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", 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, toilet, and
table that turns into a bed, 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!