An-2, Antonov 'Colt'
These were originally black and white photos I took at an airshow. I wanted to re-create them to capture the old- world design of the aircraft. While the cameras available at the time of the aircraft's inception would have taken much better pictures than the photos pictured here, I decided to exaggerate the antique look and feel and the result is an anachronistic photo that looks strangely natural. Feel free to click on the images for a larger view.
This shot was the most difficult to clean. Most of the wing and wheel on the left of the frame was rebuilt from scratch, as well as much of the underpart of the aircraft. The larger view is 27.9k. Want to see a before and after?
In this photo, I needed to remove some sky and people in front of the aircraft. I also closed a curtain in one window. The larger view is 30.4k. Want to see a before and after?
Because it was such a bright day, I did not get the depth-of-field effect I had wanted, so I took the perfectly in- focus image and unfocused the foreground and background. Only one vertical row of rivets is in focus. The larger view is 21.5k. Want to see a before and after?
The "Anushka" ("Annie") as it is known to Russian pilots was designed just after WWII to the specifications of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the USSR for service as a long range bush plane to support forest rangers in their out-posts and to monitor the vast resources of the Siberian forests. An-2s entered production in 1947 and proved so capable that they were almost immediately adapted by the military as a light (an arguable statement) utility transport. Shortly thereafter, Aeroflot adapted it for use as a regional transport aircraft.
More than 5,000 were built in Russia until 1960 when production of the aircraft was transferred to Poland. Production continued there, without any significant changes in the design, until 1992 when the last major contract was completed. It is estimated that over 15,000 were built in Poland in six different variants. These were shipped in quantity to nearly every East European country and every Russian ally in the world during the Cold War. Though the production line is closed, the factory in Poland still retains the tooling and occasionally produces "new builds" from stored assemblies. The airplane continues in production under license in China. This description courtesy Dragon Aviation [http://www.dragonaviation.com/].
