Antonov An - 2 The Antonov An - 2 ( Russian nickname : " " Annushka " " or " Annie " ) is a Soviet mass - produced single - engine biplane utility / agricultural ( hence its other nickname " Kukuruznik " , literally " cropduster " , gained from its predecessor Po - 2 ) aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau ( now State Company ) since 1946 . ( USAF / DoD reporting name Type 22 , NATO reporting name Colt . ) Design and development . The An - 2 is used as a light utility transport , parachute drop aircraft , agricultural work and many other tasks suited to this large slow - flying biplane . . Its slow flight and good field performance make it suited for short , unimproved fields , and some specialized variants have also been built for cold weather and other extreme environments . The " Guinness Book of World Records " states that the 45 - year production run for the An - 2 was for a time the longest ever , for any aircraft , but it was recently exceeded by the Lockheed C - 130 Hercules . The Antonov An - 2 was designed to meet a 1947 Soviet Ministry of Forestry requirement for a replacement for the 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 room for seats accommodating twelve passengers . The first prototype , designated SKh - 1 , and powered by a Shvetsov ASh - 21 radial engine , flew on 31 August 1947 . The second prototype was fitted with a more powerful Shvetsov ASh - 62 engine , which allowed the aircraft ' s payload to be significantly increased from 1 , 300 kg ( 2 , 870 lb ) to 2 , 140 kg ( 4 , 720 lb ) , and in this form it was ordered into production . 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 . Later Soviet production ( after 1965 , of model An - 2M especially ) was at State Factory 464 at Dolgoprudniy , Russian SFSR . After 1960 , however , most An - 2s were been built at Poland ' s WSK factory in Mielec , with over 13 , 000 made there before full production ended in 1991 . Limited production from parts stocks , as well as spares and maintenance coverage continued until 2001 , when four aircraft were produced for Vietnam . China also builds the An - 2 under license as the Shijiazhuang Y - 5 . It has been occasionally and erroneously reported that there was East German production of the An - 2 . While An - 2s were extensively refurbished in East Germany , there were no new aircraft built there . The An - 2 was designed as a utility aircraft for use in forestry and agriculture . However , the basic airframe is highly adaptable and numerous variants have been developed . These include hopper - equipped versions for crop - dusting , scientific versions for atmospheric sampling , water - bombers for fighting forest - fires , flying ambulance s , float - equipped seaplane versions , and lightly armed combat versions for dropping paratroops . The most common version is the An - 2T 12 - seater passenger aircraft . All versions ( other than the An - 3 ) are powered by a 750 kW ( 1 , 000 hp ) nine - cylinder Shvetsov ASh - 62 radial engine , which was developed from the Wright R - 1820 . It uses 43 gallon s of avgas per hour . The An - 2 has design features which make it suitable for operation in remote areas with unsurfaced airstrips : 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 leading - edge slats will snap out at about 64 km / h ( 40 mph ) , and when the airplane slows to a forward speed of about 40 km / h ( 25 mph ) , the airplane will sink at about a parachute descent rate until the aircraft hits the ground . " The An - 2 indeed has no stall speed quoted in the operating handbook . Pilots of the An - 2 say one can fly the aircraft in full control at 30 mph ( as a contrast , a modern Cessna four - seater light aircraft has a stall speed of around 50 mph ) . This slow stall speed makes it possible for the aircraft to fly backwards ( if the aircraft is pointed into a headwind of , say , , it will travel backwards at whilst under full control ) . ( This is also possible with almost any other true Short Take Off and Landing ( STOL ) aircraft , but the Antonov has the distinction of being able to do the trick in the mildest headwind . ) Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European communist states , most airlines in these areas have been withdrawing their An - 2s from service , as some of these aircraft are now over 40 years old and the production of avgas had decreased . Private operators are still using the planes , as their stability , capacity and slow - flying ability make them very popular , for instance for skydiving . In the early 1980s Antonov experimented with a development of the An - 2 powered by a modern turboprop engine . The unit used was a Glushenkov engine , and aircraft fitted with this engine were fitted with a longer , more streamlined nose to accommodate it . See Antonov An - 3 article for more information . In 2013 Antonov announced that it had successfully flown for the first time a new version of the An - 2 dubbed the An - 2 - 100 fitted with a 3 - blade reversible propeller and a 1500 shp Motor Sich MS - 14 turboprop running on kerosene rather than Avgas which is no longer produced in CIS countries . Whilst their high noise levels , increasing maintenance costs , high fuel consumption and unsophisticated nature ( the pre - flight checks alone take between 30 and 40 minutes ) make them obsolete for commercial service in Europe , the huge number of aircraft available means that prices are low ( from as little as $ 30 , 000 for a serviceable example ) . This makes them ideal for the developing world , where their ability to carry large loads into short airstrips makes them assets to airlines on a budget . Many ex - Aeroflot An - 2s work as regional airliners in Africa , Central and South America , Cuba and south east Asia . North Korea has a number of the aircraft with wooden propellers and canvas wings on their variants ( the Y - 5 version license - built in China ) giving them a low radar cross - section , and therefore a limited degree of " stealth " . In a war they could possibly be used to parachute or deliver special forces troops behind enemy lines for sabotage operations . 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 the United States and Western Europe , where they are prized by collectors of classic aircraft , making it an increasingly common sight at airshows . However , nearly all western nations ( the USA , Canada , the United Kingdom , France , etc . ) prohibit the use of the An - 2 commercially , despite its obvious potential as a bush plane and parachute aircraft . This is because the aircraft has not been certified by the relevant national aviation authorities , which limits its use . These restrictions vary by country , but all prevent the An - 2 being used for any ' for profit ' purpose , with the exception of the United States , where An - 2s imported since 1993 are limited to experimental certification & Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations , Part 21 . 191 , 21 . 193 , 21 . 195 , 91 . 313 , 91 . 319 , but PZL - built An - 2s are exempt from this restriction due to a bilateral agreement with Poland . Refitting project . In 2013 , Antonov received orders for upgrading " hundreds " of the An - 2 planes still in operation in Azerbaijan , Cuba and Russia to the An - 2 - 100 upgrade version . Combat service . The An - 2 was used by combat services in the Korean War . During the 1960s an An - 2 attempting to engage South Vietnamese naval units was shot down by an F - 4 Phantom II under the control of an Air Intercept Controller ( AIC ) on the . On January 12 , 1968 , a clandestine TACAN site ( call sign : " Laos Site 85 " / Phou Pha Ti ) installed by Special Forces ( United States Army ) in Northern Laos for directing USAF warplanes flying from Thailand to Vietnam was attacked by two North Vietnamese An - 2s using machine guns fired from the cabin , rockets , and hand thrown grenades . A third An - 2 orbited overhead . An Air America Bell UH - 1 B , XW - PHF , resupplying the site chased the two attacking aircraft . By using an AK - 47 the American crew ( Ted Moore Captain , Glen Wood kicker ) succeeded in shooting down one of the An - 2s while the second aircraft was forced down by combined ground and air fire and crashed into a mountain . The surviving Antonov returned to its home base , Gia Lam , near Hanoi . During the Croatian War of Independence in 1991 , a few old Antonov An - 2 biplanes used for crop - spraying were converted by the Croatian Air Force to drop makeshift bombs and were used in supply missions to the town of Vukovar and other besieged parts of Croatia . The chief advantage for the An - 2 was that they could take off and land in small or improvised airstrips . They were also used to drop supplies by parachute on isolated garrisons . At least one was shot down on 2 December 1991 over Vinkovci , eastern Slavonia , by Serbian SAM missiles , purportedly SA - 6 s . Variants . Ukrainian variants . An - 2 - 100 is a 2013 Antonov upgrade version refitted with Motor Sich kerosene - fueled engine ( instead of originally - installed avgas - consuming ) , most likely the MS - 14 powerplant . Maiden flight on 10 July 2013 in Kiev . Operators . In addition to Aeroflot , the Soviet Air Force , and other Eastern Bloc military forces including Vietnam People ' s Air Force ( VPAF ) , dozens of nations and airlines have employed the An - 2 in civil and military roles . In recent years , it has also gained popularity in the USA and Canada as a bushplane . As of 2013 , there were thousands of An - 2 still in operation around the world , including over 1 , 500 in Russia , 294 in Kazakhstan and 54 in Ukraine . Because of their reliability and robustness , several An - 2 are also used in scheduled passenger service between airstrips in western countries with one example being the service between the North - Sea islands of Sylt and Wyk auf Föhr . Accidents . As of April 2 , 2013 there have been 411 hull - loss accidents of An - 2 , claiming a total of 391 human lives . One of the most recent accidents occurred around 4 : 10 in the afternoon on March 23 , 2013 in Krasnoyarsk Krai where an Antonov An - 2 was dusting crops and crashed into a pond after the engine lost power , killing one of the pilots .