Specialty Press

Antonov AN-2: Annushka, Maid of All Work

by Yefim Gordon  and Dmitrity Kommisarov

Reviewed By John Noack, #323017

1-800-895-4585 or www.specialtypress.com

Ever have a favorite aunt who, despite her lack of good looks, her broad beam, and out-of-step fashion sense, still made your day when she visited.  That’s how I view the Antonov AN-2 Colt.  Built for neither speed nor comfort, this antediluvian artifact of Soviet airpower soldiers on.  I saw my first AN-2 in, of all places, a grass airport in Hampton, NH, where my nephew worked as a line boy.  My initial impression was one of amazement that all that fabric, tubing, wires and other stuff could be hauled into the air by one engine and one propeller.

Specialty Press has given us AN-2 fans a real treat.  This book provides full coverage of Annie from her inception as a general purpose people and cargo carrier through the many – and I do mean many – iterations, permutations, and perversions of Colts.  How about a version for artillery spotting (p.31)?  Or what appears to be the mutant offspring of a crossbreeding experiment between a Colt and a Wright Flyer (pp 70-71)?  In all seriousness, this is a must-read for Russian aviation fans.  The great series of both B&W and color photos is inspiring me to drag out the 1/72 Colt kit I acquired a couple of years ago along with the VV decal sheet of “Utterly Butterly”, an all-yellow, UK based Colt used to promote a British butter product.

Highly recommended both from the historical and the modeling reference perspectives!

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