Category: Planespotting

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!

How I watched “Super Hercules” planes land and even got inside one of them!

This was one of my few visits to airports as part of special planespotting events organized for media teams. As I was blogging back then about flights and aviation in general, I got invited together with many others to military airport where the mighty Hercules “C130s” would land for the first time. It was worth it, if you ever have a chance to visit an event just for media, do it!

First C-130J Hercules airplanes landing at Lielvarde air base, 17 June 2014.

What is “Super Hercules” or C-130J?

1. The C-130J Super Hercules is a military aircraft variation from a “Hercules” aircraft produced by Lockheed Martin since the 50s.
2. The maximum takeoff weight of C-130J is 155,000 pounds (70,000 kg) and this military craft can carry a payload of up to 42,000 pounds (19,000 kilos).
3. Super Hercules is powered by 4 Allison AE2100D3 turboprop engines, each producing 4,591 horsepower (imagine that your average car produces 100 to 150 hp).
4. The C-130J has a cruising speed of approximately 480 mph (772 km per hour) and a range of 2,079 miles (3,350 km), now that’s like half across Europe!
5. Hercules is famous for its capacity to land on short unprepared runways, making it suitable for a wide range of missions in super-challenging environments (like the everyday war zone action).
6. C-130J Super Hercules can be configured for cargo and troop transport, and aerial refueling, also search and rescue, and special ops.
7. The aircraft has advanced avionics and navigation systems, including a digital autopilot and an advanced digital moving map display. And I’ve been in the cockpit of this beautiful plane, it’s now pretty hi-tech upgraded!
8. It also has a self-defense system that includes radar warning receivers and chaff and flare dispensers to protect it from incoming rockets and SAMs.
9. The C-130J has been used by many militaries around the world, not just the US.
10. The U.S. Air Force has more than 200 “Super Hercules” aircraft in service. Don’t mind the cost of it 😀
11. The C-130J is also used by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Special Operations Command, that’s how reliable it is.
12. Lockheed Martin still builds and sells these, and as of today it has delivered more than 300 Super Hercules aircraft to buying customers all around the world.
13. And one more cool fact: the C-130J Super Hercules is a reliable aircraft, with many operators reporting that it has high mission readiness rates. It’s like “Okey, we have a situation, so let’s roll!”