off and land on unimproved runways. It uses four contra-rotating propellers powered by turboprop engines. The AN22 is still the largest turboprop cargo plane in the world.

On this dvd, five different Antonov AN-22's were filmed in action in three locations. Filmed at the Speyer Museum in Germany, the Amsterdam Schipol Airport in the Netherlands, and the Sperenberg Soviet Union airbase in the former GDR.

Includes footage of the prototype AN22 cockpit  as well as An22 UR-64460's last flight and landing at the Speyer Museum! Also included is an interior tour of the Antonov AN-22 including cockpit, navigator's station, flight engineer's console, and the massive cargo hold.

The An-22 DVD is in NTSC format and region-free. Run time is about 50 minutes in color without any narration.

A Brief History of the Antonov An-22 Cargo Plane

The Antonov An-22 was designed by Oleg Antonov in the Soviet Union during the Cold War as a strategic airlifter to support airborne troops. The Antonov 22 plane has been given the name of Antaeus (Antei) from Greek mythology. The An22 was powered by four turboprops driving contra-rotating propellers, which are more efficient than normal propellers. The Antonov An-22 is still the world’s largest aircraft powered by turboprops.

This Antonov plane (NATO code name Cock) first flew in 1965 after three years of design and development. And, after several months of flight testing, the Antonov aircraft was shown at the Air Show in Paris during that same year. It was introduced to the Soviet military in 1967.

The cavernous An22 cargo space is capable of carrying four BMD-1 amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicles used by airborne troops. These vehicles were secured to a pallet and dropped by parachute from the An-22. In later tests, a rocket parachute using retrorockets was conceived to slow the pallet’s descent enough to safely enable the driver and gunner to be dropped inside the BMD-1.

The An22 fuselage is actually separated into two compartments. The forward pressurized compartment contains the crew stations for two pilots, flight engineer, navigator, radioman as well as a cabin for 29 passengers. The huge cargo compartment (about 108 feet in length) can be partially pressurized or not at all. This feature means that its doors have the ability to open while in flight for paratroop and cargo drops.

This Antonov cargo plane has the capability to land and takeoff from undeveloped, short, and rough airstrips. The Antonov 22 requires a crew of 5 to 6 and can lift up to 176,000 pounds of payload. Approximately 70 Antonov cargo planes were built in the period between 1965 and 1975. Today, it is believed that less than a dozen An22 aircraft remain in military and commercial service. The An-22 is being superceded by the An-124 which is powered by larger jet engines.

- Aeroclipper Video

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