Old Does Not Necessarily Mean Obsolete

In another demonstration of the adage - if it still works, it is not obsolete - can be found in this BBC story about one of North Korea's most important military aircraft, the Antonov An-2.  Recently, North Korean media revealed a new camouflage scheme for this aircraft, a Soviet design that first flew in 1947.  This plane's military strength would be considered a weakness in other contexts:  it is slow.  A pilot can control the aircraft at 25 mph.  It is so slow, and its biplane design produces so much lift, that it can take off from the shortest of runways, fly very low and avoid radar.  Furthermore, flying into a moderate headwind, the plane can essentially "hover," or even fly backwards.  Not a front line fighter or bomber, the An-2 is ideally suited to covert infiltration operations.