AN-124 CONDOR LONG RANGE HEAVY TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT

The unique transport capabilities and the high performance of the aircraft have been proven in operation. 20 An-124-100 of Antonov Airlines, Volga-Dniepr, Poliot and other airlines transport different cargoes all over the world; for example: 90-ton hydraulic turbines, large size Liebherr autocranes, American Euclid dump trucks, the fuselage of Tu-204 passenger transporter, a 109-ton railway locomotive, and a sea yacht of more than 25 metre length.

DESIGN

The aircraft fuselage has a double-deck layout. The cockpit, the relief crew compartment and the troop cabin with 88 seats are on the upper deck. The lower deck is the cargo hold. The flight deck has crew stations arranged in pairs for six crew - the pilot and copilot, two flight engineers, the navigator and communications officer. The loadmaster's station is located in the lobby deck.

The An-124 aircraft is fitted with a relatively thick (12 %) sweptback supercritical wing to give high aerodynamic efficiency and consequently a long flight range. The construction includes extruded skin panels on the wing, extruded plates for the centre-section wing panels and monolithic wafer plates for the fuselage panels. The aircraft structural members are made of composites that make up 1,500 square metres of the surface area.

Multi-leg landing gear and loading equipment ensure self-sufficient operation of the aircraft on prepared concrete runways and on unpaved strips. The landing gear is self-orienting and incorporates a kneeling mechanism which allows an adjustable fuselage clearance to assist the loading and unloading of self-propelled equipment.

The on-board system of cargo handling equipment make it possible to load and unload the aircraft without the help of ground facilities. The paradropping and cargo-handling equipment comprises two travelling cranes, two winches, rollgang and tiedown equipment. The aircraft is often compared to the US Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy. The An-124 has a transportation capability 25% higher than that of the C-5A and 10% higher than the C-5B.

The two cargo hatches are a distinctive structural feature. The fuselage nose can be hinged upward to open the front cargo hatch and there is a cargo hatch in the rear fuselage.

All systems are quadruple redundant. The on-board equipment provide the capability to execute airlift and paradrop missions by day and at night, in visual flight rules and instrument flight rules (VFR and IFR) weather conditions. There are 34 computers functioning aboard the aircraft, combined into four main systems: navigation, automatic piloting, remote control and monitoring.

The integrated flight control and aiming-navigation system comprises an autonomous navigation system, altitude and airspeed indicating system, combat formation flight control equipment, short-range radio navigation and landing system, global positioning system, automatic radio compass, ground surveillance radar, forward-looking weather radar, optical and TV sight and IFF equipment.

AN-124-210 AND AN-124-100M

Antonov, Aviastar and Air Foyle of the UK have jointly submitted a proposal to the UK MoD for leasing of new versions, the An-124-210 and An-124-100M. An-124-210 will be equipped with a Rolls-Royce RB211-52H-T engine, An-124-100M with Series 3 D-18 engines, produced by Progress Design Bureau in Zaporozhe. These engines allow an increase in service range of 10% and reduced take-off distance. Both versions will be equipped with digital instrumentation and displays from Honeywell of the USA and Aviapribor of Russia, enabling the crew size to be reduced from 6 to 4. Also fitted are: traffic alert collision and avoidance system (TCAS 2000), ground proximity warning system and satellite communications system.