(and its appearances at Popham)

AN-2 General History

The Antonov An-2 (is an extremely durable, light, single-engine biplane which first flew in 1947. It is used as a light transport, parachute drops and agricultural work. Its extraordinary slow-flight capabilities make it supremely suited for short, unimproved fields, and some specialized variants have also been built for cold weather and other extreme environments.

The An-2 is the largest single-engine biplane ever produced and still flying. It was produced in great numbers; over 5,000 were built in the USSR. Since 1960, most An-2's have been built at Poland's PZL factory in Mielec, with over 12,000 made before full production ended in 1992. Limited production from part stocks continues. The An-2 is also built under license in China as the Shijiazhuang Y-5.

The An-2 was designed as a utility aircraft for use in government-owned forestry and agriculture. However, the basic airframe is highly adaptable and numerous variants have been developed. These include hopper-equipped versions for crop-dusting, scientific versions for atmospheric sampling, water-bombers for fighting forest-fires, flying ambulances, float-equipped seaplane versions, lightly armed combat versions for dropping para-troops, and of course the most common An-2T version, which is the 12-seater passenger aircraft.

The An-2 has design features which make it suitable for operation in remote areas with unsurfaced airstrips:
-It has a pneumatic brake system (similar to those used on heavy road vehicles) allowing it to stop on short runways.
-It has an air line fitted to the compressor, so the pressure in the tires and shock absorbers can be adjusted 'in the field'.
-The batteries are large and easy to remove, meaning that the aircraft does not need a ground power unit to supply power.
-It has it has an onboard fuel pump that allows the fuel tanks to be filled from simple fuel drums on the ground.
-It has the minimum of complex systems. For example, the crucial wing leading edge slats that give the An-2 its slow flight ability are automatic, being held closed by airflow over the wings. Below 40 mph (64 km/h), they extend as they are on elastic rubber springs.

An interesting note from the pilot's handbook reads: "If the engine quits in instrument conditions (blind flying when you can't see the ground) or at night, the pilot should pull the control column full aft (it won't stall) and keep the wings level. The leading-edge slats will snap out at about 40 mph (64 km/h), and when the airplane slows to a forward speed of about 25 mph [40 km/h], the airplane will sink at about a parachute descent rate until the aircraft hits the ground."

The An-2 has no stall speed quoted in the operating handbooks (the stall speed being the speed at which the aircraft is travelling too slowly for the airflow over the wings to keep it aloft). Pilots of the An-2 say the aircraft can be flown in full control at 30 mph (as a contrast, a modern Cessna 4-seater light aircraft has a stall speed of around 55 mph). This slow stall speed makes it possible for the aircraft to fly backwards (if the aircraft is pointed into a headwind of, say, 35 mph, it will travel backwards at 5 mph whilst under full control). This is a rare ability, even amongst other Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft. Only the German Fieseler Fi156 'Stork' of World War II has better slow-speed ability.

The AN-2 at Popham (supplied courtesy of Phil Little)

Among the visiting aircraft on 12th July 1992 (the day of the Biplane Fly-In) was the first Antonov AN2 to lumber in and grace the Popham turf. It was G-BTCU and it called in on its way back to Henstridge from a show at Blackbushe. To date, it is still the only one to have been on the British register, though it was painted in drab military green and coded ‘77’ and not displaying its civil ID.

If seeing one of these at Popham seemed like a once in a lifetime event, to see a second one was surely inconceivable, especially only a couple of months after the first, but that is exactly what happened. On the 27th September 1992, HA-ABJ dropped in (photographed here at Debden).

Since then the AN2 has become a more regular sight at Popham.  Indeed in August 2004, Popham gained a resident AN2 in HA-MKF (it moved in from White Waltham but had actually visited some years earlier as OM-UIN)