AN22

[sled dog]

One of my pups tells me that a AN22 has been in LUX a couple of times in the past few days, and i wonder if anyone knows how many of these impressive ( and glorious sounding ) a/c are still flying ? I was fortunate to have a conducted tour around one, courtesy of a friendly Aeroflot F/E , at TIP in the early `80s.
Stone age technology even then.:cool:

[Sammie_nl]

Im sure VEEPS and AvgasDynasour are in a better position to answer your question more precisly. But from the back of my mind, there is one An-22 flying for Antonov Airlines, UR-09307. This one flew from LUX to AMS the day before yesterday.

The Russian AF, not sure which regiment, also flies 2 or 3 An-22s on a more or less regular basis. Even one in a great camo livery!

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Best I can offer gents/ladies,
Saw these and thought you all might enjoy,
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1203272/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1203247/L/
Can anyone confirm the operating unit for these beauties? They normally fly with RFF xxxx Russian military call signs but rarely leave Russian air space.
Veeps (VP8) is your man with his finger on the ADB pulse for UR 09307 details. Or you can try http://www.russian-aviation.net/forums/ for info.
E.G. http://www.russian-aviation.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2691
Has anyone got google earth co-ordinates for TVER please, I can't find it anywhere, or any other active AN-22 base other than Gostomel.
Thanks
Be lucky
David
P.S. Note the dates:ok:

[Sammie_nl]

According to the Dutch spotters magazine:

the 12VTAD is the regiment for the An-22s, it is also know as the 224 Flight Group. Coordinates of Tver Migalovo (UUEM)
Rwy: 07/25
Pos: 56° 49' 29.05" N 035° 45' 27.64" E
Elev: 469 ft.

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Many thanks for that.
Be lucky
David

[The AvgasDinosaur]

More recent joy can be found at
http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1015548/
http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1015547/
Hope you enjoy.
Be lucky
David

[Stratofreighter]

Interesting...

Last december RA-09309 showed up at Bratislava, David's links point to RA-09342. Would be nice if someone hired the 12VTAD regiment for a flight to Western Europe...
The Ukrainian Antheus is very popular as can be seen at both
http://www.scramble.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31875
and
http://www.scramble.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31910 . Last Wednesday Dutch military police almost had to deal with traffic jams directly alongside runway 06-24 at Amsterdam Airport!

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Would be nice if someone hired the 12VTAD regiment for a flight to Western Europe...
I wouldn't hold your breath too much. They are military aircraft ( despite Aeroflot titles) and are unlikely to get clearance as they are certified to military standards not civil.
Nice to get one at RIAT though, wonder if they have ever tried that??
Perhaps one of our more learned contributors can shed some light on flying foreign military aircraft in EU or UK airspace. I can recall German Noratlases or should it be Noratlii flying on DCN xxxx call signs widely interpreted as Diplomatic Clearance Number.
Be lucky
David

[PIK3141]

The AN22 UR09307 arrived at Prestwick yesterday afternoon in glorious sunshine, and departed at 2 am this morning to Malta I believe. But one of the handlers on the airfield believes that was its last visit. Can anyone re-assure us it's not on the way out of service ? Indeed, any news on the 8 AN22's offered for sale by the Russian defence ministry, potentially airworthy, or just as scrap ?

[VP8]

09307 Is still in revenue service and is available for charter :ok:

Veeps

[Stratofreighter]

Is it because of the economic downturn :{ that Antonov An-22 UR09307 is now seldom if ever reported flying (last visit I know of was to Frankfurt in January 2009) or is UR-09307 in for maintenance ? :confused:

Yes, am suffering from "withdrawal symptoms"... :E :} ;)

[superspotter]

Well, I have a pic I took of 09307 in Feb of this year in Abu Dhabi but that was my last sighting of the beauty.

[Minorite invisible]

UR-09307 is the one and only. What I heard is that years ago, the Antonov Design Bureau had a project to repair and upgrade a number of old grounded An-22s to put them up for sale. UR-09307 was meant to be the demonstrator aircraft. There is at least one other An-22 at the Antonov plant in Kiev that showed signs of having received some repairs, later abandoned.
In the end, either there were no takers for the refitted An-22 and Antonov had to compete with some Russian businessmen who discovered that the old grounded An-22s were worth a fortune in scrap titanium, more than Antonov could pay for them.

For a reason I ignore, they seem not to be allowed in the US although they are a common sight in Western Europe.

Maybe now that the oversize market is growing at a fast pace and that the resumption of An-124 production is still far from becoming a reality, an updated and refusbished An-22 just might be a cheap and attractive alternative for certain carriers that need near An-124 volume with less payload (and that can land on un-paved runways)

[barry lloyd]

Don't despair! This photo was taken at the Moscow Air Show on 21st August - and yes, it did fly in.:)

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b381/Tango15/DSC_0078.jpg