Antonov

Antonov An-225

The An-225 Mriya (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, NATO reporting name: 'Cossack') is a strategic airlift transport aircraft which was built by the Antonov Design Bureau, USSR. It is the world's largest fixed-wing aircraft. The design, built to transport the Buran orbiter, was an enlargement of the successful An-124 Ruslan. Mriya (Мрiя) 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.

Development

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.^[2]

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^[3]) is currently in service. It is commercially available for carrying ultra-heavy and oversize freight, up to 250,000 kg (550,000 lb) internally,^[2] or 200,000 kg (440,000 lb) on the upper fuselage. Cargo on the upper fuselage can be 70 metres (230 ft) long.^[4]

A second An-225 was partially built during the late 1980s for use by the Soviet space program. The design of the second An-225 included a rear cargo door and a redesigned tail with a single vertical. It would be more effective for cargo transportation.^[5] 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 in 1994.^[6] The six Ivchenko Progress engines were removed for use on An-124s, and the second uncompleted An-225 airframe was also stored. The first An-225 was later re-engined and put into service.

By 2000, it had become apparent of the need for additional An-225 capacity, the decision was made in September 2006 to complete the second An-225. The second airframe was scheduled for completion around 2008,^[7] then delayed. By August 2009, the aircraft had not been completed and work had been abandoned.

Design
Based on Antonov's earlier An-124, the An-225 has fuselage barrel extensions added fore and aft of the wings, which received root extensions. Two more Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofan engines were added to the new wing roots, bringing the total to six, and an increased-capacity landing gear system with 32 wheels was designed. The An-124’s rear cargo door and ramp were removed to save weight, and the empennage was changed from a single vertical stabilizer to a twin tail with an oversized horizontal stabilizer. The twin tail was essential to enable the plane to carry very large and heavy external loads, which would otherwise disturb the aerodynamics of a conventional tail. Unlike the An-124, the An-225 was not intended for tactical airlifting and is not designed for short-field operation.^[2]

Initially the 225 had a maximum gross weight of 600 tonnes (1,320,000 lb) but the aircraft was modified in 2000-01, at a cost of US$20M, with a reinforced floor which allowed increasing the maximum gross weight to 640 tonnes (1,410,000 lb),^[9][10][11]

Both the earlier and later takeoff weights establish the An-225 as the world's heaviest aircraft, being heavier than the double-decker Airbus A380 even though Airbus plans to pass the An-225's maximum landing weight with 591.7 tonnes (1,304,000 lb) for the A380.^[12] The Hughes H-4 Hercules, known to most as the "Spruce Goose", had a greater wingspan and a greater overall height, but was considerably shorter, and due to the materials used in its construction, also lighter. In addition, the Hercules only flew once and never climbed above 21.3 m (70 ft), making the An-225 the largest aircraft in the world to take off multiple times.^[13] The An-225 is not only larger than the Airbus A380 airliner, it is also considerably bigger than the Antonov An-124, Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter, and Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, the nearest equivalent heavy cargo aircraft.

An-124

The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (Ukrainian and Russian: Антонов Ан-124 «Руслан») (NATO reporting name: 'Condor') was the largest airplane in production until the Antonov An-225 was built. During development it was known, in house, as Izdeliye 400 and An-40 in the West. First flown in 1982, civil certification was issued by the CIS Interstate Aviation Committee on 30 December 1992.^[3] Over forty are currently in service (26 civilian models with airlines and 10 firm orders as of August 2006) and 20 were in commercial use in 1998^[4] in Ukraine, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Libya.