THIS AIRPLANE WAS AT THE NIAGARA FALLS AIRPORT RECENTLY (TWICE)
TO LOAD COMPRESSORS TO FLY DIRECTLY TO SAUDI ARABIA
32 wheels! -- Cost's more than my house to rotate the tires!
The below rotator slide presentation is of the Russian behemoth when it came
into Medford , OR , to pick up two Sikorsky fire fighting helicopters to take
overseas -- $1,000,000 to transport them. While they were loading the
helicopters, the Russian pilots (two crews), went into town to buy cigarettes by
the case and Levis jeans. It is amazing something this huge can stay in The air. The Wright
brothers would never have dreamed it.
General characteristics
* Crew: 6
* Payload: 250,000 kg (550,000 lb)
* Door dimensions: 440 x 640 cm (14.4 x 21 ft)
* Length: 84 m (275.6 ft)
* Wingspan: 88.4 m (290 ft 2 in)
* Height: 18.1 m (59.3 ft)
* Wing area: 905 m2 (9,743.7 ft2)
* Cargo Volume: 1,300 m3 (46,000 cu ft))
* Empty weight: 285,000 kg (628,315 lb)
* Max takeoff weight: 600,000 kg (1,323,000 lb)
* Powerplant: 6× ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf) each
* Takeoff run: 3,500 m (11,000 ft) with maximum payload
Performance
* Maximum speed: 850 km/h (460 knots, 530 mph)
* Cruise speed: 800 km/h (430 knots, 500 mph)
* Range:
o With maximum fuel: 15,400 km (9,570 mi)
o With maximum payload: 4,000 km (2,500 mi))
* Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,100 ft)
* Wing loading: 662.9 kg/m² (135.5 lb/ft²)
* Thrust/weight: 0.234
The An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift transport aircraft
which was built by the Antonov Design Bureau, and is the largest fixed-wing
aircraft ever built. The design, built to transport the Buran orbiter, was an
enlargement of the successful An-124 Ruslan. Mriya means "Dream"
(Inspiration) in Ukrainian.
The Antonov An-225 is commercially available for flying any over-sized payload
due to the unique size of its cargo deck. Currently there is only one aircraft
operating but a second mothballed airframe is being reconditioned and is
scheduled for completion around 2010
The An-225 was designed for the Soviet space program as a replacement for the
Myasishchev VM-T. Able to airlift the Energia rocket's boosters and the Buran
space shuttle, its mission and objectives are almost identical to that of the
United States' Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
The An-225 first flew on 21 December 1988. The aircraft was on static display at
the Paris Air Show in 1989 and it flew during the public days at the Farnborough
air show in 1990. Two aircraft were ordered, but only one An-225 (tail number
UR-82060) is currently in service. It is commercially available for carrying
ultra-heavy and oversize freight, up to 250,000 kg (
550,000 lb) internally or
200,000 kg (
440,000 lb) on the upper fuselage. Cargo on the upper fuselage can
be 70 metres (230 ft) long. A second An-225 was partially built during the
late 1980s for use by the Soviet space program. If the second An-225 is
completed, it will be built with a rear cargo door and the tail will be
redesigned as a single tail. It would then be more effective for cargo
transportation. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 and the
cancellation of the Buran space program, the lone operational An-225 was placed
in storage. The six Ivchenko Progress engines were removed for use on An-124s,
and the second An-225 airframe (
nearing completion and awaiting engines) was
also mothballed.