Antonov (surname)

Antonov (masculine) or Antonova (feminine) is a Russian surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Antonov An-8

The Antonov An-8 (NATO reporting name: Camp) is a Soviet-designed twin-turboprop-engine high-wing light military transport aircraft.

Development

In December 1951 OKB-153 initiated the design of a twin-engined assault transport aircraft, designated DT-5/8 (Desahntno-Trahnsportnyy [samolyot] – assault transport aircraft), to be powered by two Kuznetsov TV-2 turboprop engines, and fitted with a large rear cargo door to allow vehicles to be driven straight into the hold. On 11 December 1953 the Soviet Council of Ministers issued directive No.2922-1251 to the Antonov OKB, requiring them to build a twin-turboprop transport aircraft derived from the DT-5/8. Bearing the in-house designation of Izdeliye P the resulting aircraft followed state of the art practice with a high wing carrying two propeller engines sat atop a rectangular section fuselage, tricycle undercarriage, with main gear units housed in pods either side of the fuselage, an upswept rear fuselage providing clearance of the tail unit for loading and unloading. After State acceptance trials production was not recommended due to poor spinning characteristics, directional stability and control issues, nosewheel shimmy, poor controllability when landing in crosswinds above 6 m/s (12 kt) and, last but not least, phugoid oscillations in all-three axes which were difficult to control and made piloting the prototype very tiring. As well as the aero-dynamic faults the TV-2 engines proved difficult to start with unstable gas dynamics at altitudes above 6,000 m (19,700 ft).

Antonov An-12

The Antonov An-12 (Russian: Антонова Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants.

Design and development

The first prototype An-12 flew in December 1957. Over 900 had been built (both military and civilian versions) when Soviet production finally ended in 1973. The An-12BP entered Soviet military service in 1959. In terms of configuration, size, and capability, the aircraft is similar to the United States-built Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Soviet military and former-Soviet An-12s have a defensive tail gun turret.

Chinese production

In the 1960s, China purchased several An-12 aircraft from the Soviet Union, along with a license to assemble the aircraft locally. Due to the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union withdrew its technical assistance and the first flight of a Chinese-assembled An-12 was delayed until 1974. The Xi'an Aircraft Company and Xi'an Aircraft Design Institute worked to reverse-engineer the An-12 for local production.