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| I love flying boats - don't know anything about this one, but it just fascinates me |
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| Merrill Field, Anchorage's first commercial airport |
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| The Chugach Mountains form a perfect backdrop for the airport |
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| The logo on this one reads "Brown Bear Air, Inc. - Alaska" |
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| A Russian biplane - I will try to find out more about this one |
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| For sale - a great addition for the M*A*S*H aficionado |
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| A better view of the Russian biplane |
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| This glider was parked at the very edge of the field |
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| I love the Alaskan paint job on this old Piper |
3 comments:
The Russian biplane is an Antonov An-2, the largest single-engine biplane ever made. I saw one at the Livermore, CA airport once, in a very bad state of repair.
Cool. Thank you!
The AN-2's were imported to work on the cargo/pax hauling end of things, as they were, after the fall of the Soviet Union, dirt cheap. Certain politically connected parties, mainly one whose name rhymes with Messna, objected strenuously to certain three-letter-agencies that have lots of power and little accountability, seeing as the AN-2 might be a threat to their Extremely Expensive Airplanes. So, the agency refuses to recognize or certify the Antonov's Type Certificate, which means must be imported as "experimental" or "exhibition only". Thus, it may not be used for commercial cargo or passenger hauling operations.
As the owners who'd paid to buy and import them had intended to make a profit, not a loss, most AN-2's in this country are now rotting, abandoned, at airfields as not worth the money paid for a tie-down. Some are barely maintained in the hopes that politicians being hard to stay bought, the winds may shift and the aircraft may be worth owning again someday.
Or, uh, so the rumor goes, but I certainly would never cast aspersions on any governmental agencies while being under the thumb of their minions.
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