The biggest biplane

Gordon: One of the delights of slow, self-propelled travel is the unexpected sights between the known ones. Today we had such an experience. We were poking along on a small road in the middle of nowhere when we spied an airplane in a field. “That’s the biggest biplane I’ve ever seen” Ruth said, “I’m going to have a look at it.” On approaching the plane we noticed one man engaged in a cell phone conversation, and another scurrying to get some pants on. In response to our questioning looks the man with the phone waved us towards the plane. While we were walking around it he completed his call and came over to talk to us in broken English. He was the owner and the pilot of the plane, and he was clearly proud to talk about it.

The plane is an Antonov An-2, which the Internet tells us is the largest mass-produced single engine biplane in the world. It was manufactured in large numbers by the USSR, China, and particularly Poland from 1947 to 2001, which is apparently a record run for airplane production.

The pilot said that this particular plane was built in the 1950’s, and that he and his colleague (the fellow without pants) have been flying it as a crop duster for 30 years. It obviously had a previous life as a passenger plane operated by Slovakia Airlines. The pilot invited us to sit in the cockpit, which is accessed by squeezing past the pesticide hopper that sits in the centre of the former passenger compartment. The pilot unlocked the control stick and encouraged us to move it about. He said the controls are heavy, and require a bit of strength, but the plane is very stable and can fly very slowly. It is a bit expensive to operate, as the 1,000 hp rotary engine has a prodigious thirst for gas and oil.

We chatted for a while with the pilot about the changing nature of agriculture in Hungary and other topics, before thanking him for his time and heading back down the road. You just never know what sort of minor adventure is awaiting for you around the next corner.