Nine Engines and Two Wings – the DEP Antonov

Dean Sigler Diesel Powerplants, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

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 …