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Originally Posted by Rupert
An-2s are quite popular with sky-diving companies and clubs, so if there are any in the area that shouldn't stand out too much.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin
Somewhere maybe but I've never seen one around here.
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I should think that people living around the
Fantasy of Flight, Polk City, should be pretty used to exotic airplanes flying around.
And there is actually an An-2 there in real life, along with some 139 other aircraft.
Edit: I found out why An-2s aren't used by sky-diving companies in the US. It's because the FAA will only certify them as Experimental aircraft there, which prohibits 'for hire' operation.
They apparently climb slowly and guzzle fuel and oil (which makes them more expensive to operate than more efficient and modern craft, at ca $400 an hour vs. maybe $200 for the Beechcraft Bonanza), but the fact you can buy at least three An-2s for the price of a cheap Cessna 172 and eight or more An-2 for the price of the Beechcraft Bonanza goes a long way toward making up for that inefficiency. Also, the An-2 is allegedly super easy to maintain.
Basically, for an aircraft meant to make money through heavy use, you want an efficient Western design, but for an airplane that spends most of its time on standby rather than flight operations, the An-2 is perfectly adequate and a much cheaper alternative. But Kessler is going to have to register his An-2s in Caribbean nations where they can legally be used as charter planes and use aircraft that can get FAA certification as other than 'Experimental' for clandestine operations in the US.
Happily, however, France certifies An-2 aircraft for commercial use, meaning that Kessler can establish charter companies with no obvious connection to him on the Antillean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique that can operate his An-2 floatplanes.