Who owns the aircraft an 225. Mriya aircraft

Transport aircraft AN-225 "Mriya" is by far the largest aircraft in the world. This aircraft was developed by OKB im. Antonova. The main task of the air giant was the transportation a large number cargo.

Received the poetic name "Mriya", the AN-226 was designed and built in just 4 years, from 1984 to 1988. The first flight of a huge aircraft with an incredible payload took place on December 21, 1988. This flight was successful, and the AN-226 is still operated by Antonov Airlines. Although the project included the construction of a second such machine, the collapse of the USSR prevented this from being fully realized. grandiose project, and the second plane has not yet been assembled.

The history of the appearance of the largest aircraft in the world

The history of the appearance of a huge aircraft with heavy load capacity began in connection with the need to service the Buran spacecraft. Since the transportation of various parts of the ship to the place of its launch was extremely problematic, this is how this problem was solved. Due to the fact that the new transport aircraft was supposed to deliver to launch pad the first stage of the spacecraft, its carrying capacity should have been no less than 250 tons.

Since the dimensions of the cargo compartment of the AN-225 did not correspond to the dimensions of the launch vehicle and the Buran, the transport aircraft received drawings of external fasteners developed according to special schemes. Thus, the transportation of the spacecraft was carried out outside. In this regard, the standard tail of the aircraft had to be replaced with a two-tail tail, which could withstand powerful aerodynamic flows.

Although the AN-225 aircraft was designed precisely as a specialized technique designed to transport a spacecraft, its drawings had much in common with the drawings of the first successful development of the OKB im. Antonov - AN-224 "Ruslan", therefore, in their own performance characteristics and the purpose of the AN-225 turned out to be a fairly versatile aircraft.

Often in open sources you can find information where Balabuev is called as the chief designer. This information is not correct, because, although Balabuev was the chief designer of the Antonov Design Bureau, Tolmachev led the project to create the AN-225.

Since very tight deadlines were set for the development and creation of the AN-225, thousands of different designers, engineers, technologists and other specialists from all over the Soviet Union were involved in the process of creating a new aircraft. Each enterprise took on a separate section of work to create a huge transport aircraft:

All the main work on the design of the AN-225 was taken over by the Antonov Design Bureau. They were also involved in the production of most of the parts of the aircraft body. The assembly of the fuselage and the general assembly of the aircraft were also within their competence;
In Tashkent, at the aircraft production association named after Chkalov were engaged in the manufacture of parts of the wings of the aircraft, using the AN-224 base for this;
The Ulyanovsk Aircraft Industrial Complex was entrusted with the task of producing various large-sized parts, which were made by milling;
The Kiev Aircraft Production Association was supposed to manufacture the front fuselage, horizontal and nose plumage and landing gear;
The Moscow Institute of Automation and Electromechanics was responsible for the operation of the aircraft control complex;
Powerful D-18 engines, the technical characteristics of which made it possible to use them for such powerful aircraft, like AN-225, was manufactured by the Zaporizhzhya Engine Building Plant;
Specialists from the Voronezh Aircraft Plant were brought in specifically to paint the new aircraft.

In addition to the above enterprises, many different components and equipment for the AN-225 were manufactured at various enterprises throughout the Soviet Union, so it would be fundamentally wrong to consider the AN-225 Mriya (and AN-224 Ruslan) as Ukrainian developments.

AN-225 - the technical capabilities of a huge aircraft

According to its performance characteristics, AN-225 can be used for the following transport operations:

Transportation of various long, oversized and heavy cargoes, which can have a total weight of up to 250 tons;
Non-stop inland transportation of goods. In this case, their weight can be up to 200 tons;
In intercontinental transportation of goods, the total weight of the transported can be up to 150 tons;
Transportation of oversized cargo that can be placed outside by attaching it to the fuselage of the aircraft. Outdoor cargo can weigh up to 200 tons.

In addition, the AN-225 "Mriya" is a ready-made chassis for the design of various space systems.

Reading the description and the weight of the transported goods, it is impossible to accurately imagine the dimensions of the cargo compartment of the AN-225. To get a rough idea of the actual dimensions of the aircraft cargo hold, you need to consider specific examples:

The cargo compartment of the AN-225 can fit 50 cars;
16 large aviation containers UAK-10;
Large unit loads such as mining trucks, industrial generators or turbines.

Many are interested in what fuel consumption this huge aircraft has? An-225 consumes about 15.9 tons of fuel per flight hour.

Flight history AN-225 "Mriya"

The first flight of the AN-225 was carried out at the end of 1988. After that, the AN-225 was used only to move the Buran, since the launch vehicles were transported on the Atlant aircraft. In 1989, the AN-225 was presented at the Paris Air Show. In 1991, several flights were made over the Baikonur cosmodrome for demonstration purposes.

In 1994, all flights on the AN-225 were stopped, and its main components were removed and put on the AN-224 Ruslans.

Already in the 2000s, it became clear that having the only working AN-225 in the world was not only prestigious, but also profitable. In order to modify the aircraft to the standards of modern civil aviation took about a year. Although the same Soviet instruments remained inside the AN-225 cockpit, many modern systems were added to them. On May 23, 2001, Antonov Airlines received all the necessary certificates and permits, which allowed the AN-225 to start working in the field of air transportation.

The base of the AN-225 aircraft is the most suitable for the implementation of flying complexes for the launch of space systems. A vivid confirmation of this is the Max system, which is a joint aerospace system of Ukraine and Russia.

Records AN-225 "Mriya"

Although the AN-225 did not fly so many flights during its short existence, it managed to set many records in aviation:

AN-225 is the largest and heaviest operating aircraft in the world. The only aircraft that surpassed it in wingspan was the HuglesH-Herkules, which made only one flight in 1947;
In 1989, when the AN-225 took to the air weighing 156.3 tons, it was able to break 110 aviation records at once. Although many believed that this weight was the limit of its capabilities, in 2004 the updated AN-225 took to the air, carrying a load of 250 tons on board;
In 2009, the AN-225 was again able to get into the Guinness Book of Records. This time he transported the heaviest single cargo in the history of world aviation. It was a German generator set that weighed 187.6 tons;
The heaviest weight ever carried by an AN-225 is 253.8 tons;
In mid-2010, the longest cargo in the history of cargo aviation was transported - windmill blades, each of which was 42.1 meters long.

In total, there are about 250 records that the AN-225 managed to break during its existence.

The main differences between the AN-125 "Mriya" and the AN-224 "Ruslan"

Although the development of the AN-225 is based on the AN-224 aircraft, there are several significant differences between Ruslan and Mriya:

AN-225 has two additional engines that are needed to lift such a huge aircraft into the air;
The fuselage was significantly increased in length due to special inserts;
For the AN-225, a new center section of the aircraft wings was developed;
The tail unit was replaced with a new one;
The AN-225 does not have a cargo hatch in the tail section;
Since the AN-225 can carry external cargo, it has a special fastening system for cargo that the ship is forced to transport from the outside;
Since the chassis had to hold a large load, additional racks were added to it.

Most of the other parameters and characteristics of the An-225 practically do not differ from the design of the An-224 Ruslan, which greatly simplified its development and accelerated the release of this model.

Parameters of the aircraft AN-225 "Mriya"

Although the AN-225 aircraft was created as a transport platform for the transportation of the Buran spacecraft, its creation on the basis of the AN-124, which is a transport aircraft, determined its scope in the field of cargo transportation.

The cargo compartment of the AN-225 aircraft has truly impressive dimensions:

Its length is 43 meters;
The width is 6.4 meters;
The height of the cargo compartment is 4.4 meters.

Although the dimensions of the cargo compartment of the AN-124 Ruslan are almost the same (the only difference is the length of the cargo compartment, it is 1.5 meters less), the total weight that the AN-225 can lift is 100 tons more. The cargo compartment is completely sealed, which greatly expands its transportation capabilities. various kinds cargo.

The cabin for a shift crew, which is located above the cargo compartment, can accommodate not only the direct members of the AN-225 crew in the amount of 6 people, but also 88 people accompanying the cargo. The front cargo hatch is designed in such a way as to make loading and unloading operations as quick and convenient as possible. A special set of onboard equipment helps to carry out this type of work.

Since the fuselage of the AN-225 is equipped with a system of fastenings for the external transportation of bulky cargo, Mriya is able to transport such cargo that does not fit in its large cargo hold. Since the attachment system on the fuselage of the aircraft was developed for reliable fixation of the Buran spacecraft, there is no need to worry about the safety of the cargo attached to the fuselage.

Flight parameters and dimensions of the AN-225

The flight characteristics of the AN-225 "Mriya" are as follows:

The cruising speed of the aircraft is 850 km/h;
The flight range with a cargo weight of 200 tons is about 4,500 km;
With a load of 150 tons, the flight range of the AN-225 is increased to 7,000 km.

AN-225 has the following dimensions:

The wingspan is 88.4 meters;
Aircraft length - 84 meters;
Height - 18.1 meters.

AN-225 is made in only one copy. The second An-225 aircraft, which was assembled back in Soviet times, is only 70 percent assembled. According to information from the Antonov plant, in order to complete the assembly of the second aircraft, about 120 million dollars are needed (including tests). If an investor appears who is ready to invest this amount, then the aircraft can be completed within a few years.

In 2015, an interesting incident occurred with the AN-225 Mriya aircraft. Having taken off with cargo from Prague (the plane was carrying a generator intended for an Australian power plant) and, having made several landings en route for refueling, the plane suddenly disappeared from the locator screens. As it turned out later, the plane was simply delayed in taking off, although this incident made many people seriously worried.

Although the AN-225 Mriya aircraft is a fairly old development, no foreign manufacturer has yet been able to produce a similar analogue. Now only two models can compete with the AN-225. This is Airbus A3XX-100F and 747-X Boeing Corporation, although their carrying capacity is limited to 150 tons.

An-225 "Mriya" is a unique transport aircraft with an extra-large payload. It was developed by OKB im. Antonova. The project was led by Viktor Ilyich Tolmachev.

From 1984 to 1988, this unique aircraft was competently designed and built at the Kiev Mechanical Plant. He made his first flight on December 21, 1988. At the beginning of the development of the project, 2 aircraft were laid down, and now one Mriya is used by Antonov Airlines. As for the second car, its readiness is estimated at only 70%.

Specifications An-225

This model of the aircraft has a six-engine turbojet high-wing aircraft with a swept wing and twin tails, as well as 6 D-18T aircraft engines. They were developed by ZMKB "Progress" them. A. G. Ivanchenko.

An-225 "Mriya" is a jet transport aircraft with a huge payload, which received the NATO code name Cossack. It was designed back in time Soviet Union chief designer Tolmachev V.I. at OKB im. Antonova. It first flew on December 21, 1988. Nowadays, only one instance of Mriya is in working flight condition, another one is 70% ready, but due to lack of funding (about $100 million is required), work is not being carried out. The operator of the one-of-a-kind giant aircraft is the Ukrainian airline AntonovAirlines.

History of creation

The need to design a large-scale transport jet aircraft arose in connection with the maintenance of the Buran spacecraft. The functions of such an aircraft included the transportation of individual heavy elements of the spacecraft and launch vehicle from the place of its assembly to the launch site. The fact is that rockets and spacecraft are launched mainly in the equator region, where the value of the Earth's magnetic field is minimal, and, accordingly, the risks of accidents during takeoff are reduced.

Also for the An-225, the task was to carry out the first stage of the air launch of the spacecraft, and for this its carrying capacity should be at least 250 tons.

Since the dimensions of the Buran and the launch vehicle exceeded the dimensions of the cargo compartment of the Mriya, to transport aircraft adapted external fastenings for the transport of goods from the outside. This specificity led to a change in its tail unit. I had to replace the tail of the aircraft with a two-keel one in order to avoid the heavy impact of aerodynamic flows.

All this suggests that the An-225 was designed as a highly specialized heavy transport aircraft, however, some features that were taken from the An-124 made it universal in its qualities.

Many sources mistakenly call Balabuev P.V. the chief designer of the An-225, but this is not so. Balabuev was the chief designer of the entire Antonov Design Bureau in 1984-2005, but Tolmachev V.I. was appointed the head of the An-225 project.

Cooperation ties during the creation of Mriya

Beginning in 1985, the leadership of the Central Committee of the CPSU set short deadlines for the development of the An-225. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of designers, scientists, engineers, technologists, pilots, military and workers from all republics were involved in the design and creation of a transport heavyweight. former USSR.

Consider the work of individual enterprises to create the An-225

"OKB im. Antonova” (Kyiv) – the main project work. Production of most of the components, fuselage parts, fairings and fairings, nose, etc. Assembly: fuselage and general assembly of the aircraft.
"Tashkent Aircraft Production Association named after. Chkalov" - the manufacture of the central and end parts of the wings based on the An-124.
"Ulyanovsk Aircraft Industrial Complex" - production of large-sized milled power frames, fuselage brackets, some serial components and parts of the aircraft.
"Kyiv Aircraft Production Association" - manufacturing of the forward fuselage, nose and horizontal tail surfaces, front landing gear, ball screws for fuselage struts.
"Moscow Institute of Automation and Electromechanics" - design and manufacture of the A-825M aircraft control complex.
"Zaporozhye Motor Building Plant" - production of serial engines D-18.
Gidromash (Nizhny Novgorod) - production of new chassis.
Voronezh Aircraft Plant. Specialists were engaged in painting the aircraft in Kyiv.

The capabilities of the An-225 aircraft

Transportation of general purpose cargo (heavy, bulky, long), with a total weight of up to 250 tons.
Intracontinental non-stop transportation of goods with a total weight of 180-200 tons.
Intercontinental transportation of goods up to 150 tons.
Transportation of external monocargoes attached to the fuselage weighing up to 200 tons.
Mriya is a promising base for the design of aerospace systems.

Consider the volume of the cargo compartment of the fuselage with examples.

Cars (50 pcs.).
Universal aviation containers UAK-10 (16 pcs.).
Large-sized mono-cargoes with a total weight of up to 200 tons (generators, turbines, dump trucks, etc.)

Exploitation

The first flight of the Mriya dates back to December 21, 1988.

The aircraft was designed to transport the Buran spacecraft and Energia launch vehicles. However, before the completion of work on its release, the launch vehicles had already been transported by the Atlant aircraft, and the An-225 was only involved in moving the Buran itself. In May 1989 it was presented at the Paris Air Show and made several demonstration flights over Baikonur in April 1991.

After the collapse of the USSR, in 1994, the only Mriya unit stopped flying. The engines and some other items of equipment were removed from it and put on the Ruslans. But by the beginning of the 2000s, it became clear that the need for a working An-225 was very great, so they tried to restore it at Ukrainian enterprises. In order to fit the aircraft to modern civil aviation certificates, minor modifications were also required.

On May 23, 2001, the An-225 "Mriya" received certificates from the International Aviation Committee and the State Department of Aviation Transport of Ukraine. They allowed to carry out commercial activities for the transportation of goods.

At the present time, the owner of a single copy of the An-225 is the airline "Antonov Airlines", which carries out commercial cargo transportation as part of a subsidiary of ANTK im. Antonova.

On the basis of the aircraft, a flying complex is being designed to launch various aviation and space systems. One of the promising projects in this direction is MAKS (Ukrainian-Russian multi-purpose aerospace system).

Records

During the short time of its existence, the An-225 has set hundreds of aviation records.

An-225 "Mriya" is the heaviest cargo-lifting aircraft that has ever taken to the air. In terms of wingspan, it is second only to the HuglesH-Herkules, which made only one flight in 1974.

The An-225 set especially many records in terms of carrying capacity. So, on March 22, 1989, having lifted a cargo with a total weight of 156.3 tons into the sky, he broke 110 world aviation records. But this is not the limit of its capabilities. August 2004 - the Mriya aircraft transports cargo consisting of Zeromax equipment in the direction of Prague - Tashkent with refueling in Samara, with a total weight of 250 tons.

Five years later, in August 2009, the name Ukrainian aircraft once again gets into the Guinness Book of Records, this time for transporting the heaviest monocargo in the cargo hold. It turned out to be a generator that weighed along with auxiliary installation 187.6 tons. The cargo was sent from German city Frankfurt to Yerevan at the request of one of the Armenian power plants.

The absolute load capacity record of 253.8 tons belongs to the An-225 Mriya.

10.06. 2010 this aircraft transported the longest in history air transportation cargo - two blades of a screw windmill, each of which is 42.1 m in length.

If we sum up all the world records of Mriya, then there are over 250 of them.

The second copy of "Mriya"

The second An-225 is only 70% ready in our time. Its assembly began back in the days of the Union at the aircraft factory. Antonova. According to the management of the plant, when a customer appears, it will be able to bring it to operational flight readiness.

Based on the statement of the general director of the Kyiv "Aviant" Oleg Shevchenko, now it takes about $ 90-100 million in investments to lift the second copy of the An-225 into the air. And if you take into account the amount needed for flight tests, then the total cost can rise to $120 million.

As you know, the development of this aircraft is based on the An-124 Ruslan. The main differences between the An-225 and the An-124 are as follows:

two additional engines,

increase in the length of the fuselage as a result of inserts,

new center section

tail replacement,

no tail cargo hatch,

fastening and pressurization system for external cargoes,

increase in the number of main landing gear racks.

As for the rest of the characteristics, the An-225 "Mriya" almost completely corresponds to the An-124, which greatly facilitated and reduced the cost of developing a new model and its use.

Appointment An-225 "Mriya"

The reason for the development and creation of the An-225 was the need for an aviation transport platform designed for the Buran spacecraft. As you know, the main purpose of the aircraft in the framework of the project was the transportation of the space shuttle and its components from the production site to the launch site. In addition, the task was set to return the Buran spacecraft to the cosmodrome, if it were suddenly forced to land on alternate airfields.

Another An-225 aircraft was supposed to be used as the first stage of the space shuttle air launch system. That is why the aircraft had to withstand a payload of more than 250 tons. Since the blocks of the carrier "Energy" and the spacecraft "Buran" itself had dimensions that somewhat exceeded the dimensions of the cargo compartment of the aircraft, it provided for external fastening of cargo. This, in turn, required the replacement of the base tail of the aircraft with a two-tail one, which made it possible to avoid aerodynamic shading.

As you can see, the aircraft was created to perform a few specialized transport tasks that were very responsible. However, building it on the basis of the An-124 "Ruslan" endowed new car many qualities of a transport aircraft.

An-225 has the ability to:

transportation of general purpose cargo (oversized, long, heavy), the total weight of which is up to 250 tons;

intracontinental transportation of goods weighing 180-200 tons without landing;

intercontinental transportation of goods, the total weight of which is up to 150 tons;

transportation of heavy monocargoes with a total weight of up to 200 tons and with large dimensions.

An-225 is the first step in the creation of an aviation-comic project.

The model has a spacious and roomy cargo cabin, so you can carry a wide variety of goods.

For example, it can be translated into:

fifty cars;

monocargoes with a total weight of up to 200 tons (dump trucks, turbines, generators);

sixteen ten-ton UAK-10, which are universal aviation containers.

Cargo compartment parameters: 6.4 m - width, 43 m - length, 4.4 m - height. The cargo compartment of the An-225 is sealed, which expands its capabilities. Above the cargo compartment there is a room designed for a shift crew of 6 people and for 88 people who can accompany the transported cargo. At the same time, all control systems have a quadruple redundancy. The design of the front cargo hatch and the onboard equipment allow loading / unloading cargo as conveniently and quickly as possible. The aircraft can carry bulky cargo on the fuselage. The dimensions of these cargoes do not allow them to be transported using other ground or air vehicles. A special fastening system ensures the reliability of these cargoes on the fuselage.

Flight performance An-225

800-850 km/h - cruising speed

1500 km - flight distance with maximum fuel

4500 km - flight range with a load of 200 tons

7000 km - flight range with a load of 150 tons

3-3.5 thousand m - required length WFP

Dimensions

88.4 m - wingspan

84 m - aircraft length

18.1 m - height

905 sq. m − wing area

To date, the An-225 "Mriya" is the largest aircraft in the world, as well as the most lifting. Moreover, the giant has set a large number of world records, many of which are in terms of carrying capacity, takeoff weight, cargo length, etc.

Possible competition

The President of Antonov Airlines claims that the launch of satellite vehicles from the An-225 will cost much less than the use of the infrastructure of the cosmodrome. Moreover, the aircraft will not compete with the Polet project, which involves launching from Ruslan. All this is because the Polet project planned the launch of so-called light satellites, weighing up to 3.5 tons. But with the An-225, it is possible to produce medium-type structures, weighing up to 5.5 tons.

Well, as for the updated projects of the West, we are talking about the Airbus A3XX-100F aircraft and the Boeing 747-X aircraft model, their carrying capacity is no more than 150 tons, and they begin to compete with the An-225. And they have a lot of chances to win.

The last modernization of the An-225 took place in 2000, as a result of which it received navigation equipment that meets international standards.

Among the huge number of aircraft in modern world there are truly unique models created for special tasks. Some copies were developed in order to test unusual design ideas, but did not receive the deserved distribution or were released in limited quantities.

Within the framework of this article, a truly air giant will be considered. This is the An-225 Mriya aircraft, which was released in a single copy. No one could have thought that this gigantic machine would serve for the benefit of mankind.

Aircraft Mriya An-225

Translated from the Ukrainian language Mriya means "dream". An-225 is the largest aircraft in the world with the highest carrying capacity. This is a jet aircraft. It was developed in Ukraine by the experimental design bureau named after O.K. Antonova.

Since many parts of the aircraft were manufactured in different cities former USSR, then it is wrong to consider the An-225 Mriya aircraft as a completely Ukrainian invention.

The purpose of building such an aircraft was to transport space shuttles by air to the cosmodrome for their further launch. Due to the large size of the shuttles, it was not possible to place them inside the aircraft. The designers came to the decision to place them on the surface of the aircraft using a special mount. For this, it was necessary to completely change the structure of the tail section of the aircraft. And so the An-225 appeared.

How many Mriya planes are there in the world

The legendary plane "Mriya" exists on this moment Total in a single copy.

It was originally planned to build two such aircraft. The second twin brother is only 70% complete and, with sufficient funding, its construction can be completed. Approximately $120 million will be needed to complete the construction.

It is known that construction work is underway on the second such giant, but the exact timing of its launch into the air is unknown.

In August 2016, an agreement was signed between Ukrainian and Chinese companies on the possibility of completing the construction of the second An-225 aircraft and subsequently transferring this aircraft to China. But already in December 2017, information appeared that the Chinese authorities abandoned their intentions to complete the construction of the aircraft, because many airports in the world are not able to receive such large aircraft.

History of creation

From the Central Committee of the CPSU received an order to create the largest transport aircraft in the shortest possible time. The design and construction of the aircraft went very quickly. In just three years, the entire stage from drawings to direct launch was completed. The construction took place "according to the knurled" scheme on the basis of the construction of units and parts of the Ruslan ship (An-124). Many scientists, designers, workers from all Union republics were involved in the work.

The aircraft was designed by an experienced designer V.I.Tolmachev. It was under his leadership that the construction and equipment of the aircraft in the city of Kyiv started. The engines were manufactured at the Zaporizhia Engine Plant, many parts of the hull were made in Ulyanovsk, workers from Tashkent were engaged in the production of consoles and the center section, and parts for controlling the aircraft were made at a factory in Moscow, the chassis "flew" straight from Nizhny Novgorod, and specialists from Voronezh were engaged in lining the aircraft and painting it.

The first time the plane took off in 1989 in the winter, and on a spring day Mriya flew from the Baikonur space station to Kyiv, carrying the entire Buran spacecraft.

A little later, the air giant made the next flight to Paris, where it made a splash. The airliner has over 200 successful transportations of bulky cargo. The main purpose of Mriya has always been to carry out space projects, but the aircraft has also been used for other more general purposes:

transportation of large objects between and within continents;
transportation of oversized cargo on an external sling;
It is used to prepare air launch vehicles into space.

An-225 is currently transporting oversized cargo over a long distance. As a result of the modernization of the vessel in 2009, its "operability" has increased.

Specifications

An-225 in its structure is an aircraft, the wings of which are located quite high and have a swept shape. The machine has 6 engines located under both wings on the fuselage side. The chassis has a triple support and a four-wheeled nose strut. In total there are 7 pairs placed on each side.

Specifications:

The wingspan of the aircraft is 88.4 meters.
The maximum takeoff weight is 600 tons.
The stock of fuel for long flights is 300 tons.
Maximum speed - 850 km / h.
The maximum take-off height is 11 thousand meters.
The maximum loading is 250 tons.
The length of the aircraft is 84 meters.
The maximum flight range is 15,600 kilometers.
The largest wingspan of the aircraft reaches 905 m 2
The crew on board the aircraft is up to 7 people.

The carrying capacity of the Mriya aircraft

This air giant is the property of Antonov Airlines and today is considered an air vehicle No. 1 in the world, allowing to transport goods weighing up to 250 tons.

Aircraft dimensions

The nose of the aircraft opens and allows you to load the necessary items into the aircraft for transportation.

The total length of the cargo compartment is 43 meters, height 4.4 meters and width 6.4 meters.

In order to appreciate the scale of the cabin, it is enough to imagine that more than 82 passenger cars, as well as large dump trucks and KAMAZ trucks, can be easily accommodated on board the aircraft.

Which aircraft is larger - Ruslan or Mriya?

The An-225 Mriya aircraft is larger than its predecessor. It was Ruslan that was taken as the basis for the creation of the most powerful An-225 cargo aircraft. And although there are many similarities between them, there are still noticeable differences:

the An-225 aircraft has 2 more engines allowing such a powerful machine to be lifted up;
with the help of special inserts, there was a significant increase in the fuselage;
the center section of the wings of the An-225 aircraft was designed in a new way;
to increase the endurance of the chassis, additional special racks were added;
due to the An-225's ability to carry bulky cargo at the top, a special external fastening was developed for cargo that has to be transported outside;
the Mriya aircraft does not have a special hatch in the tail.

Otherwise, almost no characteristics of these two aircraft differ from each other. This helped to build the An-225 aircraft in such a short time.

Records and interesting facts

In a fairly short period of use, the Mriya aircraft has already made many records.

An-225 is the heaviest cargo-lifting aircraft that took off into the sky.

This aircraft made many records when transporting the heaviest cargo. In the late 90s, he managed to lift an object weighing more than 150 tons into the air. This flight broke over 100 world records overnight. However, this is not the limit of its capabilities.

In 2004, the Mriya aircraft carried on board a cargo weighing 250 tons.

After 5 years, the whole world will again learn about the Mriya aircraft from the Guinness Book of Records. The plane carried a very large and heavy cargo. It was a powerful generator, weighing more than 180 tons together with an additional installation. The transportation took place from Frankfurt to Yerevan.

Another indisputable record belongs to the An-225 aircraft. This time it is the transportation of cargo with a total weight of 253.8 tons.

In 2010, the longest cargo in history was transported by plane - 2 windmill blades 42 meters long.

Interesting Facts

The story, which took place in 2015, worried the world media for a short time. An-225 aircraft was transporting a powerful generator from the Czech Republic for a power plant in Australia. After several landings for refueling, the air giant simply disappeared from the screens of all radars. It turned out that there was a delay in the departure of the plane, but this situation made many people very worried.
Rumors circulated among the workers of the Antonov plant that the name of the Mriya aircraft stands for "Misha, Raya and I." The name Misha meant the general secretary of that time - Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife.
In 1988, work at the factory where the aircraft was manufactured took place in 3 shifts. The assembled aircraft, due to its dimensions, simply did not fit in the building, so it had to be placed diagonally. But, nevertheless, the landing gear of the aircraft is made in such a way that they have the ability to turn 180 degrees.
The aircraft officially has three "first" flights.

The first flight was made on board with the Buran spacecraft at Baikonur. This flight was broadcast by central television. Before that, not a single event related to the testing of space technology turned into a television show and was not broadcast in live. Instead of going into space, Buran is sent to delight and conquer the world in France for the Le Bourget exhibition.

1994 was almost the last year in the career of the An-225 aircraft. The aircraft was flying through Atlantic Ocean in America. After this incident, it was decided to disassemble the aircraft and replace the engines. After the modernization, the aircraft took off again, setting another record for carrying capacity.

The person who designed the Buran, Gleb Lozino-Lozinsky, seriously thought that his offspring would start not from the cosmodrome, but directly from the An-225 aircraft. However, this idea was never destined to come true and all plans remained on paper.

In the movie "2012" in the episode of the destruction of the city of Las Vegas, a real An-225 was used.

The fuel consumption of the aircraft is 15.9 tons per hour. This means that the aircraft can stay in the air without additional refueling for no more than 2 hours.
The cabin, intended for the crew, according to the standard, accommodates 7 people. But in fact, the aircraft has the ability to carry more than 80 people accompanying the cargo.
Due to the fact that the transportation of goods is very expensive, orders appear only for really large objects that cannot be transported by land. Flights are quite rare (1-2 per month or 2 per year).
Night landing of the aircraft is carried out according to instruments. From the height of the alignment is done visually. According to the pilots, one of the most difficult landings is landing in Kabul. This is due to the highlands and the presence of a large number of obstacles.
Once, landing in Australia, the plane was met by more than 20,000 people. As a result of such a large crowd of people, a traffic jam has formed. In one of the traffic jams, even such well-known musicians of the Iron Maiden group were stuck on their way to their Boeing-747. This Australian visit was not without controversy. The fact is that some media in their reports signed the An-225 as "Russian plane". This greatly angered representatives of the Ukrainian authorities. A request was made to the media to correct this information.
The most unique exhibition of paintings at height was held on the plane. There were posted more than 500 songs. This case was recorded in world records.

Watch the An-225 takeoff video

Despite the fact that the Mriya was built quite a long time ago (1988), no one has yet been able to make a similar aircraft. To date, only two aircraft can compete with the An-225. These are the A3XX-100F of the Airbus company and, but their carrying capacity is relatively inferior and amounts to 150 tons.

People are always attracted by some kind of record - record aircraft always get a lot of attention

Airbus A380 is a wide-body double-deck jet passenger aircraft, created by Airbus S.A.S. (previously Airbus Industry) is the largest serial airliner in the world.

The height of the aircraft is 24.08 meters, the length is 72.75 (80.65) meters, the wingspan is 79.75 meters. A380 can make non-stop flights at a distance of up to 15,400 km. Capacity - 525 passengers in the cabin of three classes; 853 passengers in single class configuration. A cargo modification of the A380F is also provided with the ability to carry cargo up to 150 tons over a distance of up to 10,370 km.

The development of the Airbus A380 took about 10 years, the cost of the entire program amounted to about 12 billion euros. Airbus says it needs to sell 420 aircraft to recoup its costs, although some analysts estimate the figure should be much higher.

According to the developers, the most difficult part in the creation of the A380 was the problem of reducing its mass. It was possible to solve it through the widespread use of composite materials both in load-bearing structural elements and in auxiliary units, interiors, etc.

Advanced technologies and improved aluminum alloys were also used to reduce the weight of the aircraft. So, 11-ton center section for 40% of its mass consists of carbon fiber. The top and side panels of the fuselage are made from Glare hybrid material. On the lower fuselage panels, laser welding of stringers and skin was used, which significantly reduced the number of fasteners.

According to Airbus, per passenger, the Airbus A380 burns 17% less fuel than the "largest aircraft today" (apparently referring to the Boeing 747). The less fuel burned, the less carbon dioxide emissions. For an aircraft, CO2 emissions per passenger are only 75 grams per kilometer. This is almost half the carbon dioxide emission limit set by European Union for vehicles manufactured in 2008.

The first A320 aircraft sold was handed over to the customer on October 15, 2007 after a long acceptance test phase and entered service on October 25, 2007, having completed commercial flight between Singapore and Sydney. Two months later, Singapore Airlines President Chu Chong Seng said the Airbus A380 was performing better than expected and consuming 20% less fuel per passenger than the company's existing Boeing 747-400s.

The upper and lower decks of the aircraft are connected by two stairs, in the bow and tail parts liners wide enough to accommodate two passengers shoulder to shoulder. In a 555-passenger configuration, the A380 has 33% more passenger seats than a Boeing 747-400 in a standard three-class configuration, but the cabin has 50% more space and volume, resulting in more space per passenger.

The maximum certified capacity of the aircraft is 853 passengers when configured with a single economy class. The announced configurations range from 450 seats (for Qantas Airways) to 644 (for Emirates Airline, with two comfort classes).

Hughes H-4 Hercules (eng. Hughes H-4 Hercules) is a transport wooden flying boat developed by the American company Hughes Aircraft under the direction of Howard Hughes. This 136-ton aircraft, originally designated as NK-1 and given the unofficial nickname Spruce Goose ("Goldfinch, Dude", literally "Spruce Goose"), was the largest flying boat ever built, and its wingspan still remains a record - 98 meters. It was designed to transport 750 soldiers fully equipped.

At the beginning of World War II, the US government allocated $ 13 million to Hughes for the manufacture of a prototype flying ship, but by the end of hostilities aircraft was not ready, due to the lack of aluminum, as well as the stubbornness of Hughes, who sought to create a flawless car.

Specifications

Crew: 3 people
Length: 66.45 m
Wingspan: 97.54 m
Height: 24.08 m
Fuselage height: 9.1 m
Wing area: 1061.88 m²
Maximum takeoff weight: 180 tons
Payload weight: up to 59,000 kg
Fuel capacity: 52,996 l
Engines: 8× air-cooled Pratt&Whitney R-4360-4A, 3000 hp each With. (2240 kW) each
Propellers: 8 × four-bladed Hamilton Standard, 5.23 m diameter

Flight characteristics

Top speed: 351 mph (565.11 km/h)
Cruise speed: 250 mph (407.98 km/h)
Flight range: 5634 km
Practical ceiling: 7165 m.

Despite its nickname, the aircraft is built almost entirely from birch, more precisely from birch plywood glued to a pattern.

The Hercules aircraft, piloted by Howard Hughes himself, made its first and only flight only on November 2, 1947, when it took off to a height of 21 meters and covered approximately two kilometers in a straight line over Los Angeles Harbor.

After a long period of storage (Hughes kept the aircraft in working order until his death in 1976, spending up to $ 1 million a year on this), the aircraft was sent to the Long Beach Museum, California.

The aircraft is visited annually by about 300,000 tourists. The biography of the creator of the aircraft Howard Hughes and the testing of the aircraft are shown in Martin Scorsese's film The Aviator.

It is currently on display at the Evergreen International Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it was moved in 1993.

This machine was designed and built in a very short time: the first drawings began to be created in 1985, and in 1988 the transport aircraft was already built. The reason for such a short time can be quite easily explained: the fact is that the Mriya was created on the basis of well-developed components and assemblies of the An-124 Ruslan. So, for example, the fuselage of the Mriya has the same transverse dimensions as the An-124, but longer than it, the wingspan and area have increased. The same structure as that of Ruslan has a wing, but additional sections have been added to it. The An-225 has two additional engines. The landing gear of the aircraft is similar to the chassis of the Ruslan, but it has seven instead of five racks. The cargo compartment has been changed quite seriously. Initially, two aircraft were laid down, but only one An-225 was completed. The second copy of the unique aircraft is about 70% ready and can be completed at any time, subject to proper funding. For its completion, an amount of 100-120 million dollars is needed.

On February 1, 1989, the aircraft was shown to the general public, and in May of the same year, the An-225 made a non-stop flight from Baikonur to Kiev, carrying a Buran weighing sixty tons on its back. In the same month, the An-225 delivered the Buran spacecraft to the Paris air show and made a splash there. In total, the aircraft has 240 world records, including the transport of the heaviest cargo (253 tons), the heaviest monolithic cargo (188 tons) and the longest cargo.

The An-225 Mriya aircraft was originally designed for the needs of the Soviet space industry. In those years, the Soviet Union was building the Buran, its first reusable ship, an analogue of the American shuttle. To implement this project, it was necessary transport system, with which it was possible to transport large loads. It was for these purposes that Mriya was conceived. In addition to the components and assemblies of the spacecraft itself, it was necessary to deliver parts of the Energia rocket, which also had colossal dimensions. All this was delivered from the place of production to the points of final assembly. The units and components of Energia and Buran were manufactured in the central regions of the USSR, and the final assembly took place in Kazakhstan, at the Baikonur cosmodrome. In addition, the An-225 was originally designed so that in the future it could carry the completed Buran spacecraft. Also, the An-225 could carry bulky cargo for the needs National economy, for example, equipment for mining, oil and gas industry.

In addition to participating in the Soviet space program, the aircraft was to be used to transport oversized cargo long distances. This work An-225 "Mriya" will perform today.

The general functions and tasks of the machine can be described as follows:

transportation of general-purpose cargo (oversized, heavy) with a total weight of up to 250 tons;
intracontinental non-stop transportation of goods weighing 180−200 tons;
intercontinental transportation of goods weighing up to 150 tons;
transportation of heavy oversized cargo on an external sling with a total weight of up to 200 tons;
use of aircraft for air launch of spacecraft.

Other, even more ambitious tasks were set before the unique aircraft, and they were also associated with space. The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft was supposed to become a kind of flying cosmodrome, a platform from which spaceships and rockets would be launched into orbit. "Mriya", as conceived by the designers, was to become the first step for the launch of reusable spacecraft of the "Buran" type. Therefore, initially the designers were faced with the task of making an aircraft with a carrying capacity of at least 250 tons.

The Soviet shuttle was supposed to start from the "back" of the aircraft. This method of launching vehicles into near-Earth orbit has many serious advantages. Firstly, there is no need to build very expensive ground-based launch complexes, and secondly, launching a rocket or spacecraft from an aircraft saves fuel significantly and allows increasing the payload of a spacecraft. In some cases, this may allow you to completely abandon the first stage of the rocket.

Various air launch options are being developed at the present time. The United States is especially active in this direction; there are also Russian developments.

Alas, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the "air launch" project, with the participation of the An-225, was practically buried. This aircraft was an active participant in the Energia-Buran program. An-225 carried out fourteen flights with Buran on the top of the fuselage, hundreds of tons of various cargoes were transported under this program.

After 1991, funding for the Energia-Buran program ceased, and the An-225 was left without work. Only in 2000 did the modernization of the machine begin for commercial use. The An-225 Mriya aircraft has unique technical specifications, huge carrying capacity and can carry bulky cargo on its fuselage - all this makes the aircraft very popular for commercial transportation.

Since that time, the An-225 has performed many flights and transported hundreds of tons of various cargoes. Some transport operations can be safely called unique and unparalleled in the history of aviation. The plane took part in humanitarian operations several times. After the devastating tsunami, he delivered power generators to Samoa, transported construction equipment to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and helped clean up the aftermath of an earthquake in Japan.

In 2009, the An-225 aircraft was upgraded and its service life was extended.

The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft is made according to the classical scheme, with high-raised wings of small sweep. The cabin is located in front of the aircraft, the cargo hatch is also located in the nose of the machine. The aircraft is made according to the two-keel scheme. Such a decision is associated with the need to transport goods on the fuselage of the aircraft. The glider of the An-225 aircraft has very high aerodynamic properties, the value of the aerodynamic quality of this machine is 19, which is an excellent indicator not only for transport, but also for passenger aircraft. This, in turn, greatly improved the performance of the aircraft and reduced fuel consumption.

Almost the entire internal space of the fuselage is occupied by the cargo compartment. Compared to the An-124, it has grown by 10% (by seven meters). At the same time, the wingspan increased by only 20%, two more engines were added, and the aircraft's carrying capacity increased by one and a half times. During the construction of the An-225, drawings, components and assemblies of the An-124 were actively used, thanks to which the aircraft was able to be created in such a short time. Here are the main differences between the An-225 and the An-124 Ruslan:

new center section;
increased fuselage length;
single-keel tail unit was replaced with a two-keel one;
lack of a tail cargo hatch;
the number of main landing gear racks has been increased from five to seven;
system of fastening and pressurization of external loads;
two additional D-18T engines were installed.

Unlike Ruslan, Mriya has only one cargo hatch, which is located in the nose of the aircraft. Like its predecessor, "Mriya" can change the clearance and angle of the fuselage, which is extremely convenient for loading and unloading. The chassis has three supports: a front two-column and two main ones, each of which consists of seven pillars. At the same time, all racks are independent of each other and are produced separately.

To take off without a load, the aircraft needs a runway 2400 meters long, with a load - 3500 meters.

An-225 has six D-18T engines suspended under the wings, as well as two auxiliary power plants located inside the fuselage.

The cargo compartment is sealed and equipped with all the necessary equipment for loading operations. Inside the fuselage, the An-225 can carry up to sixteen standard air containers (each weighing ten tons), fifty cars or any cargo weighing up to two hundred tons (turbines, trucks, especially large sizes, generators). On top of the fuselage, special fastenings are provided for the transportation of bulky cargo.D

Specifications An-225 "Mriya"

Dimensions

Wingspan, m 88.4
Length, m 84.0
Height, m 18.2

Weight, kg

Empty 250000
Maximum takeoff 600000
Fuel mass 300000
Engine 6*TRDD D-18T
Specific fuel consumption, kg/kgf h 0.57-0.63
Cruising speed, km/h 850
Practical range, km 15600
Range, km 4500
Practical ceiling, m 11000

Crew of six people

An-225 is a Soviet transport jet aircraft of extra-large payload developed by OKB im. O.K. Antonov, is the largest aircraft in the world.

An-225 "Mriya" is the largest aircraft in the world that has ever taken to the air ("Mriya" from the Ukrainian "dream"). The maximum lifting weight of the aircraft is 640 tons. The An-225 aircraft was built specifically to transport the Soviet reusable spacecraft Buran. The aircraft was produced in a single copy.

The aircraft project was developed in the USSR and built at the Kiev Mechanical Plant in 1988.
"An-225" set a world record for carrying capacity. On March 22, 1988, the plane took off with a load of 156.3 tons and broke 110 aviation records.

For the entire period of operation, the aircraft flew 3740 hours. If you count average speed aircraft 500 km / h, takeoff and landing time, goes approximately 1,870,000 kilometers or 46 around the Earth at the equator.

The dimensions of the An-225 are amazing: length - 84 meters, height -18 meters.

On the picture good example aircraft An-225 and Boeing-747.
If we compare the largest Boeing-747-800, then the An-225 is 8 meters longer, and the size of the wings is 20 meters.

Not all airports can park such a giant; in such cases, the aircraft stands right on the alternate runway.

Wingspan 88.4 meters. There is one aircraft in the world that surpasses the An-225 in terms of wingspan, this Hughes H-4 Hercules took off once in 1947.

On the An-225 aircraft, external mounts were provided for transporting bulky cargo, for example, the Buran spacecraft and blocks of the Energia launch vehicle. The cargo is secured at the top of the aircraft.

Loads fixed at the top could create a wake, which required a two-keel tail assembly to avoid aerodynamic shadowing.

The aircraft is equipped with six D-18T engines, each developing a thrust of 23.4 tons during takeoff.

Each engine develops 12,500 hp during takeoff.

The D-18T engine of the An-225 Mriya aircraft is also installed on the An-124 Ruslan. The weight of the engine is 4 tons, and the height is 3 meters.

The total volume of fuel tanks is 365 tons. The plane can fly 15 thousand kilometers and stay in the air for 18 hours.

It takes from 2 to 36 hours to refuel such a giant, it all depends on the volume of tankers (from 5 to 50 tons).

Fuel consumption 15.9 tons per hour (cruise flight). When fully loaded, the aircraft can stay in the air without refueling for no more than 2 hours.

The chassis consists of 16 racks, each rack has 2 wheels, a total of 32 wheels.

90 landings, this is the resource of all wheels, after which they need to be changed. Wheels are produced in Yaroslavl, the price of one wheel is about 30 thousand rubles.

Wheel size: on the main pillar 1270 x 510 mm, on the front 1120 x 450 mm. Wheel pressure 12 atmospheres.

An-255 has been performing commercial transportation since 2001.

Cargo cabin: length-43 meters, width-6.4 meters, height-4.4 meters.
The cargo compartment is completely sealed, which allows you to transport any kind of cargo. What can be placed on a plane, for example: 80 cars, 16 containers or BelAZ giant trucks.

The cargo compartment is opened by lifting the bow up.

It takes 10 minutes to open access to the cargo hold.

The landing gear is bent under itself, the front of the aircraft is lowered down on special supports.

Auxiliary steam.

Control panel "lowering system" of the aircraft.

This type of loading has a number of advantages over the Boeing 747, which is loaded from the side of the fuselage.

The An-225 aircraft carries cargo: commercial 247 tons (4 times more than the Boeing-747), and the record load capacity is 2538 tons. In 2010, the longest cargo in air transportation was delivered, 2 windmill blades of 42.1 m each.

For the sake of flight safety, loads are placed strictly according to the instructions, observing the center of gravity, after which the co-pilot checks the correct placement of the load and reports to the commander.

The aircraft is equipped with its own loader of 4 lifts, each lifts 5 tons. The floors are equipped with two winches for loading non-self-propelled cargo.

The services of the largest aircraft are used all over the world, for example: now you need to transfer 170 tons of cargo from a French engineering company from Zurich to Bahrain. Refueling will be required in Athens and Cairo.

Alston turbine rotor for electricity production.

An-225 Mriya aircraft towing

The very large weight of the aircraft leaves such traces on the pavement.

The technical compartment is located at the rear of the cockpit. There are many different systems here, but their work is controlled by 34 on-board computers, human intervention is minimized.

An-225 aircraft crew of six people: aircraft commander, co-pilot, navigator, senior flight engineer, aircraft equipment flight engineer, flight radio operator.

The helm, it is controlled by the largest aircraft in the world.

To take off an empty plane, 2400 meters of the runway is enough. If the aircraft is fully loaded, a runway of 3500 meters is required.

It takes 10 minutes to warm up the engine before takeoff, which ensures maximum thrust.

The takeoff and landing speed depends on the weight of the aircraft (with and without cargo) and ranges from 240 to 280 km/h.

The aircraft is gaining altitude at a speed of 560 km/h.

After climbing more than 7 thousand meters, the speed increases to 675 km / h and further grows, the ship is gaining altitude to the flight level.

The cruising speed is 850 km/h. The speed is calculated taking into account the cargo carried and the flight range.

Pilots' dashboard (middle panel).

The instrument panel of the senior flight engineer.

Devices for monitoring the operation of engines.

Navigator.

Flight engineer.

Ship captain and co-pilot.

Landing at a speed of 295 km / h, braking of the landing gear occurs at a speed of 145 km / h and until the aircraft stops.

Aircraft resource: 25 years, 8 thousand flight hours, 2 thousand takeoffs and landings. The aircraft reached its service life in 2013 and was sent for a thorough study and repair, after which the service life will increase to 45 years.

The transportation services of the largest An-225 Mriya aircraft are very expensive. An aircraft is ordered when very heavy and long loads need to be transported, only if transportation by land and water is not possible. The company wants to make a second such aircraft, but this is just talk. The cost of building the second An-225 aircraft is about $90 million, taking into account all the tests, it increases to $120 million.

The largest aircraft in the world An-225 belongs to Antonov Airlines.