The Antonov An-2 is a Soviet-era utility biplane that was produced from the late 1940s all the way until 2001. Thanks to its rugged design, short takeoff and landing capability, and highly adaptable airframe, over 18,000 of these planes were built. That said, they're not a super common sight in North America.
For the past couple of years though, two of these planes have been based out of Springbank Airport just west of Calgary. This is where the story gets interesting!
Both of these planes are owned by a company called "2Solitude" ([ Ссылка ]), which retrofits An-2s and turns them into, basically, flying RVs!
One of them is privately operated and has a full interior with a kitchen and everything, sitting on the world's largest composite floats! The other one is a test bed for a turboprop conversion, swapping out the original radial engine for a Honeywell TPE331-12 turbine. This one too, will get its own set of floats eventually.
The final result is, to paraphrase the company's website, "a bush plane that is your camp".
On Saturday, the turbine one went up for a couple of circuits, and I took the opportunity to finally catch this rare Soviet biplane in action. A big thank you to the 2Solitude team for letting me take a look around the planes, too! Enjoy the video!
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FLIGHT INFORMATION
Operator: 2Solitude
Aircraft: Antonov An-2R (AN2)
Livery: "Russian Bare"
Engines: 1x Honeywell TPE331-12
Registration: N73AN
Route: Springbank (YBW) - Springbank (YBW)
Callsign: Antonov November 73 Alpha November
Runway used: 35
Date filmed: July 2023
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Outro song - "Take Flight" by Nyhtian: [ Ссылка ]
© Alex Praglowski Aviation 2023
This video is the property of Alex Praglowski Aviation and may not be used for any purpose without prior permission. Contact me at the email in the "About" section of my channel for usage.
