Kyiv, Ukraine - The ANTONOV AN-2-100 light aircraft, an up-to-date modification of the world’s biggest bi-plane, the ANTONOV AN-2, performed a test flight at ANTONOV Company’s test base in Kyiv, Ukraine on Tuesday 11th April 2017. The AN-2-100, which has a payload of 1500kg, lifted cargo weighing a total 3202kg, which is a new record for such class aircraft, to an altitude of 2700m.
The attempt to set the record was made by a crew of two ANTONOV Company Test Pilots, Sergii Tarasiuk, who piloted the flight and Valerii Yepanchintsev, who co-piloted.
The crew is known for their expedition to the South Pole on the ANTONOV AN-3 in 2005.
A report on the attempt to set the new record will be sent to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
Leaders from Ukrainian aircraft industry companies and the United Aircraft Company participated in the event.
The AN-2-100 is intended for passenger, cargo, and mixed cargo-passenger journeys on local routes. It can be operated autonomously at small airfields, in a wide altitude range, under good and adverse climatic and weather conditions.
The main difference between the AN-2-100 and its predecessor is in a power plant with MC-14 turboprop engine, designed and produced by the Motor Sich Public Joint Stock Company.
The advantage of this replacement is the substitution of aviation gasoline with aviation kerosene. The aircraft profitability consequently rises significantly.
The AN-2-100 is further equipped with the AV-17 reversible propeller, instead of the AV-2. The operational empty weight of AN-2-100 is 200kg less than that of the AN-2.
On Thursday, 31st August 2017, the aviation community will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the AN-2’s maiden flight. The AN-2, the world’s biggest biplane, was ANTONOV’s first airplane.
The new aircraft was named “Henrih Ongirskii” in honour of H.H. Ongirskii (1939-2012), Deputy General Designer of ANTONOV Company, who made a great contribution to the AN-2 and AN-3 development programme.
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