The Tear Down.

Some of the control surfaces

As none of us had ever worked on an AN-2 before, we just started at one end and kept pulling parts off until we had something we could transport. We started with the tail and moved forward to the propeller blades. Luckily, the cabin is huge and all of the ailerons, flaps, elevators, fin and rudder fit inside the plane
The AN-2 is big, bulky and solid, yet very simple. It is easy to see why it is so successful as a backwoods aircraft. Apart from its carrying capacity (approx 5000lbs payload), short takeoff and landing capacity (200ft takeoff fully loaded) and rough field performance, it can withstand a beating yet be serviced easily. I was told a story of a pilot that flew one on skis performing an air ambulance mission in the middle of the Russian winter. The remote village where he had to pick up an injured farmer did not have an airstrip, so he landed on the frozen river. Before they could take-off again, a storm closed in. Yet the patient needed to get to the hospital as quick as possible. So the pilot taxied the aircraft 80 km (50 miles) down the frozen river until he was out of the storm and able to take off. That would require a great plane and big brass ones on the part of the pilot.

Sarah taking a break

For 4 days Sarah, Tom and I pulled the 2 aircraft apart, piece by piece. As we discovered something new, we would relate it to Tom and vice versa. Fairings came off quickly, then the rudder, fin, elevators, horizontal stabilizer.
Then we started on the wings.As these were much larger and heavier, it took us a while to work out how to do these. First, all the flying wires needed to be undone. These hold the wings in the right position and as we started to loosen them, the wing started to droop. So we had to prop up the set of wings from under the bottom wing in line with the struts. Then once the wires were removed, we could undo all the attachment points of the bottom wing. Then we had to bring in the crane on Toms truck to hold up the top wing, while we removed the bottom wing and strut. Then once the top wing was undone from the plane, we could lower it using the crane and a forklift. Keep in mind that this wing weighs over 600 lbs and the wingtip is about 14 feet off the ground. Slow and steady was the order of the day.

Taking off a blade

After all 4 sets of wings were removed from the 2 planes, the propellers came next. Each blade is about 6 foot long and weighs about 100 lbs, and is attached by a very large thread on the hub end. I built a tool out of a couple of 2x4's bolted together to wrench the blades out of the hub. Tough job. But persistence won in the end. I hope there is an easier way to get these back in.
Now all that was left was to lift the plane and take off the gear, load it onto a truck and strap everything else down, then drive home. Easier said than done.
Without everything else attached, the fuselage still weighed close to 6000lbs. It was all Toms' little crane could handle, so at least we didn't need a larger crane. With it off the ground, it was now possible to remove the gear and then lower it onto a flatbed. The fuselage is 41 feet long, so we were able to get away with a 40ft drop deck trailer. Some guy came by who had moved one before said that there was no way that we could get it all on to one trailer, but we did it.

On the truck

With the fuselage on, we stood the wings upright and strapped them onto the fuselage. Having holes in the fabric, and being able to add more when we needed them sure made it easy. Lots of old tires protected the leading edges,  and straps and rope all over the place. But it all held together for the 900+ mile trip home. No damage!

Strapping down the wings

The truck driver told us that this was the most interesting load he had ever carried, if that can be judged by the looks and comments he received on the way.We wanted to travel with the truck, but he was stopping half way for the night, and we had to hurry home to organize a crane at Nephi airport to take the plane off the trailer as Tom had to go back to work and wouldn't be in Nephi for a few days. The whole deal was a lot of hard work, yet great fun and a very steep learning curve. In fact we did so well that we got asked to pull another one apart and send it by boat up to Juno, Alaska.

All packed up and ready to go!

Check out the slide show for a lot more pictures of the entire adventure!