Operational History
A total of 104 aircraft were built, including the prototype and static test airframes, entering service with the Ukrainian Civil Aviation Directorate of Aeroflot from 27 April 1959, proving popular due to large cargo volume(when fitted with reduced seating) and excellent field performance making the aircraft suitable for use on small undeveloped airfields. The Antonov Bureau simultaneously developed and produced the Antonov An-8 medium military transport, An-10 civil airliner and military paratroop transport, as well as the Antonov An-12 military cargo transport.
On 22 April 1962 an An-10A piloted by A. Mitronin gained a world record 500 km closed loop speed record averaging 730.6 kilometres per hour (454.0 mph).
The performance of the An-10 and An-10A was relatively good and was shown to have lower seat/mile costs than the contemporary Tupolev Tu-104 jet airliner but continued to exhibit control and stability problems, culminating in a fatal crash on 16 November 1959 when CCCP-11167 dived into the ground while on approach to L'vov airport, due to reduced stability, abrupt nose drops at low airspeeds and reduced elevator authority at low airspeeds. On 26 February, again at L'vov, CCCP-11180 crashed at the same location due to reduced longitudinal stability and control authority caused by icing of the tailplane.
Military use of the An-10 was fairly extensive with 45 An-10TS built for the VTA, 16 flown exclusively by military units and the remaining 38 loaned to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as well as the flyable aircraft remaining after withdrawal from Aeroflot service.
On 18 May 1972, while descending to Kharkiv International Airport an An-10 crashed, killing 8 crew and 113 passengers. An investigation revealed fatigue cracking of the wing centre-section stringers on many of the remaining aircraft. Following this accident, Aeroflot ceased operating the An-10.
After withdrawal from Aeroflot service on 27 August 1972, 25 An-10A aircraft which were in good condition were transferred to the VVS (Soviet Air Force) and other MAP (Ministry of Aircraft Production) units. These remaining An-10As were retired by 1974.
A few examples have been preserved as exhibits in museums, and several have been converted into children’s theatres (at Kiev, Samara and Novocherkassk).
Read more about this topic: Antonov An-10
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