A tribute to a great Russian aircraft…

By Fred, on January 18th, 2010

During my first of many trips into the DRC, I realized that depending on the type of work you do, one is exposed to sometimes harrowing flights in a variety of different aircraft. But nothing grabbed my fancy more than flying in the Antonov An 2.

Designed in the 1940’s, the An 2 is a relatively large biplane generally used as a light utility transport because it’s slow speed and good field performance. This quality makes it very suited for short, unimproved fields of which there are plenty in the DRC!!!

The client knowing that I have a particular interest in aviation was kind enough to let me sit in front with the pilot. He introduced himself to me as Yuri and passed me a flask.
“Courage?” he asked…
“Ahh…no thanks” I quivered wondering what was in the flask.
Yuri then started shouting something towards the back of the aircraft and a packer climbed over the cargo littering the entrance of the cockpit and stuck his head inside the minute gap that used to be the emergency exit.
A barrage of instructions came from Yuri…and none that I understood.

Yuri looked at my quizzing mug and elaborated in a stiff Russian accent.
“Dis packer dropped bag of cement on last flight…Dust Everywhere! Dust on Windscreen…Dust on instruments…I can’t see things. Just making sure he knows I kill him if drops one again.”
“Oh boy” I sighed as a sense of impending doom came over me.
“You like my office?” Yuri pointed at his cockpit.
It was a little different to what I was used to in an aircraft, because all the instruments displayed metric information. But most of all I admired the very old fashioned fan blowing air onto Yuri’s face.
“It’s interesting for sure. I fly Cessna’s at home…”
Yuri looked at me with a beady eye and muttered only one thing back.
“Dis very different” and started the engine.

Nothing prepares one for the noise coming from the Shvetsov ASh-62 radial engine. It’ loud, bombastic and it filled me with exhilaration.

Before I knew it we were airborne, crossed the Kasai River and were flying no higher than 100m (app 330 ft) above the ground. The tree tops from the jungle were almost touchable and scenes from the movie “Out of Africa” came to mind. We flew between valleys…and then at very low level with a river before struggling to get enough altitude to clear a hill.
It was amazing!
As the flight progressed Yuri gave me control of the beast. I took control and found her to be remarkably responsive and easy to trim. Straight and level turned out to be a breeze. Yuri pointed towards the GPS and I noticed that we needed to change our bearing. Next he pointed at the compass and showed me which bearing to fly.
A subtle power change, a bit of stick and rudder and Voila! Not that I’m an expert…but to me…she handled like a dream.
Yuri smiled at me appreciatively as he took back the controls.
I was still staring out of the cockpit when I noticed that our altitude had dropped a little more than it had been during the very low level parts of our flight. I was starting to think that Yuri was maybe getting a little reckless. Before I even looked forward…all three wheels had touched the ground on a runway I did not even recognize from the air.
It was the smoothest landing I had ever experienced.

As we finished taxing to the end of the field…hundreds of Congolese kids were waiting in anticipation of the excitement an An 2 brings when it lands. Cheekily, Yuri swung the tail at them and briefly opened the throttle. A plethora of dust flew into the crowd before he cut the engine. Instead of being annoyed…the crowed cheered in exhilaration.

To sum up things…I have flown in many aircraft in my life before, ranging from airliners, cargo planes to aerobatics aircraft. Nothing spoke to my soul more than the approximately twenty flips I have had in the An 2 to date.
The Russians are not necessarily known for building things that encapsulate romance. But with the An 2, I think they managed to get it right.

A tribute to a great aircraft!

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa