Went through GIGBYTES of photos from various trips to Russia recently, and this one caught my eye (taken on an old first gen Canon digital pocket camera!).
Fiddled with some low-key HDR a little.
Antonov AN-2, middle of Siberia, late summer (went inside also and took many pictures)
You said Antonov, and i thought bugger you you must have got a good shot of one of those big buggers, but alas it was just a baby.
Man i just wish i was in a place to photograph one of them, a few weeks ago it was in Rockhampton, we went to the air strip only to find it had taken off the night before.
Actually, found out today that the An-2 has resumed production - either as the original version on special order, or as a new version with turboprop engine and end strut with no rigging.
That will definitely keep them honest. Our family did Moscow, Kazan, Samara (so near Izhevsk), Sochi and St P. That was summer and hot in most places. But even then St P was cold. It really is the most amazing place.
I went through Siberia in the early 80s (that makes me feel old) on the Trans Siberian - part of an extended train trip from London to Hong Kong. December, late at night - walking down to passport control at Mongolia. That was painfully cold. I imagine January will be even colder.
Krasnoyarsk looks interesting. I'll have to learn more Russian before going back there - at least it amuses the locals
The AN-2 has the 2nd longest production life in history - 1947 to 2001. 18,000 airframes built, many thousand still in service.
The longest production run in history goes to the C-130 Hercules, from 1954 to present, but with FAR fewer airframes at only 2500.
Thanks for the photo and background history.
Then there's the venerable Cessna 172.
In production for 61 years, only three short of the C-130, still in production
today and over 40,000 airframes built, more than any other aircraft in history.
The Cessna 172 still also holds the world record for flight endurance
set in 1958, when it flew non-stop for 64 days, 19 hours without landing.