Antonov An-2 (YL-LEI)

If it was built in 1978 it was practically a new one!

Alan your correct. They were built 1947-2001

5 stars

5 stars

A note from the AN-2 pilot's handbook reads: "If the engine quits in instrument conditions or at night, the pilot should pull the control column full aft and keep the wings level. The leading-edge slats will snap out at about 64 km/h (40 mph) and when the airplane slows to a forward speed of about 40 km/h (25 mph), the airplane will sink at about a parachute descent rate until the aircraft hits the ground."
Source: Wikipedia

AN-2 was the first plastic model plane I assembled as a kid.

@ Colin Seftel
Thnks for that

I have a friend that flies an AN-2, says with the right winds it will fly backwards.

I jumped out of a couple different ones. One in the former DDR (Communist Germany) and one in Cologne. They were amazingly slow. It took 45 Minutes to get to 9,000 feet. The one in Cologne was called in after the regular plane had broken down. They had brought it in from Holland. It needed a liter of oil for every trip to altitude. A pickup truck with a 55-gal drum of oil and the AN-2 had left their base in Holland at the same time. The pickup truck arrived in Cologne before the plane. Jumping out was like jumping from a building No slip stream to speak of. I think it was doing only 55 kts. One sat for the longest time at the Livermore, CA airport with pigeons roosting in the wings. Too sad.

Reputedly these have no "Stall speed", and as Colin Seftel stated the leading edge slats in the upper wings are automatically deployed as the speed drops. It states in the "Manual" in a light headwind they can actually land at about 20 knots and fly backwards if the headwind is about 35 mph. Brilliant simple design by Comrade Antonov. As for the oil consumption that Andreas quotes I've had motorbikes that consumed about a litre every 200 miles, maybe it's a feature of older air cooled engines. Mind you, the motorbike was a tiny engine in comparison to the Huge Shetsov Ash so with those nine large cylinders I suppose the lubrication is going to be more "loose".

@all: Thanks for Your interesting Comments! I made some flights (as passenger) during the 90'ies in the region of Moscow with DOSAAF-Aircrafts. Even during the Coup of 1991. It was a crazy Time. Somwhere I have pictures (Kodachrome-Slides...) Please give me enough time to search this slides and scan and prepare it for Flightaware...

Nice plane I have seen those they are cool