Seaplanes or Amphibious Aircraft for Caribbean Adventuring and Logistics

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Since the An-2 runs on basic 87 octane avgas, you can get a lot of fuel for it for the price of a used PC-7. It's also a more versatile aircraft, with much more carrying capacity, and is easy to maintain, given a mechanic who understands high-powered piston engines.

The PCs are actually going to be recruiting Soviet aviation ground crew. Well, there are NPCs who will be recruiting some which they've heard might possess the requisite skill sets, from friends of friends, and might be looking for a job and ready to meet in places like a hotel bar in Prague or an airport in rural Ukraine.

The PCs will be the ones to go into an isolated base in Angola, in territory no one is sure which faction belongs to, where a couple of Soviet helicopters, their pilots, ground crew, and Spetsnaz reconnaissance element are supposed to be, but the USSR didn't send anyone to pick them up (because the general responsible is caught up in what might or might not become a coup attempt and/or a referendum to dissolve the USSR, not to mention that no one is paying the administrative staff who detailed them as military advisors to MPLA). There might also be some indications that the base commander might be considering defecting to another side in Angola's multi-faceted civil war.

The PCs already have a couple of shipments of Soviet arms sourced in various parts of the USSR, as well as Czechoslovakia and Poland, and they do have some personnel with experience with Warsaw Pact aviation. Unfortunately, some of those personnel might have dubious loyalties or some personal problems, but if this was simple, they'd have hired someone far less competent.

Originally Posted by johndallman

If I wasn't expecting to be facing serious air defences, the An-2 is an easy choice. I can't find any Soviet aircraft better for the job that you might be able to source easily in 1990-91.

Expecting there to be 12.7mm, 14.5mm, 23mm and some MANPADS, but the training, technical and tactical proficiency of the users has, so far, not been good. Plus, of course, ideally, no one should be shooting at them, but if things were ideal, they wouldn't need the An-2 in its 'Telstar' role.