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Antonov An-225 Mriya

The worlds heaviest aircraft is without a doubt the Antonov An-225 Mriya. The new An 225 designed by the Antonov design bureau back in the 80s to transport the Russian Buran orbiter born out of the very successful An-124 Ruslan. The name given to the An-225 Mriya meant (Dream) or in Ukrainian (Inspiration).

There is only one operational An-225 that is used to this day in commercial endeavors with Antonov Airlines. The huge aircraft carries many different kinds of oversized cargo.

There is a second An-225 that has been partially completed to date. It seems like a huge success such as this they would build more. In size the behemoth cargo plane was almost as big as HK-1 Spruce Goose the largest airplane ever built.

When to monster aircraft was in the design stages there was a primary reason for its construction. A monster cargo plane was needed to carry the Energia rocket boosters and the Soviet Space Shuttle The Buran. The Soviet Space Shuttle program was almost the same as the U.S. program. But due to costs their Shuttle program never got any farther than the early design stages.

The An-225 made its first public appearance at the Paris Air Show of 1989. The public got to see it fly at the Farnborough air show in 1990. The huge cargo plane can carry 550,000 lbs in the cargo area inside its huge body. It can also carry 440,000 lbs attached to its upper fuselage. And there is enough space on the upper fuselage for something 230 ft long.

Back when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 the shuttle space program was canceled. The second An-225 only partially built at the time. The design plan for the second An-225 was to include a rear cargo door and the tail design was to be a single vertical stabilizer. After the program was canceled the second An-225 was put into storage and the 6 Ivchenko Progress engines were scavenged and used on the older An-124s. But the first An-225 was put into service after having new engines installed.

With much needed large aircraft with the capacity of the An-225 you would think investors would jump on the bandwagon. But it may just not ever happen. In 2006 a decision to complete the second aircraft and be completed by 2008, but the program was delayed again. By 2009 the Antonov An-225 was abandon once again. With the way Governments throw money away the 300 million needed to complete the second Mriya transport aircraft that can carry 250 tons would be done. If the money ever comes it will still take three years to complete the aircraft.

How the design came about as an offshoot of the An-124 the An-225 is the result of fuselage extensions both in the front and rear of the wings. Wings were extended at the root to increase the span. Then two more engines were added bringing the total engines to six. The engines are Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofans adding all the extra power to carry the huge loads. With the huge increase in capacities the need for a more robust landing gear. The new design landing gear included 32 wheels.

The original design on the An-124 had a rear cargo door and ramp this was removed on the An-225 design. The single vertical stabilizer was redesigned so heavy external loads could be carried to a twin tail. The twin tail improved the aerodynamics when large external loads were carried.

Antonov An-225 Mryia at 640 Tons

The Antonov An-225 rolled out at 1,320,000 lbs but after it modifications over the 2000 to 2001 time frame. At a cost of $20 million 40 tons were added with a reinforced floor bringing its total weight to 640 tons.

Weights like this even at its original 600 ton weight still makes the Antonov 225 the heaviest aircraft in the world today. It even weighs more than the Airbus A380 with its double deck. The Hughes Hercules HK-1 Spruce Goose had a longer wingspan and stood higher but was about 20% shorter in length. The Hercules building materials were much lighter. The HK-1 flew only once making the AN-225 the largest and heaviest aircraft to fly multiple flights.

The Antovov An-225 was placed in the Guinness Book of Records in 2004. The aircraft holds 240 individual records the no other aircraft come close to. The Antonov An-225 Mriya is truly an operational one of a kind aircraft to this very day.