Aircraft
The Antonov AN-2 Biplane Is Special
A solid Soviet workhorse with some interesting features, still flying 75 years after its first test flight — and China is now building them
Context
I’m not a huge fan of ‘things Russian’. I worked in Russia on and off for several years visiting many parts of the country from Siberia to the Black Sea. It was just after the USSR had imploded in 1991 and I was hopeful for the future of the country, but it’s now a total mess with many of its talented engineers having emigrated. I knew a few. They were, literally, rocket scientists and very keen to leave.
During my time there I flew (nervously) on a variety of Aeroflot twin-props and jets whose appearance gave me doubts about rigorous maintenance schedules.
Now I wonder how well the various Russian aircraft design bureaux such as Tupolev and Sukhoi fare in their work when so much talent has left. There was a fall off in technology design after 1991 as Russia relied increasingly on imported technology and the West was keen to oblige as the prospect of conflict with the West faded away. I don’t know how well Russia developed its engineering talent during that time, but they are still managing to produce new aircraft and weapons…
