This Day in Aviation History 

December 16th, 1994
First flight of the Antonov An-70.

The Antonov An-70 is a four-engine medium-range transport aircraft, and the first large aircraft to be powered by propfan engines. It is being developed by Ukraine’s Antonov design bureau to replace the obsolete An-12 military transport aircraft. The maiden flight of the first prototype took place on 16 December 1994 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The An-70 is a high-wing monoplane with four wing-mounted propfan engines, it has a full glass cockpit and fly-by-wire controls. The aircraft has a 19.1 metre (22.4 metre with the ramp) x 4 metre x 4.1 metre cargo space and can carry 47 ton of cargo. Powered by four Progress D-27 propfan engines, each turning a pair of contra-rotating scimitar propellers….

Source:
Wikipedia, Antonov An-70:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-70

YouTube, Antonov An-70:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s6aZqRrfSU

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