On Sunday, August 28, 2005, I had the opportunity to ride along in
an Antonov AN-2 Colt. The AN-2 is the world's largest biplane. Not only
did I get a chance to ride along, but I got a rare chance to actually
fly the airplane for about 15 minutes. It's big and heavy, but
otherwise a joy to fly.
This is the Antonov AN-2 Colt "Big
Panda" (N2AN). This airplane is
part of the Inland Empire Wing of the Commemorative Air Force based in
Upland at Cable Airport.
Just after takeoff in the colt, looking
back at the runway and back
side of the airport. In the top photo on the right, the smaller field
is used for ultralights. I once heard that Camarillo has some of the
best weather in the country for ultralights.
Shots around Camarillo, including the
view from the cockpit and me
flying the AN-2. The controls felt a bit heavy, but pretty responsive
for an airplane of it's size. The biplane design gives it a tremendous
amount of lift.
These are shots coming back into
Camarillo after the flight. You
can see the aircraft lined up and staged for the show. The 2 large
hangars in the last shot are the Southern California Wing of the
Commemorative Air Force (CAF).
Copyright
notice:
All images on this site are copyright Van Gilder Aviation Photography.
Use of the images for non-commercial purposes is permitted providing
that the image remains unaltered. Please contact me if you wish to use
images for commercial purposes. If you use these for a personal or not
for profit website, please let me know via e-mail.
