Monday, July 20, 2009

Antonov An-225

Antonov An-225, biggest plane in the world. What a brute. I can't help but think of the responsibility one must feel landing such a mofo.
As one might figure, it's a re-purposed military vehicle. It can carry over 250 tonnes of cargo and has 240 records in the Guiness'.

6 comments:

Tommy said...

G'Day sir and what'll it be today, Regular or High Test?

High Test and fill it up please.

What a Friggen brute!!!

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Only 240 records?
Wimp.

Dibutil said...

It was not "re-purposed" because it was never purposed for military. It was designed as an alternative first stage for Buran project as it was proposed in sixties but fortunately was not used for that. There is only one AN-225 in the world. The second one is 70% complete after 20 years of construction.

Oh, and landing it is much easier than TU-154 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_154 which was one of the most mass-produced planes ever.

Hannah said...

I actually saw this when it landed at Amsterdam Schiphol, don't remember why it was there. The highway that I take to work goes straight past the airport and it was out on the runway. You look at it and just think "wow." Especially when it looks strange as it loads cargo through its nose.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"It'll pay load through the nose, I promise you!"

When it's got a cold runway nose, does it blow its load?
(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)
But hey, what would you expect, LIGHT humor about THAT plane?

"lockheda". Weird, that's almost an airplane brand.

TC [Girl] said...

I was doing comparisons w/the 'C-5 Galaxy' and the 'Spruce Goose' just to get an idea of how HUGE this *home* (lol!) the sky really is, and...yeah...BIG Boy! A whopping 13.8 meters (45.3 feet) LONGER than the SG; 9 meters (29.9 feet) shorter wingspan than SG. That must have been something to see, Hannah!

The landing gear only has 4 more tires than the C-5 but...it looks CRAZY! The shuttle looks like a little commuter on its back, too!! lol!

Wanted to point out some COOL aerial photo links that I saw, too. :-)