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Antonov An-140

2002 MODERN AIRCRAFT

History of Antonov An-140

Ordinary turboprops still have a place in the world regional passenger and cargo markets. So Antonov from Ukraine developed his An-140 for these roles. Marketed as an airliner, the type features a high-wing design that naturally gives it strong lift characteristics and good short-field/rough-field handling capabilities. The prototype made its maiden flight on September 17, 1997, and entered service in 2002.

There are only about 20 aircraft in active service (January 2017) and almost that number is on order. Operators are located in Ukraine, Russia and Iran and have been producing since 1997.

The An-140 competes with types such as the French ATR42, the Canadian Bombardier "Dash 8" series, the German Dornier 328 and the Russian Ilyushin Il-114.

As planned, the An-140 has a crew of 2 and a maximum capacity of 52 people. The aircraft has an overall length of 74.1 feet, a wingspan of 80.4 feet and a height of 27 feet. Curb weight is 28,240 pounds, and MTOW is 47,350 pounds.

Power comes from 2 Klimov TV3-117VMA-SBM1 turboprops of 2,466 hp each, although another fit is provided via 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada turboprops PW127A series and 2,500, designed to make the An-140 a more "Friendly" international players HP each.

Listed performance includes a top speed of 357 mph, a cruising speed of 290 mph, a range of up to 1,505 miles (2,300 miles on a ferry) and a service cap of 25,000 feet. The rate of climb is listed as 1,345 feet per minute.

Notable variants of the series include the An-140T tactical transport aircraft (designed for severe military service), An-140TK (convertible passenger or cargo form), An-140VIP (30 passengers), An-140TK - 140-100 (increased wingspan, dual use) and HESA IrAn-140. The latter is a locally licensed Iranian variant made from prepared Antonov kits.

The aircraft is used for maritime patrol and general cargo missions.

An-140 products have had a fair share of accidents with various operators in December 2002, August 2005, December 2005, February 2009 and August 2014. A locally built Iranian An-140 crashed (five killed) during a training flight, grounding the fleet.

The future of the An-140 aircraft in Russian service has been in doubt since Russia took over Ukraines Crimea in 2014. Local solutions are likely to replace this fleet. Serial production of Russian aircraft is handled by AVIACOR in Samara, Russia.