The Antonov An-10 (NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...

: Cat) was a four-engined turboprop

Turboprop

A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...

 passenger transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

.

Design and development

Development of a four-engined airliner intended for use on routes from 500-2000 kilometers began at the end of 1955. Inspired by the Izdeliye N (Izdeliye – article or product) passenger version of the Antonov An-8

Antonov An-8

|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Lake, Jon. "Antonov's An-8 Camp: The Little Known Pioneer". Air International, September 2004, Vol 67 No 3. pp. 24–27....

 the Antonov design bureau developed the Izdeliye U (“U” for “Ukraine”), a four-engined aircraft with similar layout to the An-8, but with increased dimensions and a circular section pressurised fuselage. Early in the design process the choice of engines was between the Kuznetsov NK-4 and Ivchenko AI-20

Ivchenko AI-20

|-See also:-References:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. London:Guild Publishing, 1986.* Lambert, Mark. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–94. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Data Division, 1993. ISBN 0-7106-1066-1....

 and despite superior performance the Kuznetsov NK-4 was eliminated and the Ivchenko AI-20 selected due in no small part to the 'Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine' which wanted as much as possible produced in Ukraine, where the Ivchenko factory was.

The first prototype flew on 7 March 1957

1957 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1957:- Events :* The Douglas AIR-2 Genie unguided air-to-air missile enters service with the United States Air Force...

, revealing poor directional stability which led to a taller vertical fin, and later to hexagonal auxiliary fins at the tips of the tailplane. Entering production at Zavod (factory) No.64, Voronezh

Voronezh

Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...

 in 1957 the initial three aircraft were delivered with Kuznetsov NK-4 engines due to the non-availability of the Ivchenko AI-20 engines. From 1958, production aircraft were delivered with the Ivchenko AI-20A engines which boasted a longer service life and comparable performance compared to the Kuznetsov engines.
The new aircraft was displayed to the public for the first time in July 1957, but the design was not approved for mass production until testing was completed in June 1959. Aeroflot

Aeroflot

OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...

 began operations with the An-10 from 22 July 1959 on the Moscow – Simferopol

Simferopol

-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...

 route.

Configured with 85 seats the cabin was spacious and well-appointed with comfortable seats widely spaced giving plenty of legroom, but due to the low cabin floor and wide diameter there was a lot of unusable space which limited baggage and cargo volumes. The inefficient use of cabin volume contributed greatly to the low payload/TOW ratio which was much lower than the contemporary Ilyushin Il-18

Ilyushin Il-18

The Ilyushin Il-18 is a large turboprop airliner that became one of the best known Soviet aircraft of its era as well as one of the most popular and durable, having first flown in 1957 and still in use over 50 years later. The Il-18 was one of the world's principal airliners for several decades...

, but which was still higher than the Tupolev Tu-104

Tupolev Tu-104

The Tupolev Tu-104 was a twin-engined medium-range turbojet-powered Soviet airliner and the world's first successful jet airliner...

. A later production version, the An-10A, addressed some of the efficiency concerns by increasing the number of seats from 85 to 89 and 100 (in the two versions of the An-10A), then to 117-118 and finally 132 through reducing seat pitch and changing the cabin layout. Powered by Ivchenko AI-20K engines the An-10A demonstrated superior performance and an increased maximum payload of 14.5 Tonnes (31,970 lb). The auxiliary end-plate fins eventually gave way to improved splayed ventral fins under the rear fuselage. The directional stability was now acceptable and the new ventral fins also improved longitudinal stability at high g and on landing approach, as well as delaying the onset of Mach buffet to M0.702. Due to being sited in an area of flow separation, the new ventral fins also caused unpleasant vibrations. Following results of flight tests and at least two fatal crashes an effective tailplane de-icing system was retro-fitted to all remaining aircraft.

Operational history

A total of 104 aircraft were built, including the prototype and static test airframes, entering service with the Ukrainian Civil Aviation Directorate of Aeroflot

Aeroflot

OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...

 from 27 April 1959, proving popular due to large cargo volume(when fitted with reduced seating) and excellent field performance making the aircraft suitable for use on small undeveloped airfields. The Antonov Bureau simultaneously developed and produced the Antonov An-8

Antonov An-8

|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Lake, Jon. "Antonov's An-8 Camp: The Little Known Pioneer". Air International, September 2004, Vol 67 No 3. pp. 24–27....

 medium military transport, An-10 civil airliner and military paratroop transport, as well as the Antonov An-12

Antonov An-12

The Antonov An-12 is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10.-Design and development:...

 military cargo transport.

On 22 April 1962 an An-10A pilotted by A. Mitronin gained a world record 500 km closed loop speed record averaging 730.6 kph.

The performance of the An-10 and An-10A was relatively good and was shown to have lower seat/mile costs than the contemporary Tupolev Tu-104 jet airliner but continued to exhibit control and stability problems, culminating in a fatal crash on 16 November 1959 when CCCP-11167 dived into the ground while on approach to L'vov airport, due to reduced stability, abrupt nose drops at low airspeeds and reduced elevator authority at low airspeeds. On 26 February, again at L'vov, CCCP-11180 crashed at the same location due to reduced longitudinal stability and control authority caused by icing of the tailplane.

Military use of the An-10 was fairly extensive with 45 An-10TS built for the VTA, 16 flown exclusively by military units and the remaining 38 loaned to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as well as the flyable aircraft remaining after withdrawal from Aeroflot service.

The An-10A continued in service as a popular airliner until the type was withdrawn from service in 1972, after high profile accident while in descent to Kharkiv International Airport on 18 May 1972 killed famous entertainer Victor Chistyakov, along with 8 crew and 113 other passengers. An investigation revealed fatigue cracking

Metal Fatigue

Metal Fatigue , is a futuristic science fiction, real-time strategy computer game developed by Zono Incorporated and published by Psygnosis and TalonSoft .-Plot:...

 of the wing centre-section stringers on many of the remaining aircraft. Following this accident, Aeroflot ceased operating the An-10.

After withdrawal from Aeroflot service on 27 August 1972, 25 An-10A aircraft which were in good condition were transferred to the VVS (Soviet Air Force

Soviet Air Force

The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...

) and other MAP (Ministry of Aircraft Production) units. These remaining An-10As were retired by 1974.

A few examples have been preserved as exhibits in museums, and several have been converted into children’s theatres (at Kiev, Samara and Novocherkassk).

Variants

• Izdeliye U – The in-house designation of the four-engined passenger aircraft derived from the Izdeliye N An-8 project.
• An-10 – The designation of the prototype and initial production versions fitted with Kuznetsov NK-4 or Ivchenko Ai-20A engines.
• An-10A – Production aircraft from December 1959 with increased seating, decreased empty weight/increased payload and Ivchenko AI-20K engines.
• An-10AS – several aircraft modified for small package cargo transport with no seats.
• An-10TS – (Transport/Sanitarny – transport/ambulance) 45 Aircraft ordered for the VTA (Voyenno-Transportnaya Aviatsiya – transport air arm), with 38 loaned to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• An-10KP – (Komandny Punkt – command post) A single aircraft (CCCP-11854) modified as an airborne command post for use at Sperenburg air base, near Berlin in the DDR.

Accidents and incidents

Due to the high-profile cancellation of An-10 operations, there is a preconceived opinion about a high accident rate for the type. Over its life, the An-10 experied 12 accidents , with 370 fatalities. On the other hand, the An-10 carried more than 35 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo, and its competitor, the Il-18 suffered from 51 fatal accidents with 1359 fatalities over the same period.

Date	Tail number	Crash Site	Casualties	Brief description
16 Nov 1959	Soviet Union 11167	Soviet Union Lviv Lviv Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...	40/40	fell into dive on landing due to icing on wings
26 Feb 1960	Soviet Union 11180	Soviet Union Lviv Lviv Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...	32/32	fell into dive on landing due to icing on wings
27 January 1962	Soviet Union 11148	Soviet Union Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk The city is the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin , for whom it is named.-History:Simbirsk was founded in 1648 by the boyar Bogdan Khitrovo. The fort of "Simbirsk" was strategically placed on a hill on the Western bank of the Volga River...	73/73	crashed on takeoff due to engine failure
28 July 1962	Soviet Union 11186	Soviet Union Sochi Sochi Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...	81/81	collision into mountain due to controller error
2 August 1963	Soviet Union 11193	Soviet Union Syktyvkar Syktyvkar -Twin towns/sister cities:Syktyvkar is twinned with the following sister cities: Cullera, Spain Debrecen, Hungary Los Altos, United States Lovech, Bulgaria Taiyuan, China-External links:* * * *...	7/7	ingress of ice into engines during training flight
08 August 1968	Soviet Union 11172	Soviet Union Koltsovo Koltsovo Koltsovo may refer to:*Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Oblast, an urban-type settlement in Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia*Koltsovo, Yekaterinburg, a former urban-type settlement in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia; now a part of the city of Yekaterinburg...	0/no data	rough landing collapsed left landing gear
12 October 1969	Soviet Union 11169	Soviet Union Odessa Odessa Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...	0/no data	rough landing on icy runway
15 May 1970	Soviet Union 11149	Soviet Union Kishinev	0	loss of control during training flight during simulated missed approach on two engines
8 August 1970	Soviet Union 11188	Soviet Union Kishinev	11/11	emergency landing in field due to engine fire
31 March 1971	Soviet Union 11145	Soviet Union Voroshilovgrad	64/64	crashed while landing due to unknown causes
12 October 1971	Soviet Union 11137	Soviet Union Kishinev	0	rough landing
18 May 1972	Soviet Union 11215	Soviet Union Kharkov	122/122	both wings fell off during landing, metal fatigue

Specifications (An-10A)

See also

External links

• Airdisaster.com