After the Cold War, Russia russian single engine aircraft to develop a multirole combat aircraft as replacement for MiG-29, in light of the US Joint Strike Fighter program. Yakovlev proposed the Yak-43, an upgraded Yak-41 with a stealthier design and more powerful engines.
Work on the project began around 1994, although the program was officially initiated in 1999. RD-33 engine, manufactured at the Klimov factory. Russia is Working on a New Stealth Fighter”. ПАК ФА Т-50 Archived 2016-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mikoyan LMFS. The An-2 was designed as a utility aircraft for use in forestry and agriculture. The Antonov An-2 was designed to meet a 1947 Soviet Ministry of Forestry requirement for a replacement for the much lighter, largely wooden-airframed Polikarpov Po-2, which was used in large numbers in both agricultural and utility roles.
Antonov designed a large single bay biplane of all-metal construction, with an enclosed cockpit and a cabin with seats for twelve passengers. Initial Soviet production was at State Factory 473 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, where the bulk of up to 5,000 units had been produced by 1960. State Factory 464 at Dolgoprudniy, Russian SFSR. The An-2 is commonly used as a light utility transport, parachute drop aircraft, agricultural work and other tasks suited to a large slow biplane.
Its slow flight and good short field performance make it suited for short, unimproved fields, and some specialized variants have also been built for cold weather and other extreme environments. During the early 1980s, Antonov experimented with a development of the An-2 powered by a modern turboprop engine. Aircraft fitted with this engine had a longer, more streamlined nose to accommodate it. It received the designation of Antonov An-3. Motor Sich MS-14 turboprop running on kerosene rather than Avgas, which is no longer produced in CIS countries. Antonov An-2 with carbon fibre winglet-like braces and carbon fibre wing structures.
It was equipped with a five-bladed turboprop engine, most probably the Honeywell TPE331 already installed on a modernized version of the An-2 that entered service in 2014. An-2 at Grand Junction aviation show. The Antonov An-2 is a mass-produced single-engine biplane that has been commonly used as a utility and agricultural aircraft. It is deliberately furnished with a minimum of complex systems.
The crucial wing leading edge slats that give the aircraft its slow flight ability are fully automatic, being held closed by the airflow over the wings. The An-2 is equipped with various design features which make it suitable for operation in remote areas with unsurfaced airstrips. The An-2 has no stall speed, a fact which is quoted in the operating handbook. A note from the 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 An-2’s ability, looks and flying characteristics, and its status as one of the world’s biggest single-engined production biplanes, mean that demand for the An-2 is increasing in Western Europe and the United States, where they are prized by collectors of classic aircraft, making it an increasingly common sight at airshows. Many western countries prohibit the use of the An-2 commercially because the aircraft has not been certified by the relevant national aviation authorities.
The An-2 was adopted in bulk by both the Soviet Air Force and other Eastern Bloc military forces. It was first used in a military context during the Korean War of the early 1950s. Vietnam War, the service occasionally used the type as an attack aircraft. Reportedly, North Korea has operated a number of the AN-2s. The Korean People’s Army Special Operation Force is known to use the An-2 to facilitate the infiltration of paratroopers. Over the years, dozens of nations and companies alike have employed the An-2 in civil roles. Russian airline Aeroflot has operated a large number of the An-2s.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the various communist states of Eastern European, most airlines in these regions have been withdrawing their An-2s from service. This is due to some of these aircraft being over 40 years old, as well as a result of the decline in the production of avgas to fuel the type. In recent years, the An-2 has also gained popularity in the U. Canada, where it has often been used as a bushplane. First flown on 21 March 1948 ‘Izdeliye K’ was found to be under-powered and unable to carry out its intended mission at high altitude, the aircraft was abandoned after a landing accident in October 1948. The original design concept originated at OKB-153 in Novosibirsk. An-2 used during the design phase of the project before the OKB had been named after Antonov.
Developed from the An-2A for use as a Balloon interceptor to intercept reconnaissance balloons from, US intelligence assets, over-flying the USSR. The initial service designation of An-2NAK was changed to An-2F once post test flight modifications had been carried out. A VTOL project with vertical thrust to be provided by a Mikulin AM-9 turbojet in the rear fuselage. A proposed photo-mapping aircraft project, from the early 1990s, similar to the An-2PF equipped with one of five alternate cameras. Adapted to fly in tropical latitudes at low altitude the ‘An-2G’ could fly for six hours and two were used for survey work in Nigeria in 1974. Trials revealed that this system was inefficient and further work was abandoned. Any of a number of An-2s used as testbeds for various equipment.
