An-70T
The An-70T four-engined propfan-powered military airlifter became the first aircraft ever to take off using propfan power only, when Antonov completed the aircraft's maiden flight in December 1994. The programme was thrown into turmoil , however, after the fatal crash of the single prototype aircraft on 10 February, 1995, following a mid-air collision with an An-72 chase aircraft.
Human error was the official cause of the accident, although allegations emerged from unofficial sources of technical problems with the engine gearboxes and the FCS. It was also reported that problems with the flight-data recorder may have hampered the investigation.
Antonov is converting the second, static-test, prototype to flight status in an effort to keep the programme alive and, during 1996, Ukrainian manufacturer ZMKB Progress delivered another four D-27 propfans to power the second prototype, which is nearing completion at the design bureau's prototype plant in Kiev.
It has been reported that Russian commitment to the An-70 is collapsing, with work being abandoned on setting up the series-production line at Aviacor in Samara, because the Russian Government has withdrawn its financial support.
An-124
The prototype An-124 Ruslan freighter was first flown in December 1982, and entered service in January 1986. Although conceived originally for use by the Russian military, the An-124 has found a market niche with Western cargo operators as it can handle very heavy, outsized, loads. It is capable of carrying a payload of 150t a distance of 4,500km.
Reliability and noise problems associated with the ZMKB Progress D-18T turbofan engines, however, has seen discussions held on a re-engineing programme with GE's CF6-80C2 turbofan.
During 1996, Aviastar was completing the first "Westernised" An-124 at its Ulyanovsk factory, dubbed the -130, which is expected to equipped with the CF6 engine and fitted with Western avionics, according to Aviastar, with first deliveries scheduled for mid-1997.
The An-124-130 at Aviastar will have a four-man flightdeck crew, instead of the usual six, with a Rockwell-Collins traffic-alert and collision-avoidance system, global-positioning system, satellite communications and ACARS airline-datalink system. Litton has signed a contract with Aviastar to supply an LTN-101"Flagship" inertial-navigation system.
The Antonov design bureau, which is itself studying a "Westernised" version of the An-124, says that it is not involved in the An-124-130 project, although Aviastar is thought to have assembled its own design team capable of achieving such an upgrade.
Oleg Bogdanov, Antonov deputy general designer for research, development and marketing, says that the bureau's own studies, initiated following a request from airline Volga-Dnepr, determined that re-engineing with used CF6-50s offered by GE would not be economically feasible, but that used CF6-80s could be an alternative.
An-180
The An-180, envisaged as a 150- to 175-seat medium-range airliner with two rear-mounted propfan engines installed on the tips of the horizontal tail, was unveiled at the 1991 Paris air show. No firm timetable has been published, but studies are continuing.
An-218
Also announced at the 1991 Paris air show, the An-218 is very similar to the Airbus A330, but slightly smaller and lighter. It would be powered by a pair of ZMKB Progress D-18TM engines, although, theoretically, later versions could be fitted with Western turbofans.
In its basic version, the An-218 would be capable of carrying 292 passengers in a three-class configuration over 8,300km. Heavier, longer-range, and stretched versions have also been proposed.
The first flight was planned for 1996, but development has now been "deferred".
An-225
The six-engined An-225 is the world's largest aircraft, able to carry a payload of up to 250t. Only one has been built to date (first flown in December 1988) although studies are under way into its possible use as a launch platform for space vehicles. Work on a second aircraft was suspended during 1996.
Source: Flight International
