The "Anushka" ("Annie") as it is known to Russian pilots was designed just after WW2 to the specifications of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the USSR, for service as a long range bush plane, to support forest rangers in their out-posts and to monitor the vast resources of the Siberian forests. An-2's entered production in 1947 and proved so capable that they were almost immediately adapted by the military as a light (an arguable statement) utility transport. Shortly there-after, Aeroflot adapted it for use as a regional transport aircraft. More than 5,000 were built in Russia until 1960 when production of the aircraft was transferred to Poland. Production continued there, without any significant changes in the design, until 1992 when the last major contract was completed. It is estimated that over 15,000 were built in Poland in six different variants. These were shipped in quantity to nearly every East European country and every Russian ally in the world during the Cold War. Though the production line is closed, the factory in Poland still retains the tooling and occasionally produces "new builds" from stored assemblies. The airplane continues in production under license in Red China. On 7 October 2000, the above An-2 aircraft, s/n ANATDSR-IR-16550 model 1975, was provided to the museum by Mike Alex, a long time volunteer and supporter of March Field Air Museum. It had been obtained from a small town in Mexico, Ejido Tierra y Libertad of Bahia de los Angeles B.C, which became owner after it had been abandoned there for many years.
Originally posted by midnight Target When were u there Liz? Its this:
When it was designed, in 1947, the An-2 was a remarkable achievement. It's easy to make fun of a single-engine, tailwheel, round-engine, biplane airliner with all the grace and mechanical refinement of the Wabash Cannonball, but no airplane before or since has been able to carry as much into strips as short and be as maintainable and utilitarian as "the Ant." The An-2 gets the job done thanks to full-span automatic leading-edge slats, full-span flaps on the lower wing, more flaps on the upper wing that work in conjunction with ailerons that droop 14 degrees, and an enormous engine that is in fact a licensed copy of the original Wright R-1820 Cyclone, one of the world's most durable aircraft engines.Lots of DC-3s ran around under the urging of a pair of Wright R-1820s, though the smoother Pratt R-1830 Twin Wasp was preferred by most Doug Racer pilots. Indeed, if the DC-3 was our contribution to the age of iron aircraft, the An-2 was the Soviets' equivalent-an airplane ahead of its time when it was introduced, that has lived on far past its time.
