Antonov An-2

Updated: October 2026 – First you hear it, then you see it: a deep, steady drone announces it, and then a biplane slides over the treetops that looks far too big for just one engine. That is the Antonov An-2, affectionately called “Anna” in Germany. It has been in the air since 1947, over 18,000 have been built, and it still lifts skydivers into the sky, sprays over fields or flies passengers in circles over Berlin and the Baltic Sea. On this page you will learn how to recognize it, how it differs from other vintage aircraft and where you can still experience it today.

What is the Antonov An-2?

The An-2 is a single-engine utility biplane, designed by the design bureau of aircraft builder Oleg Antonov. The order came from the Soviet Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry: they wanted a rugged workhorse that takes off from unpaved strips, spreads fertilizer and crop protection products, carries cargo and passengers and gets by with simple maintenance. On August 31, 1947, the prototype took off for its first flight.

What began as an agricultural aircraft became one of the most versatile aircraft of all. There were versions for passengers, for cargo, for skydivers, for firefighting, with floats for water landings and with skis for snow. NATO gave it the reporting name “Colt.”

With a good 18 meters of wingspan on the upper wing and a maximum takeoff weight of 5.5 tons, the An-2 is considered the largest single-engine biplane still in service. For comparison: a Cessna 172 weighs only about a fifth of that at takeoff.

From Kyiv via Mielec to China

Series production began in 1948 in Kyiv. Until about the end of the 1950s, several thousand aircraft were built there. Then the Soviet Union handed production over to Poland: from 1960, the PZL Mielec factory built the An-2 – and for so long and in such numbers that by far the largest share of all aircraft comes from Poland. In parallel, a licensed version was built in China under the designation Y-5.

Added up, over 18,000 An-2s came out of the factories. For a while, Guinness listed its production run as the longest series production of any aircraft type; other types have since surpassed that record. The number remains impressive anyway – hardly any other aircraft since World War II has been built more often.

For spotters, this history has a practical side: many of the An-2s flying in Europe today or standing in museums are of Polish origin. In databases, PZL-Mielec therefore often appears as the manufacturer, not Antonov. How to look up the build year and serial number of an aircraft is explained in the article MSN, c/n and line number.

Built for grass strips and headwinds

The An-2’s concept looks old-fashioned, but it is tailored exactly to its job. Two wings generate a lot of lift at low speed, and that makes it a short-takeoff specialist.

• Radial engine: Up front sits a nine-cylinder Shvetsov ASh-62IR radial engine with around 1,000 hp. It drives a large four-blade propeller and is known for its unmistakable drone.
• Automatic slats: On the leading edge of the wings, slats extend by themselves at low speed. They keep the airflow attached to the wing and make slow flight forgiving.
• Flaps: Electrically operated flaps shorten takeoff and landing further.
• Rugged landing gear: A fixed wide-track gear with a tailwheel shrugs off grass, gravel and snow. For water or ice there were variants with floats or skis.
• Short distances: In the An-2P passenger version, around 150 meters of roll are enough for takeoff and around 180 meters for landing.

The minimum speed is around 50 km/h. In a strong headwind, the An-2 can therefore stand almost still over the ground or even drift slowly backward without losing control. In cruise it travels at about 190 km/h, with around 258 km/h given as the maximum speed.

In the passenger version, the cabin seats up to twelve people, mostly on simple seats along the fuselage walls. On sightseeing flights, that is exactly part of the experience: you sit close to the window, hear the engine and watch the landscape go by at a leisurely pace.

The features that are enough to identify it

There are quite a few biplanes at air shows – but the An-2 plays in a different weight class from the classic trainer and aerobatic biplanes. These three observations make the identification certain.

The registration confirms the type in the end and often reveals the origin right away. German An-2s carry a registration starting with D-, Polish ones with SP-, Russian ones with RA-. What lies behind the prefixes is covered in the article on country prefixes of aircraft, and the German lettering system by weight class is explained in the article German aircraft registrations.

An-2 or another vintage aircraft?

At air shows, several historic types often stand side by side. The finder helps you narrow it down.

You can find more on the types mentioned on the pages for the Junkers Ju 52, the de Havilland Tiger Moth, the Boeing-Stearman Kaydet and the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann. The modern successors in feeder service include the DHC-6 Twin Otter, the Let L-410 Turbolet and the single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan.

Feature	An-2	Ju 52	Tiger Moth	DHC-6 Twin Otter
Design	Biplane	Low-wing	Biplane	High-wing
Engines	1 radial	3 radials	1 inline	2 turboprops
Cabin	yes, up to 12 seats	yes	no, open seats	yes
Landing gear	Tailwheel	Tailwheel	Tailwheel	Nosewheel

Variants and modernizations

Over the decades, numerous versions were built. For spotters, these designations are the most interesting:

• An-2P: Passenger version with seats for up to twelve people.
• An-2T and An-2TP: Transport and combined cargo-passenger versions.
• An-2TD: Version for dropping skydivers.
• An-2R: Agricultural version with a tank and spraying system.
• Firefighting version: Variant with a jettisonable water or retardant tank for firefighting.
• An-2V (An-2W in Poland): Floatplane with two large floats.

In addition, there were several attempts to replace the radial engine with a turboprop. The An-3 received a turboprop and a reworked fuselage. In Ukraine, the An-2-100 with a Motor Sich turboprop first flew in 2013. In Russia, the TVS-2MS with a Honeywell turboprop was developed, of which a number of conversions were made. As a true successor design for the Russian An-2s, the Baikal (LMS-901) is being developed.

The An-2 in Germany: from the NVA to sightseeing flights

In East Germany, the An-2 was a familiar sight. A total of 74 aircraft flew with the National People’s Army, the Society for Sport and Technology (GST) and Interflug. In the NVA, the “Anna” served from 1956 to 1990 and was valued as a transport and liaison aircraft; there it had a remarkably low loss rate, with only two losses and no fatalities. You can learn more about the types behind the Iron Curtain in the article on Soviet airliners.

After reunification, the An-2 remained in regular service in Germany for a surprisingly long time. Until 2013, one aircraft shuttled between Sylt and Wyk auf Föhr, and through 2021, an An-2 connected Strausberg near Berlin with Barth on the Baltic Sea. Anyone standing at Sylt Airport back then could see the biplane among regional aircraft and business jets.

Since 2022, the An-2 in Germany has flown mainly for sightseeing flights, most recently from Strausberg over Berlin and from Barth and Heringsdorf over the Baltic islands. In addition there are clubs and private owners who use their aircraft for skydiving or air shows.

Sightseeing flights and meets in Europe

Outside Germany, the An-2 remains present above all in Central and Eastern Europe. In Poland, where most of the fleet was built, it is a familiar sight at air shows and at skydiving centers. In other European countries, too, clubs and vintage aircraft owners use it for sightseeing and jump flights. Farther east, in Russia and Central Asia, the An-2 still works in many places in the classic way as an agricultural and transport aircraft.

For spotters in Western Europe, vintage aircraft meets and airfield festivals are the best opportunity. Whether an An-2 is on the program is usually announced by the organizers in advance. Helpful here are the overviews of airfield festivals in Germany, of the Hahnweide vintage aircraft meet and of the most important air shows in Europe. How to find small airfields in the first place is explained in the guide Finding small airfields on maps.

If you want not just to see the An-2 but to experience it, you can book a sightseeing flight or give one as a gift. What to look out for is covered in the article Giving a sightseeing flight, simulator hour or airport tour as a gift.

The An-2 in museums

Where the An-2 no longer flies, it often stands in a museum. Especially in collections related to East Germany, Eastern Europe or Polish aviation, it is worth looking at the inventory. Good places to start for Eastern European types are the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow, the Military History Museum Berlin-Gatow Airfield, the Cottbus Airfield Museum and the Prague-Kbely Aviation Museum. Which aircraft are on display there changes occasionally – check the current holdings before your visit.

Photo tips specifically for the An-2

The An-2 is a rewarding subject: slow, close to the ground and with many details that modern aircraft don’t have.

When the light is right at your spot is best planned in advance; how that works is covered in the guide Planning the sun position for your photo spot. If you want to get into the world of light aircraft in general, you will find plenty of tips in the article Spotting general aviation, and the article Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky helps with more classics.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

If you want to get to know the family behind the name: Antonov is known today above all for freight giants like the An-124 and the destroyed An-225, plus turboprops like the An-24. You will find an overview of the manufacturer on the page about Antonov.

Conclusion

The An-2 is an aircraft you don’t forget: huge for a biplane, slow, loud and incredibly rugged. Over 18,000 of them have sprayed fields, dropped skydivers and brought passengers to remote places. In Germany it has gone from the NVA through island service to a vintage sightseeing aircraft – and once you have heard its drone, you will recognize it before you even see it.