In Russia, if desired, hundreds of light aircraft for the Arctic and regional transportation can be quickly obtained, without waiting for the mass production of the new LMS-901 Baikal. This was stated by test pilot and Honored Pilot of Russia Vadim Bazykin.
According to him, there are currently about 700 An-2 aircraft in conservation, 300 of which are ready for operation even without major overhaul.
In total, according to our estimates, re-engining will require 15 to 21 billion rubles. But we will immediately get a fleet of 300 aircraft, not 5–10 Baikal aircraft. This will immediately solve the problem with transportation in the Arctic and beyond.
Bazykin reminded that the assigned resource of the An-2 is 20 thousand hours, and many conserved aircraft have not even flown 30% of this period.
To return to operation, it will be necessary to update the cockpit equipment and gradually replace the ASH-62 piston engines with TV-10 or TV-20 turboprop engines.
There were also proposals to equip the An-2 with American Honeywell TPE331-12 engines as part of the TVS-2MS project; soon such a biplane will take to the skies in South Africa.
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