27 February 1965

Aviation, , , , , , , , ,
Antonov An-22 Antheus CCCP-64459, the first prototype, at the Antonov flight test facility, Gostomel Airport, Kiev Oblast. (Oleg Belyakov)
Antonov An-22 Antheus CCCP-64459, the first prototype, at the Antonov flight test facility, Gostomel Airport, Kiev Oblast. (Oleg Belyakov)

27 February 1965: The first flight of the Antonov Design Bureau An-22 Antheus took place at Sviatoshyn Airfield, Kiev, Ukraine. The An-22 was the world’s largest airplane at the time, and it remains the world’s largest turboprop airplane.

The An-22 is 57.9 meters (190.0 feet) long with a wingspan of 64.40 meters (211.29 feet) and overall height of 12.53 meters (41.11 feet). The heavy-lift strategic transport has an empty weight of 114,000 kilograms (251,327 pounds) and maximum takeoff weight of 250,000 kilograms (551,156 pounds). It is powered by four Kuznetsov NK-12MA turboprop engines producing 15,000 horsepower, each, and which drive eight four-bladed, counter-rotating propellers.

The An-22 is operated by a flight crew of six and can carry 29 passengers, It’s payload capacity is 80,000 kilograms (176,370 pounds). It has a maximum speed of 740 kilometers per hour (460 miles per hour) and a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles) with a maximum payload.

Antonov produced 66 An-22 transports at the Tashkent Aircraft Production Corporation at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, between 1965 and 1976. 28 of these were the AN-22A variant. Several remain in service.

Antonov An-22 Antheus strategic heavy-lift turboprop transport. (Dmitry A. Mottl)
Antonov An-22 Antheus strategic heavy-lift turboprop transport. (Dmitry A. Mottl)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

Share this article:

About Bryan Swopes

Bryan R. Swopes grew up in Southern California in the 1950s–60s, near the center of America's aerospace industry. He has had a life-long interest in aviation and space flight. Bryan is a retired commercial helicopter pilot and flight instructor.

8 thoughts on “27 February 1965”

  1. Oh man I hate when this happens (lol). What defines, “the largest?” The XC-99 was operational for about 10 years, while being 7 ft shorter it was 21 ft wider and 16 ft taller, it weighed more empty, and could carry more loaded. Then there was the Hughes H4 (Spruce Goose) which was the 8 (PW4360’s) engine granddaddy of them all. And then there was the C-133, dimension wise definitely length and width smaller, but higher, it too weighed more and could carry more than the AN-22. This kind of stuff just melts my brain, and yet I enjoy making the comparisons. Which one do you think is the largest?
    You do a great job with TDIAH, love your work. Thanks, Ed

    1. Hi, Ed. You know, I think I was on autopilot and just wrote that because it was in the source material. But you are right. I believe other airplanes were “bigger.” Thanks for keeping me on the glide path. —Bryan

    1. It probably could carry that many, but in standard configuration, most of the aircraft was reserved for cargo, while there were seats for 29 passengers.

Comments are closed.