Air travel comes into life
It’s hard to surprise anyone with air travel these days. People who want to achieve success in life (primarily in business) have to fly to different parts of the planet, sometimes overcoming their fear of being in the air.
In any case, there is no alternative to traveling on this super-fast mode of transport in terms of covering significant distances in a fairly short period of time.
Airplanes are not for passengers
In this case, a slightly different problem often arises: if you do not get flight tickets ahead of time, then they simply may not be available at the right time - they will be bought up by the same sufferers. However, those who need to go to points where the most heavy-duty aircraft on the planet would fly hardly have to worry about this. There would be enough space for almost everyone who expresses a desire to purchase a ticket here. However, it is worth saying that the airlines that own them usually place such aircraft on the busiest routes.
Meanwhile, the plane, which holds a world record in terms of carrying capacity, does not make passenger flights. It was generally designed in the eighties of the last century for completely different purposes - to ensure the transportation of necessary materials (including rocket components) for the grandiose Soviet space program Buran. For such a large-scale project, an appropriate, powerful aircraft was needed. Then Kyiv designers developed the An-225, which received the name "Mriya" (in Ukrainian so beautiful word means "dream"). Until now, such an aircraft exists in a single copy.
How much does "Dream" raise?
Its dimensions in comparison with other similar ones vehicles amaze. "Mriya" reaches 84 meters in length and eighteen meters in height. For comparison, a six-story, four-entrance residential building will have similar parameters. Dimensions cargo compartment The An-225 is also very impressive - it is as much as forty-three meters long and about four and a half high.
According to the designers, this cargo-lifting aircraft was supposed to transport up to two hundred and fifty tons of materials needed for the space program per flight. Moreover, not only the spaciousness of the above-mentioned cabin was taken into account - the design included fastenings on the hull of the aircraft, for the possibility of transporting various cargoes outside.
The Mriya's first flight took place at the end of 1988, and the very next year it broke over a hundred world aviation records, carrying about 156 tons of necessary materials. Since its debut in airspace The An-225 flew nearly two million kilometers, which roughly equates to more than four dozen orbits around the earth's equator.
Giant passenger transportation
As for exclusively passenger transportation, the undisputed leader here is still the giant Airbus 380. Developed and put into production in the 2000s, it is capable of lifting up to one and a half hundred tons of cargo, and its maximum permitted flight weight is 560 tons. Passengers on board this The Airbus lifts 525 in a two-deck, three-class configuration, and as much as 853 in a single-class configuration.
During its approximately ten-year operational life, any serious incidents occurred with the Airbus 380 twice. Moreover, in both situations, only the nerves of the passengers were damaged. So in the future there is hardly any need to be afraid of flying on it.
One of the giants created in Soviet times is, of course, the AN-124 or “Ruslan”, as it is also called. If you read carefully technical characteristics aircraft An-124 “Ruslan”, you will be very impressed with its capabilities. And how can one not admire this miracle of technology, which has achieved a total of 21 world records.
The carrying capacity of the Ruslan aircraft and the dimensions of the Ruslan An-124 aircraft in the photo are simply amazing. One can only marvel at the technical genius of those who designed it. Today it is a cargo aircraft in world aviation.
AN-124 was created as the Soviet Union's response to the one created by the USA Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. Soviet aircraft designers were faced with a difficult task: to design an aircraft capable of transporting cargo weighing up to 150 thousand tons.
However, already in 1970-1971. drawings of the first two models were presented. Work continued in 1973, when a separate group was formed that was supposed to work on improving aerodynamic performance.
Numerous new technologies were explored and applied that had not previously been developed anywhere in the world.
December 24, 1982 the plane took off into the sky. He was presented to the world community at international exhibition in Paris after the plane was seen in the media.
AN-124 on the drawings.
Total produced about 56 models of this aircraft.
The main goal at that time of the AN-124 was transportation of ballistic missile launchers, tanks, etc. That is, it was planned to be used exclusively for military needs.
After the collapse of the USSR, such a need no longer existed. Therefore, the aircraft was converted to meet the needs of commercial and cargo aviation. Many important components of the aircraft have undergone modernization - from the cargo compartment to the engines. This is how it was born AN 124-100.
A little later, aircraft production was completely suspended. The reason is insufficient financial resources. After all, the construction of one such aircraft requires almost 100 million dollars.
In the 2000s Attempts were made to resume production of the AN-124 through the joint efforts of Ukraine and Russia, but due to the growing conflict between the two countries, they were stopped.
Technical characteristics of AN-124
It consists of two decks:
- the bottom one is also cargo (1050 cubic meters). It is equipped with loading equipment and the floor is made of titanium. This allows it to withstand significant loads;
- upper - passenger - where the crew and employees accompanying the cargo are located - 21 people.
They are divided into sealed compartments.
Thanks to the presence of multi-support chassis ( 24 wheels), the aircraft can also take off from unpaved runways, and also facilitates work during loading. This is also helped by the fact that the AN-124 two cargo hatches- in the nose and tail of the aircraft.
The on-board system is fully automated. It is equipped in such a way that the aircraft can be controlled in almost any weather conditions, and also allows you to transport cargo and troops to the hottest spots.
Several aircraft were previously used for such purposes by NATO. He can take on board 440 paratroopers and 880 soldiers.
Airplane "Ruslan".
As for cargo, “Ruslan” is capable of taking on board monocargo weighing 50 tons, and cargo with a total weight of 120,000 kilos G.
Wingspan - 73.3 m, and the length is 69.1 m. His high - 20.78 m. How much does the Ruslan plane weigh and the weight of the AN-124 at takeoff? Almost 392,000 kg. Weight Limit - 405,000 kg, and when taking off with empty cargo compartments - 173,000 kg.
If you take flight characteristics, then its cruising speed reaches 750-800 km/h. And the maximum can be 865 km/h. Its flight range is 4,500 km.
AN-124 models
Total designed 4 models of this aircraft. Actually, the AN-124 itself, intended for military purposes.
AN-124-100, from which all military equipment was removed, thus converting it into a commercial cargo vehicle.
The latter still has two modifications:
- AN-124 -100M- he has modernized avionics, and also the crew composition changed for 4 people;
- AN-124 - 100M-150- it has all the above characteristics. Plus, he can take the load up to 150 t., and transport it already over distances up to 5,400 km.
In 1989 For the concert of the legendary group Pink Floyd, all their technical equipment was transported on the AN-124. Michael Jackson also used this aircraft, only 4 years later.
It also transported almost 52 tons of gold from the UAE to Switzerland. And in 2011, it was the AN-124 that transported pumps to eliminate the accident in Fukushima.
The aircraft was designed in the USSR and built in 1988 at the Kiev Mechanical Plant.
"Mriya" set a world record for take-off weight and carrying capacity. On March 22, 1989, the An-225 flew with a cargo of 156.3 tons, thereby simultaneously beating 110 world aviation records, which is a record in itself.
Since the start of operation, the aircraft has flown 3,740 hours. Assuming that average speed flights (taking into account take-off, climb, cruising flight, descent, approach) is about 500 km/h, then you can calculate the approximate value of the kilometers traveled: 500 x 3740 = 1,870,000 km (more than 46 orbits around the Earth along the equator) .
The scale of the An-225 is amazing: the length of the aircraft is 84 meters, the height is 18 meters (like a 6-story 4-entrance house)
A visual comparison of the Mriya and the passenger Boeing 747.
If we take the largest of the Boeing 747-800 as a basis, then the length of the An-225 will be 8 meters longer, and the wingspan will be 20 meters longer.
Compared to the Airbus A380, the Mriya is 11 meters longer, and its wingspan is almost 9 meters longer.
It happens that the airport does not have adequate parking for such big plane, and it is placed directly on the runway.
Of course, we are talking about an alternate runway, if the airport has one.
The wingspan is 88.4 meters and the area is 905 m²
The only aircraft superior to the An-225 in terms of wingspan is the Hughes H-4 Hercules, which belongs to the class of flying boats. The ship took off only once, in 1947. The history of this aircraft was reflected in the film "The Aviator"
Since the Buran spacecraft itself and the blocks of the Energia launch vehicle had dimensions exceeding the dimensions of the Mriya’s cargo compartment, the new aircraft provided for securing cargo from the outside. In addition, it was planned that the aircraft would be used as the first stage for the launch of a spacecraft.
The formation of a wake from a large cargo attached to the top of the aircraft required the installation of a double-finned tail unit to avoid aerodynamic shading.
The aircraft is equipped with 6 D-18T engines.
At takeoff mode, each engine develops a thrust of 23.4 tons (or 230 kN), i.e. the total thrust of all 6 engines is 140.5 tons (1380 kN)
It can be assumed that each engine develops about 12,500 horsepower at takeoff!
The D-18T engines of the An-225 aircraft are the same as those on the An-124 Ruslan.
The height of such an engine is 3 m, width 2.8 m, and weight more than 4 tons.
The starting system is air, with electrical automatic control. Auxiliary power point, consisting of two TA-12 turbo units installed in the left and right fairings of the chassis, provides autonomous power to all systems and engine starting.
The mass of fuel in the tanks is 365 tons, it is placed in 13 wing caisson tanks.
The aircraft can remain in the air for 18 hours and cover a distance of over 15,000 km.
The refueling time for such a vehicle ranges from half an hour to a day and a half, and the number of tankers depends on their capacity (from 5 to 50 tons), i.e. from 7 to 70 tankers.
The aircraft's fuel consumption is 15.9 tons/h (in cruising mode)
When fully loaded, the aircraft can remain in the sky without refueling for no more than 2 hours.
The chassis includes a two-post nose and 14-post main (7 posts on each side) supports.
Each stand has two wheels. Total 32 wheels.
Wheels require replacement every 90 landings.
Tires for Mriya are produced at the Yaroslavl Tire Plant. The price of one tire is about $1000.
On the bow strut there are wheels measuring 1120 x 450 mm, and on the main strut there are wheels measuring 1270 x 510 mm.
The pressure inside is 12 atmospheres.
Since 2001, the An-225 has been performing commercial cargo transportation as part of Antonov Airlines.
Dimensions of the cargo compartment: length - 43 m, width - 6.4 m, height - 4.4 m.
The cargo cabin of the aircraft is sealed, which allows the transportation of various types of cargo. Inside the cabin you can place 16 standard containers, up to 80 cars and even heavy-duty BelAZ dump trucks. There is enough space here to fit the entire body of a Boeing 737.
Access to the cargo compartment is through bow aircraft that tilts up.
The process of opening/closing the cargo compartment ramp takes no more than 10 minutes.
To unfold the ramp, the aircraft performs the so-called “elephant bow.”
The nose landing gear tilts forward, and the weight of the aircraft is transferred to auxiliary supports, which are installed under the front threshold of the cargo compartment.
Auxiliary support.
Control panel for the aircraft's "squat" system.
This loading method has a number of advantages compared to the Boeing 747 (which is loaded through a compartment in the side of the fuselage.
"Mriya" is a record holder for the weight of cargo transported: commercial - 247 tons (which is four times the maximum payload of a Boeing 747), commercial monocargo - 187.6 tons, and absolute record load capacity - 253.8 tons. On June 10, 2010, the longest cargo in the history of air transportation was transported - two windmill blades, each 42.1 m long.
To ensure a safe flight, the center of gravity of an aircraft with cargo must be within certain limits along its length. The load master performs loading in strict accordance with the instructions, after which the co-pilot checks the correct placement of the cargo and reports this to the crew commander, who makes a decision on the possibility of carrying out the flight and is responsible for this.
The aircraft is equipped with an on-board loading complex consisting of four lifting mechanisms, each with a lifting capacity of 5 tons.
In addition, two floor winches are provided for loading non-self-propelled wheeled vehicles and cargo on the loading ramp.
This time, the An-225 was chartered by the French engineering company Alstom to transport 170 tons of cargo from Zurich, Switzerland to Bahrain with refueling in Athens and Cairo.
This is a turbine rotor, a turbogenerator for producing electricity and components.
Flight manager Vadim Nikolaevich Deniskov.
To tow the An-225 aircraft, it is impossible to use the carrier of aircraft from other companies, so the carrier is transported on board the aircraft.
And since the aircraft is not equipped with a rear cargo hatch and the towing carrier is unloaded and loaded through the front cargo hatch, which requires a full cycle of squatting of the aircraft onto the front support, as a result, at least 30 minutes are lost and the resource of the aircraft structure and squatting system is unjustifiably consumed.
Technician-foreman for aircraft maintenance.
To ensure turns when the aircraft moves on the ground, the last four rows of the main support struts are made orientable.
Aircraft maintenance technician: specialization: hydraulic system and landing gear.
The heavy weight of the aircraft causes the landing gear to leave marks on the asphalt.
Ladder and hatch to the cockpit.
The passenger compartment is divided into 2 parts: in the front there is the aircraft crew, and in the rear there are accompanying and maintenance personnel.
The cabins are sealed separately - they are separated by a wing.
The rear part of the accompanying cabin is intended for eating, working with technical documentation and holding conferences.
The aircraft has 18 seats for rest of crew members and members of the engineering and technical team - 6 seats in the front cabin and 12 in the rear.
Staircase and hatch to the attendant cabin at the rear of the aircraft.
Technical compartment located at the rear of the cockpit.
On the shelves you can see the blocks that ensure the operation of various aircraft systems, and the pipelines of the pressurization and air conditioning system and the anti-icing system. All aircraft systems are highly automated and require minimal crew intervention during operation. Their work is supported by 34 on-board computers.
Wall of the front center section spar. It is installed (from top to bottom): the slats transmission and air bleed pipelines from the engines.
In front of it are stationary cylinders of the fire protection system with the fire extinguishing agent "Freon".
Stickers are souvenirs from numerous visitors on the panel on the plane's emergency escape hatch flap.
The farthest point from the base airport that the plane managed to visit is the island of Tahiti, which is part of French Polynesia.
Shortest arc distance globe about 16400 km.
Rynda An-225
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mason mentioned in the engraving is an aircraft operation engineer who worked at Mriya for many years.
The aircraft commander (PIC) is Vladimir Yuryevich Mosin.
To become an An-225 commander, you must have at least 5 years of experience flying an An-124 aircraft as a commander.
Weight and alignment control is simplified by installing a load-measuring system on the chassis.
The aircraft crew consists of 6 people:
aircraft commander, co-pilot, navigator, senior flight engineer, aviation equipment flight engineer, flight radio operator.
ORES
To reduce efforts on the throttles and increase the accuracy of setting engine operating modes, a remote engine control system is provided. In this case, the pilot makes a relatively small effort to use cables to move the lever of an electromechanical device mounted on the engine, which reproduces this movement on the fuel regulator lever with the necessary force and accuracy. For the convenience of joint control during takeoff and landing, the throttle levers of the outermost engines (RUD1 and RUD6) are linked, respectively, with RUD2 and RUD5.
The helm of the largest aircraft in the world.
Aircraft control is booster i.e. The control surfaces are deflected solely with the help of hydraulic steering actuators, if they fail, it is impossible to control the aircraft manually (with an increase in the required effort). Therefore, quadruple redundancy was applied. The mechanical part of the control system (from the steering wheel and pedals to hydraulic steering actuators) consists of rigid rods and cables.
The total length of these cables is: the aileron control system in the fuselage - about 30 meters, in each console (left, right) of the wing - approximately 35 meters; elevator and rudder control systems - about 65 meters each.
When the plane is empty, 2400 m of runway is enough for takeoff and landing.
Takeoff with maximum weight - 3500 m, landing with maximum weight - 3300 m.
At the executive start, the engines begin to warm up, which takes about 10 minutes.
This prevents engine surge during takeoff and ensures maximum takeoff thrust. Of course, this requirement leads to the fact that: takeoff is carried out during a period of minimal airport congestion, or the plane waits a long time for its turn to take off, missing scheduled flights.
The takeoff and landing speed depends on the takeoff and landing weight of the aircraft and ranges from 240 km/h to 280 km/h.
The climb is carried out at a speed of 560 km/h, with a vertical speed of 8 m/s.
At an altitude of 7100 meters, the speed increases to 675 km/h with further continuation of the climb to the flight level.
Cruising speed of An-225 - 850 km/h
When calculating cruising speed, the weight of the aircraft and the flight range that the aircraft must cover are taken into account.
Dmitry Viktorovich Antonov - senior captain.
The middle panel of the pilots' instrument panel.
Backup instruments: attitude indicator and altitude indicator. Fuel lever position indicator (FLU), engine thrust indicator (ET). Indicators of deviation of control surfaces and take-off and landing devices (slats, flaps, spoilers).
Senior flight engineer's instrument panel.
In the lower left corner there is a side panel with controls for the hydraulic complex and a chassis position alarm. Top left panel of the aircraft fire protection system. At the top right is a panel with controls and control devices: starting the APU, the supercharging and air conditioning system, the anti-icing system and the signal panel block. At the bottom is a panel with controls and controls for the fuel supply system, engine operation control and the on-board automated control system (BASK) of all aircraft parameters.
Senior onboard engineer - Polishchuk Alexander Nikolaevich.
Engine control instrument panel.
On the left, at the top is a vertical indicator of the position of the fuel levers. Large round instruments are speed indicators for the high-pressure compressor and engine fan. Small round instruments are indicators of oil temperature at the engine inlet. The block of vertical instruments at the bottom - indicators of the amount of oil in the engine oil tanks.
Aeronautical engineer's dashboard.
Controls and monitoring devices for the aircraft's power supply system and oxygen system are located here.
Navigator - Anatoly Binyatovich Abdullaev.
Flight over the territory of Greece.
Navigator-instructor - Yaroslav Ivanovich Koshitsky.
Flight operator - Gennady Yurievich Antipov.
The ICAO call sign for the An-225 on the flight from Zurich to Athens was ADB-3038.
On-board engineer - Yuri Anatolyevich Mindar.
Athens airport runway.
Landing at night on Mriya is carried out instrumentally, i.e. using instruments, from the leveling height and visually before touching down. According to the crew, one of the most difficult landings is in Kabul, which is associated with high altitude and many obstacles. The approach begins at a speed of 340 km/h to an altitude of 200 meters, then the speed is gradually reduced.
Landing is carried out at a speed of 295 km/h with fully extended mechanization. It is allowed to touch the runway at a vertical speed of 6 m/s. After touching the runway, reverse thrust is immediately switched to engines 2 to 5, while engines 1 and 6 are left at idle. The landing gear is braked at a speed of 140-150 km/h until the aircraft comes to a complete stop.
The aircraft's service life is 8,000 flight hours, 2,000 takeoffs and landings, 25 calendar years.
The aircraft can still fly until December 21, 2013 (25 years since the start of its operation), after which a thorough study of its technical condition will be carried out and the necessary work will be carried out to ensure an extension of the calendar service life to 45 years.
Due to the high cost of transportation on the An-225, orders appear only for very long and very heavy cargo, when transportation by land is not possible. Flights are random: from 2-3 per month to 1-2 per year. From time to time there is talk about building a second copy of the An-225 aircraft, but this requires an appropriate order and appropriate funding. To complete the construction, an amount of approximately $90 million is required, and taking into account testing, it increases to $120 million.
This is perhaps one of the most beautiful and impressive aircraft in the world.
Thanks to Antonov Airlines for their help in organizing the photography!
Special thanks to Vadim Nikolaevich Deniskov for his help in writing the text for the post!
For any questions regarding the use of photographs, please email.
The An-225 Mriya (translated from Ukrainian as “dream”) is the heaviest cargo-lifting aircraft ever taken into the air. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 640 tons. The reason for the construction of the An-225 was the need to create an aviation transport system for the Soviet reusable spacecraft Buran project. The plane exists in a single copy.
The aircraft was designed in the USSR and built in 1988 at the Kiev Mechanical Plant.
"Mriya" set a world record for take-off weight and carrying capacity. On March 22, 1989, the An-225 flew with a load of 156.3 tons, thereby simultaneously breaking 110 world aviation records, which is a record in itself.
Since the start of operation, the aircraft has flown 3,740 hours. If we assume that the average flight speed (taking into account take-off, climb, cruising, descent, approach) is about 500 km/h, then we can calculate the approximate value of the kilometers traveled: 500 x 3740 = 1,870,000 km (more than 46 revolutions around the Earth along the equator).
The scale of the An-225 is amazing: the length of the aircraft is 84 meters, the height is 18 meters (like a 6-story 4-entrance house)
A visual comparison of the Mriya and the passenger Boeing 747.
If we take the largest of the Boeing 747-800 as a basis, then the length of the An-225 will be 8 meters longer, and the wingspan will be 20 meters longer.
Compared to the Airbus A380, the Mriya is 11 meters longer, and its wingspan is almost 9 meters longer.
It happens that the airport does not have adequate parking for such a large aircraft, and it is parked directly on the runway.
Of course, we are talking about an alternate runway, if the airport has one.
The wingspan is 88.4 meters and the area is 905 m²
The only aircraft superior to the An-225 in terms of wingspan is the Hughes H-4 Hercules, which belongs to the class of flying boats. The ship took off only once, in 1947. The history of this aircraft was reflected in the film "The Aviator"
Since the Buran spacecraft itself and the blocks of the Energia launch vehicle had dimensions exceeding the dimensions of the Mriya’s cargo compartment, the new aircraft provided for securing cargo from the outside. In addition, it was planned that the aircraft would be used as the first stage for the launch of a spacecraft.
The formation of a wake from a large cargo attached to the top of the aircraft required the installation of a double-finned tail unit to avoid aerodynamic shading.
The aircraft is equipped with 6 D-18T engines.
At takeoff mode, each engine develops a thrust of 23.4 tons (or 230 kN), i.e. the total thrust of all 6 engines is 140.5 tons (1380 kN)
It can be assumed that each engine develops about 12,500 horsepower at takeoff!
The D-18T engines of the An-225 aircraft are the same as those on the An-124 Ruslan.
The height of such an engine is 3 m, width 2.8 m, and weight more than 4 tons.
The starting system is air, with electrical automatic control. The auxiliary power unit, consisting of two TA-12 turbo units installed in the left and right fairings of the chassis, provides autonomous power to all systems and engine starting.
The mass of fuel in the tanks is 365 tons, it is placed in 13 wing caisson tanks.
The aircraft can remain in the air for 18 hours and cover a distance of over 15,000 km.
The refueling time for such a vehicle ranges from half an hour to a day and a half, and the number of tankers depends on their capacity (from 5 to 50 tons), i.e. from 7 to 70 tankers.
The aircraft's fuel consumption is 15.9 tons/h (in cruising mode)
When fully loaded, the aircraft can remain in the sky without refueling for no more than 2 hours.
The chassis includes a two-post nose and 14-post main (7 posts on each side) supports.
Each stand has two wheels. Total 32 wheels.
Wheels require replacement every 90 landings.
Tires for Mriya are produced at the Yaroslavl Tire Plant. The price of one tire is about $1000.
On the bow strut there are wheels measuring 1120 x 450 mm, and on the main strut there are wheels measuring 1270 x 510 mm.
The pressure inside is 12 atmospheres.
Since 2001, the An-225 has been performing commercial cargo transportation as part of Antonov Airlines.
Dimensions of the cargo compartment: length - 43 m, width - 6.4 m, height - 4.4 m.
The cargo cabin of the aircraft is sealed, which allows the transportation of various types of cargo. Inside the cabin you can place 16 standard containers, up to 80 cars and even heavy-duty BelAZ dump trucks. There is enough space here to fit the entire body of a Boeing 737.
Access to the cargo compartment is through the nose of the aircraft, which folds up.
The process of opening/closing the cargo compartment ramp takes no more than 10 minutes.
To unfold the ramp, the aircraft performs the so-called “elephant bow.”
The nose landing gear tilts forward, and the weight of the aircraft is transferred to auxiliary supports, which are installed under the front threshold of the cargo compartment.
Auxiliary support.
Control panel for the aircraft's "squat" system.
This loading method has a number of advantages compared to the Boeing 747 (which is loaded through a compartment in the side of the fuselage.
"Mriya" is a record holder for the weight of cargo transported: commercial - 247 tons (which is four times more than the maximum payload of a Boeing 747), commercial monocargo - 187.6 tons, and an absolute record for carrying capacity - 253.8 tons. On June 10, 2010, the longest cargo in the history of air transportation was transported - two windmill blades, each 42.1 m long.
To ensure a safe flight, the center of gravity of an aircraft with cargo must be within certain limits along its length. The load master performs loading in strict accordance with the instructions, after which the co-pilot checks the correct placement of the cargo and reports this to the crew commander, who makes a decision on the possibility of carrying out the flight and is responsible for this.
The aircraft is equipped with an on-board loading complex consisting of four lifting mechanisms, each with a lifting capacity of 5 tons.
In addition, two floor winches are provided for loading non-self-propelled wheeled vehicles and cargo on the loading ramp.
This time, the An-225 was chartered by the French engineering company Alstom to transport 170 tons of cargo from Zurich, Switzerland to Bahrain with refueling in Athens and Cairo.
This is a turbine rotor, a turbogenerator for producing electricity and components.
Flight manager Vadim Nikolaevich Deniskov.
To tow the An-225 aircraft, it is impossible to use the carrier of aircraft from other companies, so the carrier is transported on board the aircraft.
And since the aircraft is not equipped with a rear cargo hatch and the towing carrier is unloaded and loaded through the front cargo hatch, which requires a full cycle of squatting of the aircraft onto the front support, as a result, at least 30 minutes are lost and the resource of the aircraft structure and squatting system is unjustifiably consumed.
Technician-foreman for aircraft maintenance.
To ensure turns when the aircraft moves on the ground, the last four rows of the main support struts are made orientable.
Aircraft maintenance technician: specialization: hydraulic system and landing gear.
The heavy weight of the aircraft causes the landing gear to leave marks on the asphalt.
Ladder and hatch to the cockpit.
The passenger compartment is divided into 2 parts: in the front there is the aircraft crew, and in the rear there are accompanying and maintenance personnel.
The cabins are sealed separately - they are separated by a wing.
The rear part of the accompanying cabin is intended for eating, working with technical documentation and holding conferences.
The aircraft has 18 seats for rest of crew members and members of the engineering and technical team - 6 seats in the front cabin and 12 in the rear.
Staircase and hatch to the attendant cabin at the rear of the aircraft.
Technical compartment located at the rear of the cockpit.
On the shelves you can see the blocks that ensure the operation of various aircraft systems, and the pipelines of the pressurization and air conditioning system and the anti-icing system. All aircraft systems are highly automated and require minimal crew intervention during operation. Their work is supported by 34 on-board computers.
Wall of the front center section spar. It is installed (from top to bottom): the slats transmission and air bleed pipelines from the engines.
In front of it are stationary cylinders of the fire protection system with the fire extinguishing agent "Freon".
Stickers are souvenirs from numerous visitors on the panel on the plane's emergency escape hatch flap.
The farthest point from the base airport that the plane managed to visit was the island of Tahiti, part of French Polynesia.
The distance along the shortest arc of the globe is about 16,400 km.
Rynda An-225
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mason mentioned in the engraving is an aircraft operation engineer who worked at Mriya for many years.
The aircraft commander (PIC) is Vladimir Yuryevich Mosin.
To become an An-225 commander, you must have at least 5 years of experience flying an An-124 aircraft as a commander.
Weight and alignment control is simplified by installing a load-measuring system on the chassis.
The aircraft crew consists of 6 people:
aircraft commander, co-pilot, navigator, senior flight engineer, aviation equipment flight engineer, flight radio operator.
To reduce efforts on the throttles and increase the accuracy of setting engine operating modes, a remote engine control system is provided. In this case, the pilot makes a relatively small effort to use cables to move the lever of an electromechanical device mounted on the engine, which reproduces this movement on the fuel regulator lever with the necessary force and accuracy. For the convenience of joint control during takeoff and landing, the throttle levers of the outermost engines (RUD1 and RUD6) are linked, respectively, with RUD2 and RUD5.
The helm of the largest aircraft in the world.
Aircraft control is booster i.e. The control surfaces are deflected solely with the help of hydraulic steering actuators, if they fail, it is impossible to control the aircraft manually (with an increase in the required effort). Therefore, quadruple redundancy was applied. The mechanical part of the control system (from the steering wheel and pedals to hydraulic steering actuators) consists of rigid rods and cables.
The total length of these cables is: the aileron control system in the fuselage - about 30 meters, in each console (left, right) of the wing - approximately 35 meters; elevator and rudder control systems - about 65 meters each.
When the plane is empty, 2400 m of runway is enough for takeoff and landing.
Takeoff with maximum weight - 3500 m, landing with maximum weight - 3300 m.
At the executive start, the engines begin to warm up, which takes about 10 minutes.
This prevents engine surge during takeoff and ensures maximum takeoff thrust. Of course, this requirement leads to the fact that: takeoff is carried out during a period of minimal airport congestion, or the plane waits a long time for its turn to take off, missing scheduled flights.
The takeoff and landing speed depends on the takeoff and landing weight of the aircraft and ranges from 240 km/h to 280 km/h.
The climb is carried out at a speed of 560 km/h, with a vertical speed of 8 m/s.
At an altitude of 7100 meters, the speed increases to 675 km/h with further continuation of the climb to the flight level.
Cruising speed of An-225 - 850 km/h
When calculating cruising speed, the weight of the aircraft and the flight range that the aircraft must cover are taken into account.
Dmitry Viktorovich Antonov - senior captain.
The middle panel of the pilots' instrument panel.
Backup instruments: attitude indicator and altitude indicator. Fuel lever position indicator (FLU), engine thrust indicator (ET). Indicators of deviation of control surfaces and take-off and landing devices (slats, flaps, spoilers).
Senior flight engineer's instrument panel.
In the lower left corner there is a side panel with controls for the hydraulic complex and a chassis position alarm. Top left panel of the aircraft fire protection system. At the top right is a panel with controls and control devices: starting the APU, the supercharging and air conditioning system, the anti-icing system and the signal panel block. At the bottom is a panel with controls and controls for the fuel supply system, engine operation control and the on-board automated control system (BASK) of all aircraft parameters.
Senior onboard engineer - Polishchuk Alexander Nikolaevich.
Engine control instrument panel.
On the left, at the top is a vertical indicator of the position of the fuel levers. Large round instruments are speed indicators for the high-pressure compressor and engine fan. Small round instruments are indicators of oil temperature at the engine inlet. The block of vertical instruments at the bottom - indicators of the amount of oil in the engine oil tanks.
Aeronautical engineer's dashboard.
Controls and monitoring devices for the aircraft's power supply system and oxygen system are located here.
Navigator - Anatoly Binyatovich Abdullaev.
Flight over the territory of Greece.
Navigator-instructor - Yaroslav Ivanovich Koshitsky.
Flight operator - Gennady Yurievich Antipov.
The ICAO call sign for the An-225 on the flight from Zurich to Athens was ADB-3038.
On-board engineer - Yuri Anatolyevich Mindar.
Athens airport runway.
Landing at night on Mriya is carried out instrumentally, i.e. using instruments, from the leveling height and visually before touching down. According to the crew, one of the most difficult landings is in Kabul, which is associated with high altitude and many obstacles. The approach begins at a speed of 340 km/h to an altitude of 200 meters, then the speed is gradually reduced.
Landing is carried out at a speed of 295 km/h with fully extended mechanization. It is allowed to touch the runway at a vertical speed of 6 m/s. After touching the runway, reverse thrust is immediately switched to engines 2 to 5, while engines 1 and 6 are left at idle. The landing gear is braked at a speed of 140-150 km/h until the aircraft comes to a complete stop.
The aircraft's service life is 8,000 flight hours, 2,000 takeoffs and landings, 25 calendar years.
The aircraft can still fly until December 21, 2013 (25 years since the start of its operation), after which a thorough study of its technical condition will be carried out and the necessary work will be carried out to ensure an extension of the calendar service life to 45 years.
Due to the high cost of transportation on the An-225, orders appear only for very long and very heavy cargo, when transportation by land is not possible. Flights are random: from 2-3 per month to 1-2 per year. From time to time there is talk about building a second copy of the An-225 aircraft, but this requires an appropriate order and appropriate funding. To complete the construction, an amount of approximately $90 million is required, and taking into account testing, it increases to $120 million.
This is perhaps one of the most beautiful and impressive aircraft in the world.
Thanks to Antonov Airlines for their help in organizing the photography!
Special thanks to Vadim Nikolaevich Deniskov for his help in writing the text for the post!
December 10th, 2012
An-225 "Mriya" (from Ukrainian: Dream) is a transport aircraft with an ultra-large payload capacity. Designed by OKB im. O.K. Antonov in the 1980s of the last century. It is the largest aircraft in the world. In just one flight in March 1989, in 3.5 hours, the plane simultaneously broke 110 world records, which in itself is already a record. The An-225 was built at the Kiev Mechanical Plant in 1985-1988. A total of 2 aircraft were laid down; currently one copy of the An-225 is in flight condition and operated by the Ukrainian airline Antonov Airlines.
The An-225 Mriya heavy transport aircraft was primarily designed to meet the needs of the Soviet space program, in particular the transportation of cargo - components of the Energia rocket system and the Buran reusable spacecraft. At the same time, the aircraft could easily transport cargo for other purposes, which could be placed both on the “back” of the aircraft and directly in its fuselage. The prototype made its first flight on December 21, 1988. Only 3.5 years have passed since the start of work on the aircraft. Such a short period of work was made possible thanks to the extensive unification of the giant’s units and assemblies with the already created units and assemblies of the An-124 “Ruslan” aircraft. Let's trace the history of the aircraft in more detail... 
The mid-seventies of the last century (how strange it is still to use this phrase!) was marked by significant successes in space exploration. By that time, the satellite constellations of the USSR and the USA had become integral components of the military and general economic infrastructure, long-term manned orbital stations were firmly established in near-Earth orbits, and the first steps were taken from confrontation to international cooperation in this area. Then it seemed that the pace of space exploration would increase more and more, which meant that new, reusable means of launching payloads into orbit would be needed, which, with a sufficient frequency of use, would surpass traditional disposable launch vehicles in economic efficiency.
Under this slogan, intensive work began in the United States on the Space Shuttle reusable space transport system, and soon the USSR, quite in the spirit of that time, decided to develop its own system with similar characteristics. On February 17, 1976, the secret Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers 132-51 was issued on the creation of the Buran and Rassvet space systems, later renamed Energia. The construction of spacecraft of unprecedented size and weight was envisaged, individual units of which were built at enterprises central regions USSR, and the final assembly was to be carried out directly at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Thus, it was necessary to deliver assembled parts of the launch vehicle and spacecraft over a distance of 1500-2500 km. Moreover, the design length of some of them reached 60 meters, and the diameter - 8 meters. In addition, depending on the mission performed in orbit, Buran could land at airfields located throughout the Soviet Union - from Ukraine to Far East. From there it was necessary to deliver it again to Baikonur, to the site of the next launch.
This task was amazing. And not only for its grandeur in a purely technical sense, but also for the scale of funding that one could try to get for it. And considerable glory lay ahead - it’s no joke, the world’s largest aircraft was to be created! Projects of the future giant were immediately submitted for consideration by several organizations, including those that, as experts say, did not really think about ways to implement their proposals. Still, such a business requires both design experience and knowledge of the specifics large aircraft, and extraordinary technological capabilities. But criticism of those projects is not our task today. Let's just say the main thing: they all provided for the creation of a completely new aircraft, and an aircraft - let us emphasize once again - a gigantic one, with all the ensuing economic consequences. But the national economy of the country of developed socialism was already experiencing noticeable disruptions and a program of this scale (in addition to numerous others!) might not have been able to be completed.
Therefore, the proposal of OKB Antonov, which provided for the creation of such an aircraft with the maximum use of existing An-124 components, turned out to have practically no alternative. It was born in the advanced design department, headed by O.K. Bogdanov. The first sketches of the new aircraft appeared on the drawing boards of the general brigade (headed by O.Ya. Shmatko) in the second half of 1983, and by the next summer the appearance of the machine had already been formed. It provided for the use of detachable parts of the Ruslan wing, and exactly in the form in which they were manufactured by the Tashkent Aviation Production Association. The wing turned out to be much larger due to the new center section of increased span, on which two additional engines, also used on the An-124, were additionally suspended. The fuselage was lengthened due to the insertion of additional sections into the area of constant cross-section, and attachment points for external cargo were installed on its upper surface. Since the loads on the rear fuselage increased sharply, it was proposed to remove the cargo hatch from there. The nose landing gear was to be strengthened, the number of main ones was to be increased to seven on each side, and four of their rear rows were to be made self-orienting. Naturally, the tail unit turned into a double fin. The aircraft was equipped with a system for pressurizing and thermostating cargo on an external sling and a system for monitoring and maintaining pressure in them. Thus, a project for an aircraft emerged that could not only transport Buran and Energia units with the proper level of safety, but also serve as the first stage for a promising reusable aerospace system, and also be used to transport various cargoes in the interests of the national economy.
Full-scale development of the new aircraft took three and a half years. Typically, this period of creation of any aircraft is characterized by significant alteration of the preliminary design, especially if at first they were going to use any parts of other aircraft without changes. As a rule, the detailed design stage mercilessly shatters such illusions, but - again, as a rule - this does not matter, since the order is already in your pocket. In this case, and I would like to especially emphasize this, the first design hypothesis described above, thanks to high level execution, has undergone almost no changes. As a result, both the detailed design and construction of the An-225 went, in general, quite smoothly - the enormous experience of the team that created the large family was reflected in transport aircraft and was in his best form. But this was not a period of calm at all, on the contrary - ASTC named after. O.K. Antonova and hundreds of other organizations worked hard to bring the project to life. In general, the scheme of cooperation for the construction of the aircraft was similar to the one that worked so brilliantly during the construction of the first Ruslans. The wing consoles and the new center section were made by Tashkent, and they were delivered to Kyiv on Antey’s back. The landing gear was made in Kuibyshev, the elements of the hydraulic complex were made in Kharkov and Moscow, the Kiev Aviation Production Association took a large part in the construction of many components of the aircraft, in total more than 100 factories were involved.
An-225 was born on November 30, 1988. It appeared in the literal sense - on that gloomy day, when the chilly autumn almost completely turned into a snowy winter, the plane was solemnly rolled out of the assembly shop into the open sky. Thousands of designers and workers gathered for a rally on this occasion for the first time saw on board the inscription “Mpiya”, painted the night before. Short speeches were made, after which a large team of creators of the newly-minted giant went to their workplaces to celebrate the fact of his birth with what God had sent. The plane was towed to the factory airfield and handed over to the test team, and its General Designer answered questions from journalists for a long time, including about the name. A dream is the infinity of human thought and desire, said P.V. Balabuev. - The dream leads us forward and will never disappear as long as a person lives on the planet. And if an airplane was born on Ukrainian soil, let it carry on its board a word from its language - “Mriya”.
Thanks to the structural continuity of most components and assemblies, the identity of many elements of the on-board systems and equipment of these aircraft, it was possible to significantly reduce the required number of An-225 test flights. On December 28, Mriya made her second flight, and on February 1, 1989, she was already presented to Soviet and foreign journalists at Kiev Boryspil airport. March 22 became one of the most significant days in the history of the An-225 - it flew to break world records. After carefully weighing the cargo, which weighed 156.3 tons, and sealing the necks of the centralized fuel refueling, Mriya took off. The countdown of the highest achievements began immediately after leaving the ground. Entering into competition with the American Boeing 747-400, which then held the record for maximum take-off weight (404.8 tons), the An-225 surpassed this achievement by 104 tons. That flight set not 106, as expected, but 110 world records at once! Including the flight speed record along a closed route 2000 km long with a load of 155 tons - 815.09 km/h, the flight altitude record with this load - 12430 m. After 3 hours 45 minutes, Mriya landed.
Of course, the An-225 was not created for records, and soon the aircraft began to carry out its direct work. On May 3, 1989, Mriya launched from the Baikonur airfield, carrying on her back her first cargo - a Buran aerospace aircraft weighing more than 60 tons. Over the next 10 days, the crew led by Galunenko performed several test flights, in which the controllability of this combination was assessed, flight speeds and fuel consumption were measured. And on May 13th this unique transport system performed a non-stop flight along the 2,700-km route Baikonur-Kyiv in 4 hours 25 minutes, while its take-off weight was 560 tons.
The finest hour had come for the aircraft and its creators. During a short stay in Kyiv, thousands of people came to see the amazing combination of two huge aircraft. Photos taken during the flight were probably published in all newspapers and magazines of the USSR. And when Mriya and Buran flew to France, to the 38th International Aerospace Salon in Le Bourget, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world were already coming to see them. The An-225 instantly became a world sensation. “Technology is a miracle, on the verge of what can be imagined in our fast-moving times!”, My heart is filled with pride for the power of the human mind at the sight of this fantastic machine, The plane is huge, like your Soviet country,” “Thank you...” - these enthusiastic the ratings were taken from the weighty multilingual Guest Book, which was on board the An-225 during the showroom.
In total, until it was laid up in April 1994, including commercial flights and participation in exhibitions, Mr1ya had completed 339 flights lasting 671 hours. The conclusion on the results of the State Joint Tests of the An-225 No. 01-01, which notes the practical compliance of the obtained characteristics of the aircraft with the specified ones, was signed on January 5, 1996. It must be said that in parallel with the State tests, the process of civil certification of the aircraft was going on, a large number of flights performed were counted under this program, and many flights were made specifically. Employees of the Aviation Registers of the IAC and Ukraine, certification centers of the two countries, and many independent experts took an active part in the work. Work was stopped when no more than 15-20 flights remained to be completed before certification was completed. However, this, in general, annoying fact did not have much significance: anyway, the chances of using the plane for commercial purposes were then approaching zero.
The pendulum of fate of the An-225, which so quickly reached the apogee of glory, fell just as sharply and seemed to freeze forever at bottom dead center. And the plane itself froze for many years on the outskirts of the Gostomel airfield. The main tasks for which Mpiya was created disappeared with the closure of the Burana program, and there was no hope for commercial success in the transportation of ordinary cargo then - a sharp transition to world fuel prices led to a drop in demand for air transport, including unique ones. And abroad there was not enough work even for the relatively small Ruslanov fleet. The further fate of the giant seemed very uncertain, and gradually the engines and individual units of on-board equipment began to be removed from it and installed on the Ruslans, which turned into the most important source of existence for the Antonov aviation complex. Fortunately, all these expensive units were quite suitable for both types of aircraft - another positive consequence of the decision to develop the An-225 based on the An-124.
But even under these conditions, the creators of the miracle aircraft did not lose optimism and worked hard on possible options for its use. The search began even before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thus, on June 21, 1991, at the headquarters of the European Space Agency in Paris, a presentation of the international aerospace system for near-Earth space exploration took place, consisting of the An-225 and the 250-ton reusable spacecraft Interim HOTOL, developed by the English company British Aerospace. Two aircraft They fit together almost perfectly, since the An-225 was originally designed for the air launch of such products. The implementation of this project actually promised an approximately fourfold reduction in the cost of putting a payload into orbit compared to a vertical launch. Among other things, Khotol could more effectively solve the problem of delivering crews to orbital stations and evacuating them from there in emergency situations than other vehicles. However, very soon the project discovered a very serious drawback - a complete lack of government funding. And private investors, as it turns out, prefer to invest money only where they return quickly. If the period before making a profit is long, then it is almost impossible to find an investor. This truism played a fatal role in the fate of the Mriya-Khotol project.
Regrettably, a completely similar fate befell a dozen projects using the An-225. By the mid-1990s, the MAKS (Reusable Aviation and Space System) system, which provided for the delivery of 8.5-10 tons of payload into orbit in a manned version and 18-19 tons in an unmanned version, acquired its finished form at NPO Molniya. It is interesting that despite the progress of work on the system at an extremely slow pace, MAKS is still not outdated and still continues to be one of the most promising aerospace systems (AKS). Based on the An-225 and individual blocks of the Zenit-2 launch vehicle, the Svityaz AKS was designed, capable of launching up to 8 tons of payload into low orbits. Perhaps this system will be luckier than others, because its development was included in the Project of the Ukrainian Space Program for 2002-06.
In the summer of 2000, almost immediately after the completion of the An-140 certification testing program, restoration work began on the An-225. ANTK im. O.K. Antonova deployed them with his own money together with Motor Sich OJSC, which supplied the engines at its own expense and assumed obligations for their operational support. The share of the Cossacks in the costs of restoring the aircraft and, accordingly, in future profits is 30%. In addition, a large number of other enterprises joined the work on a contractual basis, supplying new or repairing old equipment units, components of on-board systems, and individual structural elements for the An-225. A particularly large list of works was carried out by the Ulyanovsk Aviation Industrial Complex, which still continues to produce Ruslans. “We have not taken a single penny from the pockets of the taxpayers of Ukraine,” - this is how P.V. Balabuev answered numerous questions from the press about the cost of the work performed.
By mid-November, diagnostics of the condition of the airframe and aircraft systems were completed, most of the necessary parts and equipment were manufactured, repaired or purchased, and engine installation began. Along the way, the An-225 was being modified into a full-fledged commercial aircraft, capable of flying around the world without restrictions. (Recall that initially the Mriya was intended only for flights within the USSR). The aircraft was equipped with collision avoidance systems in the air and on the ground, ensuring flights with reduced vertical separation intervals, as well as new radio stations in accordance with ICAO requirements. In addition, in connection with the upcoming transportation of monocargoes weighing about 220 tons inside the fuselage, the cargo floor and the front ramp were strengthened. In February 2001, the installation of engines was completed, in March - the restoration of the functionality of numerous systems, and on April 9, the finished aircraft was rolled out of the workshop and handed over to testers.
The day of May 7, 2001 went down in history both for the aircraft, for the whole of Ukraine, and for air cargo transportation in general. On this day, the “second first” takeoff took place, if you like, the second birth of a giant. After passing thorough ground checks, performing dozens of taxis and runs around the Gostomel airfield, "Mpiya" under the onboard designation UR-82060, after a seven-year break, took off again and, controlled by the crew of A.V. Galunenko, made a 15-minute flight. And again, just like 12 years ago, they started talking about it on TV, aviation magazines published photo reports about the flight, and almost all newspapers responded to the event.
Over the course of a month, the An-225 completed about 20 test flights without any serious incidents, demonstrating fairly high reliability and successfully completing the certification program. And on May 26, during the public display of the aircraft at the opening ceremony of a new runway at the Kiev Boryspil airport, the chairman of the CIS Interstate Aviation Committee T.G. Anodina presented its developers with a type certificate. Then "Mriya" went to France, where it was demonstrated at the 44th International Aviation and Space Salon in Le Bourget. The graceful flights of the An-225 in the Parisian sky received high marks from experts and aroused admiration among visitors. However, this is not new for Antonov aircraft, and the times when they flew to Paris for this are long gone. At the most prestigious air show in the world, Mriya was looking for customers. And while the professionals were negotiating, the guests of the salon considered it their duty to personally visit the largest aircraft in the world. Of the 300 thousand people who visited the exhibition, no less than 200 thousand walked through the cargo compartment of the An-225, leaving more than 2,000 wishes and comments in the Guest Book. Here is what Deputy Chief Designer A.G. Vovnyanko says: “During the exhibition, the An-225 was visited by almost more people than all other aircraft combined. From morning to evening, a continuous stream of 5 people in a row came to us, "and 1-2 people boarded other planes. Besides us, the Boeing C-17 and Airbus's Beluga aroused spectator interest. There were queues of about 20 people to visit them - 5 visitors were allowed inside every 5 minutes."
“In Paris, Mriya achieved the desired effect and aroused interest in exactly the direction in which we planned,” Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Industrial Policy V.P. Kazakov emphasized at a press conference following the exhibition. “The An-225 appeared very timely: "There are large-sized cargoes in the transportation market that cannot be delivered on the An-124-100. According to some estimates, the annual need for such transportation is somewhere around 20-25 flights."
Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which is a leader in the market for transporting super-heavy and oversized cargo, showed its interest in operating the Mriya. General Director A. Isaikin reported on the prospects for using aircraft of this type, of which 2-3 units are required. In his opinion, the promising development of the transportation market in this segment is about 2-3 billion dollars.
President of Antonov Airlines K. Lushakov said that launching satellites from the An-225 will be much cheaper than using the cosmodrome infrastructure. At the same time, the An-225 will not compete with the Polet project, which involves launching satellite systems from Ruslan. The truth is that the “Flight” project provides for the launch of the so-called. “light” satellites weighing up to 3.5 tons, and from Mriya it is possible to launch into space medium-type structures weighing up to 5.5 tons.
But with the updated projects of the West - the Airbus A3ХХ-100F aircraft and the Boeing 747-X aircraft (carrying capacity - no more than 150 tons) - the An-225 will begin a fair competition. There are quite a lot of chances to defeat them. The manufacturer of the largest “transport aircraft” will probably be the aircraft plant in Ulyanovsk.
It is the An-225 Mriya aircraft that holds the absolute record for carrying capacity in aviation - 253.8 tons. The longest cargo is more than 42 meters. The largest mono cargo is 187.6 tons.
Today, the An-225 Mriya transport aircraft continues to successfully fulfill its assigned tasks, transporting extremely heavy or oversized cargo. Also, the An-225 Mriya very often takes part in various exhibitions and air shows.
