I was lucky to visit our airport and witness the world’s biggest airplane landing in person. Here I give you a simple video collection so you can experience Antonov An-225 via my videos!
The Landing Video of An-225
We had to wait like two hours next to the runway, but it was worth it 🙂 As soon as I spotted the Antonov in the sky, I started filming it with my old superzoom camera (it has 40x optical zoom, but glitchy autofocus). Shortly before Mriya landed there was a moment when An225 seemed to “hover” in the sky.
Antonov An-225 Dust Clouds
Here you can see some dust clouds being produced by its six jet engines while waiting for takeoff. You will see more dust in the middle of the video. I don’t know if the pilots were waiting for a go from RIX tower, or if they were just performing the usual checklist before taking this beast into the skies.
An-225 Take Off
I must say that the takeoff distance for Mriya looks very short for a plane this size! And the dust clouds it generates upon speeding along the runway, wow!!! And yes, the runway was inspected and cleaned both after landing and taking off.
It’s so sad now that this giant airplane is gone… Yes, there are rumors that Ukraine is going to build another An-225, but even if it’s true, we will probably have to wait for another decade before we can spot it in our airports 😉
About Antonov An-225
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was the largest airplane in the world. It’s name was “Mriya” and it was built in Soviet times (80s) by Antonov Design Bureau
Originally its task was to transport the Buran Space Shuttle for the failed Soviet space program to copy NASA.
This Antonov plane has a maximum takeoff weight of 1.4 million pounds (640 000 in kilos), it has six engines, and a wingspan of 88.4 meters (it’s 290 feet).
The cargo compartment of the Mriya is measuring 43 meters long (141 feet), and 8 meters wide (26 feet), and 4.4 meters high (14.4 feet).
This airplane has been used to transport oversized cargo such as generators, massive military cargo, construction equipment, and once it even flew a life-size replica of a woolly mammoth.
In 2001, the An-225 set a world record for the heaviest single cargo item ever transported by air, carrying a generator weighing in at 186,880 kg (412,000 lbs).
An-225 has a maximum range of 15,400 kilometers (that’s 9,600 miles) with it’s capacity for maximum payload 250,000 kilos (~550,000 lbs).
Thank you for being an aviation enthusiast!