AN-2

The AN-2 airplane, a firstling of the O.K. Antonov Design Bureau, got off the ground on August 31, 1947. The first flight was made by test pilot Pavel Volodin. Owing to high flight performance, structural reliability and wide transport capabilities, the AN-2 airplane has become an indispensable worker on regional airlines and in agriculture. The wing with powerful high-lift devices and landing gear with low-pressure tires enable to operate the airplane at small unpaved fields. The landing gear wheels can be replaced with skis or floats if necessary. From 1948 to 1963 the AN-2 airplane was serially manufactured at Kyiv Aviation Plant; 3,320 airplanes were manufactured. Since 1958, the АN-2 (Y-5) has been serially manufacturing in China. About 1,100 airplanes have been built in the PRC so far. From 1959 to 2002 the АN-2 and its derivatives were assembled at the WSK PZL-Mielec plant in Poland. A total of 11,915 airplanes have been manufactured. In 1966, production of АN-2М airplanes was started at the Dolgoprudnyi Engineering Plant, and 506 airplanes were manufactured until 1971. The АN-2 airplane is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as a biplane the most intensively manufactured after the end of the World War II. The airplane had dozens of modifications: the An-6 for high-altitude meteorological research, the AN-2F close range night reconnaissance and artillery observation airplane, the AN-4 floatplane version, the An-3 light multipurpose airplane powered with turboprop engines, the АN-2-100, etc. The AN-2 airplane is operated in more than 70 countries worldwide.