"With the requirement for a turbine-engined short-range civil transport to replace the piston-engined Ilyushin Il-14 in Aeroflot service. the Antonov bureau initiated in late 1957 the design of a 32-40 seat aircraft which could be employed over short/medium-range routes. Its design had to include the ability to operate from small unpaved airfields. and also required that flight characteristics and power plant should be such that it could be used between points with considerable variations in altitude and/or temperature. It was not until just over two years later. in April 1960. that the first of two prototypes had flown. the period between the beginning of the design and completion of the first prototype had been extended somewhat by a capacity change to 44-seat accommodation.

Typically 'Antonov- in its high-wing configuration, the An-24 'Coke: is fitted with a wing having wide-span Fowler-type trailing-edge flaps. these being double-slotted outboard of the engine nacelles. and single-slotted inboard. The tail unit is conventional. with the addition of a fairly large ventral fin on production aircraft, and the fuselage is a semi-monocoque structure introducing bonded/welded construction. The hydraulically retractable tricycle-type landing gear has twin wheels on each unit, a steerable and fully castoring nose unit, and includes the means of adjusting tire pressures in flight, or on the ground. to permit operation from a variety of different surfaces. The powerplant comprises two Ivchenko Al-24A turboprop engines, each driving a constant-speed and fully-feathering propeller.

Production aircraft began to enter service with Aeroflot in 1962 for crew training and proving flights, but it was not until September 1963 that the first 50seat An-24Vs were used on the routes between Moscow. Voronezh and Saratov. Subsequent versions have included the An-24V Sir* li. available with standard 50-passenger accommodation, but also with alternative mixed passenger/freight, convertible cargo/passenger, all-freight, or executive interiors; the An-24RV. similar to the foregoing. but with a 900-kg (1.985-lb) thrust auxiliary turbojet installed in the starboard engine nacelle and used for remote field engine starting, and operable also to improve take-off or airborne performance; the An-24T. equipped as a specialized freighter with the standard rear cabin passenger door deleted and replaced by an upward-opening ventral freight door. twin ventral fins outboard of the freight door to replace the single ventral fin. and with cargo hoist and conveyor installed; and the An-24RT. as the An-24T but with auxiliary turbojet installed. Also evaluated was an An-24P. equipped to airdrop parachute-equipped fire-fighters to provide fast reaction to newly-reported forest fires.

Production of the An-24 series for civil and military operators totalled some 1,100 and the type continues in production and under development in China as the Xian Y-7.


No. Of Engines: 2
Aircraft Type: Propeller
Passenger Capacity (Max): 55
Passenger Capacity (Min): 45
Range (in Miles): 2,280
Cruising Speed (MPH): 500
Payload Capacity (in Lbs): 1,590
Wingspan: 72
Length: 37
Takeoff Weight (in Lbs): 7,935