Built to support the Soviet space program back in the late eighties, one gargantuan
aircraft has proved itself an invaluable asset to aid agencies in the Covid-19 era.
Capable of lugging unparalleled payloads around the globe, this airborne behemoth is one of
a kind.
Well, until the Chinese get around to finishing their own hush-hush copycat version.
So why is it so gigantic?
And how much thrust are those six mighty engines actually capable of?
Join us as we take to the skies for a voyage of discovery inside the world’s biggest
plane.
Strategic airlift cargo aircraft are designed to transport military materiel, weaponry,
and personnel over long distances, and this is loosely the aim of the AN-225.
You may have heard of the Airbus A400M, Boeing C-17, or Lockheed C-5, all of which serve
similar purposes.
Unlike these, the AN-225 was specifically designed to airlift the Energia rocket’s
boosters and to transport Buran-class orbiters for the Soviet space program.
In fact, its original mission was almost identical to the mission of the American Shuttle Carrier
aircraft - a pair of significantly smaller Boeing 747-100s.
It was conceived in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic during the 1980s, and only one example
was ever complete in 1988.
This Antonov aircraft has been compared to exotic supercars before because while it may
be loud, smokey, and bad for the environment, and just as uncomfortable, it’s rather fun
and rather quirky.
It belongs to a company initially known as Antonov Design Bureau, which has overseen
the assembly of around 22,000 aircraft in its time, some of which can still be seen
to be flying in and between Ukraine and Belarus.
It recently went through a period of six dormant years, though, so the future isn’t looking
prosperous.
But that’s enough history - the most impressive details are in the figures.
Its 640-tonne maximum takeoff weight puts it at the forefront of all airlines; an Airbus
A380 sits at 575 tonnes while a Boeing 747-8 is around 445 tonnes.
Antonov claims it can carry 250 tonnes of cargo, or up to 200 tonnes on the upper fuselage,
where cargo can be up to 70 meters in length.
But let’s not forget, rules are there to be broken, and after all, these are just guidelines
set out by Antonov.
The AN-225 holds an absolute world record for the heaviest total payload, at 253.82
tonnes.
It also holds a record for the heaviest single-item payload, measuring a whopping 189.98 tonnes.
But ‘world’s heaviest aircraft’ wasn’t enough for the company - the aircraft that
first took to the skies in December 1988 is also at the forefront of the wingspan category.
Its 88.4-meter wingspan isn’t ridiculously impressive when compared to the 80-meter wingspan
of an A380, but aircraft like the 787 are significantly smaller at 60 meters.
In fact, you could park around 80 cars on its wings alone, thanks to an enormous wing
area of 905 square meters.
That’s more than the estimated 50 cars that you could carry inside the fuselage.
The 84-meter long aircraft is manned by a crew of six, who can burn through over 300
tonnes of fuel at a max speed of 530mph.
At a cruising speed of 500mph, it will run dry in around 8,300 nautical miles at an altitude
of 11,000 meters.
The stars of the show, though, are its engines.
Long-haul aircraft ditch a pair of engines in favor of four, but the AN-225 ups the ante
with six turbofan engines, each weighing more than 4 tonnes and measuring 2.3 meters in
diameter.
In total, there are almost 1,400-kilo Newtons of thrust on offer.
All of this, at the cost of millions, to find out that the plane would enter retirement
at an aircraft graveyard after serving its purpose for the Soviet military.
For a total of eight years, it remained out of service, but it was then revived, refurbished,
and reintroduced as a commercial plane for Antonov Airlines.
Since then, it has served in many humanitarian missions.
Some of them include being contracted by the US and Canada to deliver supplies to forces
in the Middle East; delivering generators to Japan as part of a French mission, delivering
construction machinery and trucks to Haiti after the earthquake, and delivering generators
to Samoa to alleviate the effect of the tsunami on its power station.
More recently, it helped deliver medical supplies from China to countries around the world in
response to the coronavirus outbreak, so it’s true to say the AN-225 is still proving to
be a very vital, utilitarian aircraft, to this day.
It also recently returned from Pakistan, bringing with it three British RAF helicopters that
served in Afghanistan, in a time that foreign troops leave the country.
Landing in the Cotswolds, England, in June 2021, it is said that its turbofan engines
blew down the airfield’s perimeter fencing.
But there’s more: it’s not alone.
Ok, technically, it’s one of a kind, but there is a second model partially out there,
too.
It has been in and out of production for decades, but to date, it’s estimated to be only 60-70%
complete.
The Airspace Industry Corporation of China has intentions to buy and complete this second
version, developing it into an ‘air launch to orbit’ platform for its satellites to
be launched at up to 12,000 meters in altitude.
While we wait months, or years, to find out the fate of the second AN-225, our video draws
to an end.
In summary, the Antonov AN-225 is a multi-record holder that was conceived in the Soviet Union
and went on to serve crucial humanitarian efforts around the world, and it’s for this
reason that we say that this aircraft is far more important than it’s given credit for.
You may not have flown in such a large plane, but what was the largest plane you ever flew
in?
Does it come near to the sheer size of the Antonov AN-225?