The plane can ... fly back, pride of North Korea

The reason that the An-2s still continue to serve is that no plane has special abilities like it.

An-2 aircraft: The aircraft can fly backwards

Earlier in April, North Korean media announced the image of their strategic military aircraft in a new camouflage version. It is not surprising that it is not a jet airplane with a new style or super-fast flight ability. It was a two-story Antonov An-2 , a 1940 version and looked like a tractor with wings.

An An-2 in the new paint color of the North Korean army

However, North Korean An-2s are not necessarily useless. It can be used in low-flying and slow-flying missions, to release commandos across the Korean border. An-2 can fly as low as below the radar detection range.

The Antonov An-2s, the pride of the North Korean army appeared in a new camouflage version. The top of the plane is painted green, while the underside is covered with leather. This makes them difficult to detect from below the ground and even when viewed from above a high range. But the question is, why is North Korea still proud of the aircraft from the 40s of the last century?

Because it can fly back .

Antonov An-2 was an aircraft produced by the Soviet Union at the start of the reconstruction of the country after World War II. In 1947, the first Antonov An-2 was shipped. Even at that time, it carried the contours of an outdated aircraft. Aviation industry has now entered the era of jet engines.

However, An-2 seems to have made an utopia. It continued to be produced in the 2000s, extending service time to nearly 70 years after its birth. The reason may come from a very special attribute in the design of An-2. It is not the ability to take and land with short runways but another thing to think about: Basically, it can fly backwards.

In the Soviet Union, An-2 was designed to serve the Ministry of Forestry. It is used as a means of transporting and spraying agricultural preparations from the air.Oleg Antonov is the father of An-2s. He designed it with a two-storey propeller and double-wing engine, a closed cockpit and a fuselage enough to accommodate 12 passengers or 1 ton of cargo. To be used for agricultural and forestry purposes, it must be able to take off from runways that are dirt roads at the edge of the forest. Popular routes in the sparsely populated and deserted areas of the Soviet Union at the time.

As of 1991, more than 19,000 An-2s were manufactured in the Soviet Union and then Poland. Thousands of others were born in China with the name of Shijiazhuang Y-5 , and so far, there has been a Shijiazhuang Y-5 ever born here.

A Chinese Shijiazhuang Y-5

Extremely loud

'The reason the An-2s continue to serve is that no aircraft can replace it,' said aviation expert Bernie Leighton, who once piloted An-2 in Belarus. 'If you need an airplane that can carry 10 soldiers, people or goats, you can take off from any runway conditions, it can only be An-2 or a helicopter'.

'Flying on an An-2 is unlike any other in modern times. First, it is a low-end and low-tail type aircraft. So, when you first entered the cockpit from the ground, everything will lean backwards. When taking off, you can feel the runway because it is very squirrely. One thing to remember, An-2 is not designed to carry passengers. Of course, An-2 is noisy , 'Leighton said.

An-2's classic design with double-deck wings creates a lot of lift. That means you can take off on a very short runway. The lift that the two-stage wing system creates allows the An-2 to maintain a slow speed, at least up to 40km / h, but the pilot can still control it.

This makes An-2 very popular in parachute training missions. Pilots flying with the exceptionally technical An-2 make the plane hover in the air. To do this, they had to put the plane into a wind and if the wind was strong enough, the aircraft could move backwards very slowly. Of course, the pilot must control the whole process closely.

Special design

Bill Leary is the flight operator of the An-2 club in England and he flew with an old Hungarian An-2 for 14 years. He shared the key so that the An-2 could float in one place or even fly back on the wing surface . The front of the wing has a section called the edge bar. They often operate when the plane lands, which is responsible for increasing wind resistance and speeding. A similar part in the back but doing the opposite task, increases the lift for the aircraft.

On an An-2, flaps were placed along the back of the lower wings and larger flaps on the upper wings. This gives a great lift to the aircraft so it can keep a slow pace.

Rear flaps of an An-2

' If you have a strong enough wind, about 15-20 nautical miles, you can make the plane float , ' says Leary. ' You take down all the flaps and turn on the edge bar on the front of the wing. Picking a wind with an airplane angle of about 40 degrees, you will be able to keep the plane hovering in one place '.

Leary said that it would be interesting to fly on an An-2, but it must be very focused. It is very sensitive to the movements of the control parts. Controlling an An-2 also requires a great physical condition. It doesn't have a computer system like a Boeing and doesn't even have a hydraulic control system.

Finally, Leighton discusses the safety of the An-2s.'It just kills you when you do something really stupid in the cockpit. If the An-2 breaks the engine, you don't have to be really anxious to find a suitable landing place. This is not a plane that offers comfort but it is extremely safe. '

In short, a very modest An-2 still carries special abilities: taking off and landing in a narrow space, flying at low speed, avoiding radar detection, extremely safe and even fly back under special conditions. All of these have made An-2 still exist and serve until today.