Sporting no less than nine powerplants, eight of which are electric, a cold-war biplane stunned the crowd at a Russian air show. Part of the 15th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2021 held on July 20-25, a Siberian adaptation of a Russian classic drew widespread attention. Your editor has had the privilege of enjoying two flights in the original giant AN-2 biplane powered by a Schwezow ASch-62IR nine-cylinder radial engine with 1000 horsepower. That engine sounded like a freight train grumbling through the valley over which we flew. This new version has a 1,100 shaft horsepower Honeywell turbine in the nose and eight motors with folding propellers arrayed along the lower wing. The sound is futuristic, while the airframe is anachronistic. Electric-Flight.eu headlines its coverage with, “Russians impress with blown-lift technology on old double-deckers.” Think of an imposing biplane standing almost 14 feet tall, carrying a total wing area of 71.52 square meters (769.8 square feet) and hauling 12 …
