AMO-72101 1/72 Antonov An-26 Soviet VVS Turbo-Prop Transport Aircraft (early vers.) model kitDevelopment of the An-24 began in 1960 in response to an Aeroflot requirement for a cheap and simple transport to replace the Li-2 (licensed DC-3), Il-2, and Il-14 aircraft. Two prototypes flew in September 1962, and the An-24 Coke first entered service in 1962. The production version turned out to be a reliable aircraft - An-24 was shown to be able to maintain an altitude of 3000 m with full payload and only one working engine. The An-24RT transport aircraft features an additional RU-19-300 jet engine. The An-26 is a development of An-24RT. One of the main modifications was a rear loading ramp. More than 1,100 of this versatile transport aircraft were built before production ended in 1978. The Coke's replacement, the An-26 Curl, has many of the same features as the Coke.
The Xian Yunshuji Y-7 is a reverse-engineered Chinese version of the Antonov An-24.
The wings are high-mounted and equally tapered from the engines to the blunt tips. Two turboprops are mounted in pods beneath the wings, which extend beyond the wings' leading and trailing edges. The fuselage is long and slender with an upswept rear section and a solid, rounded nose featuring a stepped cockpit. The fin is back-tapered with a blunt tip and angular fairing. Flats are high-mounted on the body, back-tapered with blunt tips, and have a positive slant. |