The Antonov An-148 is a twin-engine commercial aircraft designed by the Antonov Aeronautical Scientific and Technical Complex. The aircraft are manufactured by SE Kyiv Aviation Plant Aviant and Voronezh Aircraft Building Joint Stock Company (VASO), part of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).
The An-148 made its first flight on 17 December 2004 and certification testing was completed in December 2006. The first serial An-148 aircraft manufactured by VASO JSC has completed its maiden flight on 28 July 2009.
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The first international commercial flight of An-148 was made from Odessa to Moscow on 13 December 2009.
Antonov built two An-148 prototypes in 2004 and 2005. The first prototype is being operated by Aerosvit Airlines and the second was stretched in 2009 to create the An-158 (An-148-200). The first order was received from Ilyushin Finance (IFC) in April 2005. Seven aircraft are in production at Aviant, while VASO delivered three aircraft to Kyiv aggregates.
Airlines of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan expressed interest to purchase about 100 An-148 aircraft. KrasAir, Polyot, SCAT and Berkut airlines have signed contracts to purchase An-148 aircraft.
In June 2009, Atlant-Soyuz Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding for 30 An-148 jets. In November 2010, the Russian Emergency Ministry ordered two An-148-100 jets to be manufactured by UAC’s VASO plant. Deliveries are planned for 2012 and 2013.
In March 2010, UAC signed contracts with three India-based non-scheduled domestic airlines for 18 An-148 aircraft.
An-148 variants
The main model in the An-148 class is the An-148-100 whose variants include An-148-100A, An-148-100B and An-148-100.
An-148-100A is a short-range passenger aircraft (2,000km-3,000km) with up to 85 seats. An-148-100B is a passenger aircraft with extended range of up to 3,600km with up to 85 seats.
An-148-100 is passenger aircraft with extended range of up to 4,400km with up to 85 seats. All the variants have similar airframes.
Other variants of the class include the stretched fuselage version An-158 or An-148-200, the business variant An-168 and the cargo variant An-178.
The An-168 can accommodate 8 to 40 passengers and has a higher range (up to 7,000km). The An-178 has a higher payload capacity of 25t.
Design
The An-148 incorporates a high-wing monoplane design. It has the highest weight efficiency in its class due to the usage of titanium alloys in structural components.
Two turbofan jet engines are mounted in pods under the wing. This arrangement protects the engines and wing structure against damage from foreign objects (FOD). The state-of-the-art aircraft systems and the wing configuration allow the aircraft to use all types of aerodromes including poorly equipped airfields.
The aircraft is equipped with bullet-proof doors and anti-thief devices. Additional space is provided for weapon and ammunition storage.
Flight deck
The An-148 features a partial glass cockpit which can accommodate four crew members. The cockpit is equipped with five 6in×8in multifunction LCDs developed by Aviapribor and fly-by-wire flight controls.
The modern avionics suite includes navigation and radio communication equipment, multifunction indicators and fly-by-wire system compatible with VFR and IFR weather conditions, at day and night.
The onboard video surveillance system allows the crew to monitor the passenger compartments and service areas.
Cabin
The passenger cabin layout is designed to incorporate different seating configurations including economy, business and VIP layouts. The passenger capacity can vary from 10 to 85 based on the configuration.
The cabin layout incorporates service areas, individual and general areas. The passenger compartment has modern seats and informational entertainment system.
Closable over-head shelves are available for hand luggage. The 4.2m³ space allocated for these shelves is the biggest in the class of regional and short-range aircraft.
The baggage and cargo compartments of 14.6m³ are provided under the passenger compartment floor and in the tail part. The noise level in the cabin is very less and meets all international aviation standards.
An-148 engines
The An-148 is powered by two high bypass D-436-148 turbo fan engines developed by Ivchenko-Progress. Each engine provides a maximum take-off thrust of 6,830Kgf. Automatic control and monitoring systems optimize the performance of the engine.
Landing gear
The tricycle-type landing gear consists of a nose landing gear, right and left main landing gears. The main landing gear retracts into wells in the aircraft’s fuselage.
Performance
An-148 has a cruising speed of 800km/h-870km/h. Its maximum payload range is 3,500km. The aircraft can fly at a maximum flight altitude of 12,200m. The maximum take-off weight is 41.55t and maximum payload capacity is 9t. The aircraft can operate at temperatures on ground ranging from -55°C to +45°C.
