Very Rare! Antonov An-70 Taking Off from Leipzig/Halle Airport (Germany)

Other than its 8 paired, coaxially mounted, contra-rotating propellers, this Antonov An-70 may not look like much, but it's surely a highlight on any airport around the world, because up to now (September 2015) only 2 of these were ever built!

I admit I kind of celebrate it all a bit in this video, but a rarity like this surely deserves that ;)
First conceptional work for the An-70 dates back to the 1970's and the type's first flight took place in 1994. Since then, the project suffered from the same problems as many in the former Eastern Bloc did in the aftermath of the breakdown of the Soviet Union: political quarrels, lack of money and a market that was dominated by players, who had the advantage of knowing this market far better. But with airplanes like their An-174, An-124 and An-225, Antonov have proven to the world that they know how to build brilliant transport aircraft and with types like the An-178 and the An-70 they seem to be ready for all sorts of markets.

The An-70's party piece is easy to recognize, it's its engines with their contra-rotating pairs of propellers of course! This detail gives it an impressive top speed of 421 knots (780kmph/485mph) and a cruise speed of 405 knots (750kmph/466mph) and all that with reduced fuel consumption and noise! But they didn't stop there. Its power combined with a highly sophisticated wing structure gives the An-70 STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) capabilities, which you can see in the end of the video, when I expected it to appear behind the hangar still rolling, when it was in fact high above it already!

Apart from its registration UR-EXA, there's not such a lot information available about the aircraft shown here. Obviously it is the first upgraded An-70, but other than that I can only say that it can be seen here, parking at and taking off from Leipzig/Halle airport (LEJ/EDDP), namely its northern runway 08L/26R.

Special thanks go to πlot.Tv (https://tinyurl.com/gt2js6y) who called my attention to the An-70's visit, which I had most probably missed otherwise!

Music: "Aurora Borealis" by Bird Creek (from the YouTube audio library)

More videos showing Antonov aircraft:
https://tinyurl.com/h3s73oj

Recorded on 2015-09-27

Видео Very Rare! Antonov An-70 Taking Off from Leipzig/Halle Airport (Germany) канала LEJ.approach