Google Earth Community: A salute to the An-2, versatile biplane workhorse

7 of them

The historical significance of the An-2 is its legendary status as a workhorse over a span of half a century even though the biplane might have been considered a throw-back to 1920s technologies at the time of its introduction in the mid 1940s. Several models of the An-2 were built in the Soviet Union at Kiev-Svyetoshino and Dolgoprudny through the early 1960s, but by mid-decade, only the An-2M model was still built in the country. China and Poland built models by the thousands and production of subsequent versions by SAMC in China and PZL in Poland continues today.

While its cruise speed of 110 to 120 knots is slow by today's standards, its short-field take off and landing (STOL) characteristics made it capable of operating from extremely small unprepared fields. Also with its large array of high lift devices (drooping ailerons and full-span slats on the upper wing, and slotted flaps on both wings) the An-2 is capable of "slow flight" down to speeds as low as 35 knots. These flying characteristics made it extremely useful in countless situations, specifically in North Korean low level support missions during the Korean War when none of the United Nations aircraft could slow down sufficiently to be effective against it. In 1950, the helicopter had not yet been developed to where it could be deployed in sufficient numbers to be involved in battlefield support missions.

The museum's An-2M, serial number 600810, was manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1966 as an agricultural sprayer and the interior was configured as a utility passenger/cargo airplane. The An-2M was a modified agricultural version of the original An-2 design with an increased horizontal tail area and the squaring of the vertical tail and propeller tips. E.J. "Buzz" Gothard of Chehalis, Washington, purchased this aircraft in 1978 as unassembled scrap pieces from an airstrip near New Delhi, India, where it had been in storage for four years because of the unavailability of parts. Unfortunately, nothing is known of its operational history in the Soviet Union, or why it was in India. In the spring of 1980, Gothard shipped the aircraft to the United States with a spare engine and parts, but left spraying equipment behind. Gothard recovered the aircraft with modern Ceconite fabric and restored it to a paratrooper configuration. With its new registration number, N84762, Gothard flew the restored aircraft in 1981. For the next two years, Gothard used the An-2 for parachute drops at airshows.
Smithsonian

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