The Antonov’s An-225 ('Mriya', stands for 'Dream' in Ukrainian) recently has broken yet another record for the South America bringing an electric power transformer (155 tons) from Brazil to Chile on November 16. A special loading construction for the mentioned transformer weighted additional 27 tons, so in total the largest and the heaviest aircraft in the world carried 182 tons of load on board.
Video of An-225 departing Brazil:
Videos of An-225 arriving to Chile:
This above cargo was the second largest single piece of an industrial equipment ever transported (in 2009 the An-225 broke the world’s absolute record carrying 187.6 tons generator from Germany to Armenia). The heaviest cargo ever transported by Mriya weighted 253.8 tons (several pieces of construction equipment, four times more Boeing-747 capacity) . The longest cargo in the aircraft history delivered by An-225 comprised of two wind generator’s blades, each 42.1m long.
In brief about the largest aircraft in the world:
The Antonov’s An-225 was built in 1988 as a part of the Soviet Union’s Space Program to carry Soviet Buran space shuttle. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Space Program was halted and until 2000 An-225 was unused except some rare flights. From 2001 had over 1000 flights, An-225 visited numerous airports with various missions.
Specifications of An-225 Mriya:
General characteristics
• Crew: minimum 6 persons
• Length: 84 m (275 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 88.4 m (290 ft 0 in)
• Height: 18.1 m (59 ft 5 in)
• Wing area: 905 m2 (9,740 sq ft)
• Aspect ratio: 8.6
• Empty weight: 285,000 kg (628,317 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 640,000 kg (1,410,958 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 300,000 kg
• Cargo hold – volume 1,300 m3 (46,000 cu ft), length 43.35m, width 6.4m, height 4.4m
• Powerplant: 6 × ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf) thrust each
Performance*
• Maximum speed: 850 km/h (528 mph; 459 kn)
• Cruising speed: 800 km/h (497 mph; 432 kn)
• Range: 15,400 km (9,569 mi; 8,315 nmi) with maximum fuel; range with 200 tonnes payload: 4,000 km (2,500 mi)
• Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,089 ft)
• Wing loading: 662.9 kg/m2 (135.8 lb/sq ft)
• Thrust/weight: 0.234
Photo collections:
http://gelio.livejournal.com/193025.html - amazing collection of photos with English captions
http://www.antonov.com/aircraft/transport-aircraft/an-225-mriya/an-225-mriya-photo - official collection of photos
Please see my previous posts for more information about the largest aircraft in the world:
The Largest Aircraft In The World – Back To The Future
The largest aircraft in the World - China and Ukraine agreed to restart production of giants
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