The Tupolev ANT-14 ''Pravda'' was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

aircraft, which served as the flagship of the Soviet propaganda squadron. It has been credited as Russia's first all-metal aircraft, with a corrosion-resistant-steel structure. The ANT-14 was a larger version of the

ANT-9 The Tupolev ANT-9 (russian: Туполев АНТ-9) was a Soviet passenger aircraft of the 1930s. It was developed as a reaction to the demand for a domestic airliner. At this time Deruluft, one of the forerunners of Aeroflot, flew only with fore ...

, with a 40.4 m wingspan, compared to the 23.8 m span of the ANT-9. Powered by five 358 kW (480 hp) Gnome-Rhône Jupiter 9AKX

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

s, it was capable of carrying a crew of three, as well as 36 passengers, at a maximum speed of 236 km/h (147 mph). However its cruise speed was only 195 km/h (121 mph). Empty weight was 10,650 kg (23,480 lb) and maximum takeoff weight was 17,146 kg (37,800 lb). The ANT-14 had a range of 900 km (559 mi), and an operational ceiling of 4,220 m (13,845 ft). It had a non-retractable tailwheel undercarriage whose main gear consisted of dual (fore-aft) wheels.

Operational history

The ANT-14 was tested by

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

in 1932. While these tests revealed no problems with the aircraft, it was far larger than any other aircraft in its fleet, and it had no requirement for an aircraft with a 36-passenger capacity, so no production followed.Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p. 57Gunston 1995, p. 392 On 17 March 1933, the Soviet Union set up an aerial

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

squadron, named after

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

, and the ANT-14 was assigned to it as its flagship, being named ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...

'' (Truth) after the Soviet newspaper and was used mainly for sightseeing flights over

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

,the ANT-14 was part of an 18 May 1935 four-airplane flight over Moscow which ended in disaster when an accompanying fighter aircraft maneuvered too close to the ''

'' and struck the airliner's wing, causing it to crash, with 45 fatalities. but did carry out occasional tourist flights to

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(now Saint Petersburg), while it visited

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1935 to help celebrate a festival being held there at the time. The ANT-14 carried over 40,000 passengers before being grounded in 1941.Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p. 58

Operators

;

Operational history

Operators

Specifications

See also

References

Further reading