My first glimpse of it was sitting in weeds and undergrowth at the side of the disused Pearls Airport in the northeast part of the island of Grenada (click here for google map).
The ‘CCCP’ on its side was barely legible. “What an ungainly, ugly monster”
I thought. I just had to get out of the van and look it over. Somewhat to the north was another derelict; larger, twin engines, with a ramp at the rear, and the fading ‘Cubana’ name barely readable on its side.
I went back to the first one wondering what it was, and bumped into something solid as I pushed through the undergrowth. “What the… There’s another wing here, under all the brush and stuff! It’s a bloody biplane!”
It had obviously been abandoned, with its Cubana compatriot, many years previously, and was suffering the ravages of weather and exposure. Its four-blade propeller was delaminating and the frayed blade tips looked more like the old toothbrush I used to apply shoe polish than an item of aeronautical propulsion.
When we got home to Canada I researched it and finally 
concluded it was an Antonov 2, (NATO code name ‘Colt’) abandoned, along with the Antonov 26 beside it, after the “American Intervention” in late 1983. They had been sitting there forlornly for 22 years.
The more I read about the Antonov 2, the more intrigued I became by it. By now I was flying radio controlled models and thought it would be a hoot to model this aircraft, so I made inquiries on rccanada.com to see if anyone could point me to some resource material, as my internet searches had turned up little.
I was given some good links and tips, but the best was when a Polish chap named Tomasz started emailing me scans of a book on the Antonov. Incredible detail and more information than I would be able to use in a decade!
From time to time I mentioned my interest in this airplane to various folk with similar interests. It was during one of these discussions that I mentioned I had heard one was at the Oshawa airport, and I would love to check it out some time. A fellow modeller piped up and said, “I know the owner. We’ve been friends for about fifty years! I’ll give him a call.”
Un real! What serendipity! Anyway, Jim called Daniel and it transpired that the owner, Daniel Owen, was more than willing to have us come by and if he was available, maybe even take us for a spin. Whooo-Hoooo!!
So it happened that Jim and I drove down the 401 and up the 404 to Buttonville Airport (not Oshawa, as it happened) and met Daniel at 11:30 on the morning of Thursday, October 15. We went straight to the coffee shop where we were to meet Mr. Owen. We were early, and I was able to look out onto the tarmac where a large array of planes was tied down. There was the AN-2; it’s bulk making it look like a Percheron amidst a herd of ponies. It towered above the Citations, Cessnas and Bonanzas in the foreground. Its yellow with red trim contrasting strongly with the monotonous ‘whitewith-a-blue-or-red-stripe’ of all the other planes in the area.
Daniel arrived, spot on time and we promptly repaired onto the apron, in the +6 Celsius wind, and began prepping the big beast for a flight. It was tied down securely, and had its control surfaces immobilized by a variety of clamps, cables and turnbuckles to prevent any flutter from occurring in a high wind.
I had read that the AN-2 'leaks a bit of oil', but I was never the less taken aback to see a plastic gallon juice bottle full of oil suspended under the engine. The first order of preparation was for me to hold a stepladder whilst Daniel climbed up and poured the oil back into the engine. (Waste not, want not!) Next he started ‘walking’ blades on the propeller. The engine can be damaged easily by starting it with oil in the radial engines lower cylinders, so the engine must be turned over multiple times by hand to ensure you do not have a hydraulic lock. Between Daniel and I, I think we walked about forty blades as we got ready to start up.
After all the tie-downs and control surface securing devices were removed, Daniel and Jim moved inside to start the engine. I stayed outside at Daniel’s suggestion to photograph the copious exhaust plume that would accompany the unleashing of the 1000 horsepower in the nose of this thing. The AN-2 does not have a beefy starting motor. Instead it has a modest motor, which serves to run a flywheel up to speed, then the engine is engaged, and all things being equal the inertia of the flywheel will turn it over and it should fire up. After several attempts (it was quite cold!) it finally caught on some cylinders, and continued to run, so having collected my photos, I trotted round, climbed aboard, pulled in the small step on the outside and closed and latched the door. Amusingly enough, as it is attempting to come to life, the exhaust system manages to occasionally blow a perfect smoke ring!
Jim was standing just outside the flight deck working a lever mounted to the side below the pilot’s seat. He continued working this thing back and forth, until the rest of the cylinders joined the mechanical circle dance and the AN-2 gave voice to its full-throated roar. He chose a seat in the passenger compartment and motioned me forward to the flight deck where I climbed into the right seat.
Daniel proceeded to brief me on what I was allowed to touch and what I was not. I put on my headphones and we were able to communicate via the intercom without being deafened by the roar of the radial engine in front of us. I was also able to listen in on exchanges between Daniel and the traffic controllers.
Taxiing off the apron to the active runway was quite an exercise in a craft this size surrounded by ‘midget’ Cessnas and Bonanzas; somewhat like leading a docile Labrador Retriever through a crowded china shop with narrow aisles, but Daniel did so with confidence and ease. I had to check the starboard wingtip for clearance at only one point.
Once we were on runway 15 and given takeoff clearance, the aircraft barely seemed to be moving, and I realized the ground was receding. I snapped one photo at a couple of hundred feet above ground level and it appeared as if two thirds of the runway was still in front of us not needed! No wonder the Russians loved this thing for getting into and out of short strips!
We climbed to our cruising altitude of 1800 feet, heading southerly over Toronto. Out of the blue Daniel asked “Do you want to take it for a bit?” Does Winnie the Pooh like hunny? Does a drunk crave booze? Of course I wanted to take the controls! “Just keep it a bit under 600 meters on that gauge there and steer for the CN Tower” he instructed me. Easy for him to say! The wind was up a bit and flying over varied terrain presented by a mix of pavement and parks, hi rises and houses always makes for somewhat mixed up air currents, and this thing steered somewhat like a loaded dump truck, but I managed! (“Look at me ma! I’m flying! I’m really flying!”) We got well over the city, and Daniel resumed control, circling over the neighbourhood where he lived, then on again towards the shore of Lake Ontario.
Communicating with ATC at the Toronto Island Airport we got permission to do a couple of “low and slow” passes over the runway. We proceeded west following the shoreline, turned left to fall in behind a Porter Airlines Dash 8 as it landed. As we descended over the runway Daniel called out our ground speed: “ 40 knots,…….37 knots,….. 34 knots,……. 30 knots”. We were doing 55.5 km/hour down the runway before he applied power and pulled up and away, and out over the Toronto islands and Lake Ontario. After several minutes of flying over the lake, Daniel elected to abandon the second pass as conflicting traffic would have delayed us quite a while, so ATC were asked for a vector to clear the area and return to Buttonville.
We headed north east away from the harbour, and once again he asked if I wanted to take over. “Maintain 030, and climb to 1800 feet”. Thus we made our way northerly toward home base, Daniel once again assuming control and bringing his copy of the world’s largest single engine biplane in to a flawless touchdown.
Once back on its designated spot on the apron we proceeded to secure it while some curious students from the Seneca College flight school came over to examine the plane. Daniel greeted them graciously and let them tour the plane, answering their questions. They were fascinated by it and the contrasts it made with the Bonanzas they were more accustomed to.
After a quick bite in the coffee shop Daniel excused himself as he had to get back to his office and left Jim and I to hit the road home. We had a fine time swapping stories, but his were definitely more interesting as he recounted some of his R.A.F. pilot days.
What a day! Thank you Daniel Owen for an absolutely fabulous experience! I have definitely been given more incentive to attempt to build a model of the Antonov 2, and I know what the registration letters will be when I finish it: C-FAKA.
