Ukrainian airplain Antonov’s Airlifter Heritage
An-2 Antonov’s first and most enduring design was the An-2 light utility transport, a rugged biplane powered by a 1,000-hp Shvetsov Ash-61 radial engine and with tailwheel landing gear. The An-2, given the NATO reporting name Colt, first flew from Novosibirsk on Aug. 31, 1947. Overall, 17,000 An-2s were produced in the Soviet Union, Poland and China (as the Y-5). Reengined with a 1,375-shp Glushenkov TVD-20 turboprop, the An-3T was certified in 2000. An-12 Relocated to Kiev, Ukraine, in 1952, Antonov in 1957 flew both the An-8 twin-turboprop military transport and An-10 four-turboprop passenger airliner. But one of the company’s most important designs also flew in December that year, the An-12 four-turboprop tactical transport—the Soviet equivalent to the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. With the NATO reporting name Cub, more than 1,240 An-12s were produced in Irkutsk, Voronezh and Tashkent. China’s Y-8 transport is based on the An-12. An-14 A light short-takeoff-