The AN2 is flown IFR a lot and in regions, most of us would shudder to think about even going in a modern jet. it is a true workhorse and very well IFR capable, even with 1930ties technology and instruments. Obviously, with todays requirements, a major avionics upgrade would be necessary, but I have seen several equipped with GNS430’s and similar devices.
What is remarkable however is that these planes do not have any sort of autopilot, so whoever flies that thing around the world has to do so by hand, with about 120 kts max speed, and he needs a LOT of fuel and oil on the way. Consumption is between 150and 250 liters per hour on fuel and it has a 100 l oil tank for good reason. 1200 liters of capacity will give you a range of 4 to 5.5 hours on economical cruise (or rather the power setting where least avgas flows through that engine) resulting in maybe 500 to 600 NM operational range.
What an AN2 will do is however to satisfy the baggage requirements of even the craziest families. I recall that one AN2 out of Poland I believe was used for travelling from Poland to the med by some guy whose 4 female family members would burst the baggage limits of each airline and GA plane alike. It will work, but it costs a lot of money to operate this airplane.
Nevertheless, I loved my time on it.
if you up your budget to those numbers, I’d be amiss not to point out that for this money, some serious Cirrus SR22 are available too. They are not in the same league in terms of economy or speed with a 252, but they do have that shute, which in the IFR situations you are likely to encounter in your schedule may become a life saver. 200k for a full FIKI or at least fully TKS equipped one may struggle though….
so the AN2 is kind of aviation’s answer to say’s law: supply creates its demand ;)
Na actually the AN2 was purpose-built and was the backbone of the Aeroflot for long times. Given the task to connect small russian villages on unpaved runways you even today don’t have many better aircraft.
EuroFlyer wrote:
so the AN2 is kind of aviation’s answer to say’s law: supply creates its demand ;)
No, I think the AN2 was (and partially is) the answer to a very real problem the Russians had and have. Today, there are some other means of transport and planes which are suitable for these regions, primarily also because infrastructure has improved. If I had to this kind of operation, what I’d like to do is to modify a good bunch of them to turboprop (which was actually done, it was called the AN3). The AN2 is also an airplane which defies the rule that only FIKI planes can fly in icing… while I have never tried it, my instructors assured me that the wings and empenage take on hardly any ice at all due to their form. The only ice they are scared of is prop ice. The ice that may and will form on the airframe itself is largely discounted as it adds only marginally to the drag the airplane has by itself.
Every area in the world which has these requirements have produced suitable airplanes. I’d think the Beaver was the Canadian answer, to an extent also the Otter and Twin Otter, who do similar jobs. Today you have the Cessna Caravan and airplanes like the PC6, the PC12 and the Quest Kodiak which are for these jobs.
It was and is interesting that the FAA painfully tried to stop the AN2 from operating in any capacity in the US, mainly because they knew it would be a megahit. You can get these things for very few money in excellent shapes and they would make a huge competition to the Cessna and other offerings.
If I were a rich man, I’d probably buy one of them as my private transport. Somethink like this for example.
http://www.planecheck.com?ent=da&id=26726
I bet, quite some reluctant female companions would revise their stance on creature comforts if that was the airplane to carry them to weekend trips and longer flights….
I flew a Y-5 once, Chinese An-2 copy:
Mooney_Driver wrote:
If I were a rich man, I’d probably buy one of them as my private transport. Somethink like this for example.
The AN2 is so noisy…..is it even allowed in CH?? 
@Mooney_Driver, I think the main factor that prevents ice accretion on the An2 is not shape but that fact that the wing is textile to a large extent, with the exception of the upper centre wing section.
Shorrick, how does the fabric reduce the ice formation?
Jesting, don’t worry.
The An-2 is prohibited from flight into icing.
Shorrick,
I am aware that flight into ice is prohibited. Yet it has happened quite a lot of times in Russia. The people I talked to are experienced AN2 drivers and they did tell me that the actual ice accumulation on the AN2 was much less than it is on other planes they flew. I also thought this rather weird, the huge surfaces almost scream ice when you look at them, but that is what they said.
Yet, as the workhorse, they also lost quite a few of them. possibly in conditions they were not made for.
I once flew an AN2 simulator in Sofia which was used to train people in flying the AN2 IFR. Almost all the eastern block transport pilots started out on the AN2….
