first flew in 1969; it is produced by
PZL Mielec as the M28 since 1984 The
Antonov An-28 was the winner of a competition against the
Beriev Be-30 for a new light passenger and utility transport for
Aeroflot's short haul routes, conceived to replace the highly successful
An-2 biplane. The An-28 is derived from the earlier
An-14. Commonalities with the An-14 include a high wing layout, twin fins and rudders, but it differs in having a reworked and longer fuselage, with
turboprop engines. The original powerplant was the TVD-850, but production versions are powered by the more powerful TVD-10B, with three-blade propellers. The An-28 made its first flight as the An-14M in September 1969 in the USSR. A subsequent preproduction aircraft first flew in April 1975. Production of the An-28 was then transferred to Poland's PZL Mielec in 1978, although it was not until 22 July 1984 that the first Polish-built production aircraft flew. The An-28's Soviet type certificate was awarded in April 1986. PZL Mielec has become the sole source for production An-28s. The basic variant, not differing from the Soviet one, was designated PZL An-28 and was powered with PZL-10S (licence-built TVD-10B) engines. They were built mostly for the
USSR, until it broke up. The plane was next developed by the PZL Mielec into a westernised version powered by 820 kW (1100shp)
Pratt & Whitney PT6A-65B turboprops with five-blade
Hartzell propellers, plus some western (BendixKing) avionics (a distinguishing feature are exhaust pipes, sticking out on sides of engine
nacelles). Designated the PZL M28 Skytruck, the first flight was on 24 July 1993 and it is in limited production, mostly for export (39 produced by 2006). The type received Polish certification in March 1996, and US
FAR Part 23 certificate on 19 March 2004. Apart from the Skytruck, PZL Mielec developed a family of militarized light transport and maritime reconnaissance planes for the Polish Air Force and Polish Navy in the 1990s, with original PZL-10S engines, named PZL M28B in the Air Force and Bryza in the Navy. From 2000, newly produced M28Bs started to be equipped with five-blade propellers as well. PZL Mielec was bought by
Sikorsky in 2007. Purchased primarily to produce
helicopter structures, the company also produces 10 M28s per year. Sikorsky's current owner,
Lockheed Martin, has marketed it to the governments of
Indonesia,
Jordan,
Poland,
Venezuela,
Vietnam, the
U.S. and commercial operators. Split equally between commercial and military applications, it competes with the Viking Air
Twin Otter, the
Let 410 and the
Dornier 228. ==Design==