Ian
priscilla 1World's Largest Airplane - Antonov An-225
July 20th 2007 08:14
The An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift transport aircraft which was built by Antonov, and is the world's largest flying airplane ever built by the most commonly accepted measure, maximum gross takeoff weight. The design, built to transport the Buran orbiter, was an enlargement of the successful An-124 Ruslan. Mriya means "dream" in Ukrainian.
With a maximum gross weight of 640 tonnes (1,411,000 lb), the An-225 is the world's heaviest and largest aircraft. The Hughes H-4 Hercules, known to most as the "Spruce Goose", had a greater wingspan and a greater overall height, but is considerably shorter, and due to its lighter building materials, also lighter. In addition, the Hercules only flew once not very high, making the An-225 the largest aircraft in the world to take off multiple times. The An-225 is also larger than the Airbus A380 airliner, and considerably bigger than the Antonov An-124, 747-400ERF, C-5 Galaxy, the nearest equivalent heavy airlifters.
In November 2004, FAI placed the An-225 in the Guinness Book of Records for its 240 records.
Below are some amazing pictures of the worlds largest aeroplane.
The An-225 was designed for the Soviet space program.
Design work is currently under way to use the aircraft as a flying launch system for future aerospace systems. One of the most promising projects is the MAKS joint Russian/Ukrainian multipurpose aerospace system.[2] When used as a space vehicle air launcher, the aircraft would be fitted with the equipment required for prelaunch preparation of aerospace systems. Implementation of these projects would considerably reduce the cost of transporting payloads into space.
Beginning June 2003, the An-225, along with An-124s, delivered over 800 tonnes of equipment to aid humanitarian efforts in Iraq. The An-225 has also been contracted by the U.S. government to transport military supplies to the Middle East in support of Coalition forces
*These pictures used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.
**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Antonov An-225.
With a maximum gross weight of 640 tonnes (1,411,000 lb), the An-225 is the world's heaviest and largest aircraft. The Hughes H-4 Hercules, known to most as the "Spruce Goose", had a greater wingspan and a greater overall height, but is considerably shorter, and due to its lighter building materials, also lighter. In addition, the Hercules only flew once not very high, making the An-225 the largest aircraft in the world to take off multiple times. The An-225 is also larger than the Airbus A380 airliner, and considerably bigger than the Antonov An-124, 747-400ERF, C-5 Galaxy, the nearest equivalent heavy airlifters.
In November 2004, FAI placed the An-225 in the Guinness Book of Records for its 240 records.
Below are some amazing pictures of the worlds largest aeroplane.
The An-225 was designed for the Soviet space program.
Design work is currently under way to use the aircraft as a flying launch system for future aerospace systems. One of the most promising projects is the MAKS joint Russian/Ukrainian multipurpose aerospace system.[2] When used as a space vehicle air launcher, the aircraft would be fitted with the equipment required for prelaunch preparation of aerospace systems. Implementation of these projects would considerably reduce the cost of transporting payloads into space.
Beginning June 2003, the An-225, along with An-124s, delivered over 800 tonnes of equipment to aid humanitarian efforts in Iraq. The An-225 has also been contracted by the U.S. government to transport military supplies to the Middle East in support of Coalition forces
*These pictures used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.
**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Antonov An-225.
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