Antonov An-24
The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 and manufactured in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau.
Design and development
First flown in 1959, over 1,000 An-24s of various marks were built and 880 are still in service worldwide, mostly in the CIS and Africa, with a total of 297 Antonov An-24 aircraft in airline service, as of May 2010. As of 2014, 133 units were still in airline service.
It was designed to replace the veteran piston Ilyushin Il-14 transport on short to medium haul trips, optimised for operating from rough strips and unprepared airports in remote locations. The high-wing layout protects engines and blades from debris, the power-to-weight ratio is higher than that of many comparable aircraft and the machine is rugged, requiring minimal ground support equipment.
Due to its rugged airframe and good performance, the An-24 was adapted to perform many secondary missions such as ice reconnaissance and engine/propeller test-bed, as well as further development to produce the An-26 tactical transport, An-30 photo-mapping/survey aircraft and An-32 tactical transport with more powerful engines. Various projects were envisaged such as a four jet short/medium haul airliner and various iterations of powerplant.