The Antonov An-22 is a large cargo aircraft designed and built in Ukraine in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s. It is the largest aircraft of its type with turboprop engines and has seen extensive military and civil service.

The Antonov An-22 was designed to give the Soviet Union a heavy lift freighter aircraft. Design began in the late 1950s and the prototype first flew on 27 February 1965.

They began entering military service in 1969 and were primarily used by Soviet air forces and Aeroflot, the Soviet Union’s civil air service.

Between 1966 and 1976 seventy-five were manufactured and it remains the largest turboprop engined aircraft ever manufactured.

Their large carrying capacity saw them used extensively in military service and for humanitarian flights around the world including to South America and Africa.

Only a handful remain flying today.

Eastern Express 1/144 kit completed by Leigh Edmonds in 2024.