Traditionally, the Antonov-2 is named "Anna" (we pay tribute to this tradition with our club's name), "Aunt Anna" or derived russian affectionate forms like "Anjushka", "Anushka", etc.
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| "Rusalka" in Cyrillic |
Rusalkii, in slavic mythology, are mermaids. Once human, they have been kidnapped as virgins by the water spirit Vodyanoy. In 1819, the russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837) wrote a dramatic poem about them, "Rusalka". Based on this poem, Alexander Dargomyzhsky wrote an opera of the same name, which premiered in 1856. It had only moderate success though - unlike the opera "Rusalka" by the czech composer Antonín Dvo?ák, who should write it 50 years later. It premiered 1901 in Prague, the tragic story of this masterpiece, along with it's beautiful score, moves audiences to this very day.
Of course, one could artfully try to establish a poetic connection between the fairy-tale figure Rusalka, which lived in the Element of Water, and our airplane, that lives in the Element of Air. Or take Pushkin's verses
«She…gazes at him, secretly, strangely.
The beat of his heart, he feels falter
With her charms spell»
to allegorically explain the fascination with this airplane…
