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Home | Update | LATEST ISSUE | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 8/98 ANTONOV AN-225: THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION by Karl Schwarz Almost ten years ago the hangar doors opened at Kiev for a true giant of the airways. On 30 November 1988 the An-225 Mrija (dream) was introduced to the amazed world for the first time. Only three weeks later the dream plane started to its maiden flight, which lasted 75 minutes. At the helm of this giant, whose mass surpassed any other aircraft that had been built before by almost 50 per cent, were Alexander Galunenko and Sergei Grbik. The Mrija had been created in only three and a half years as part of the Sovijet space program. It had been chosen to transport the space shuttle Buran and parts of the Energija launcher. The existing Mjasischtschev VM-T were unable to do so. Apart from this, and according to the prevailing philisophie, the super plane was supposed to contribute to the fulfilment of the economical plans. It was for example meant to transport devices for oil exploration or power plants to the inhospitable expanses of Siberia. In order to fulfil these tasks, the Antonov design bureau under the leadership of Pjotr Balabujew used the An-124 Ruslan, the then worldÕs heaviest aircraft, as the basis. The fuselage was lengthened by about 15 meters. This created enough room to fasten unusual loads onto its back. The manufacturer claims that containers measuring up to 70 meters in length and eight meters in diameter can be transported on its back. The weight can amount up to 250 tons! After thorough research the mounting points were fitted, so that 38 different loads could be taken on board without difficulty. In order to secure Mrija's control when an external load is attached, two tails were moved to the tip of the tailplane. The span is 32.65 meters and thus bigger than that of the Boeing 737-300. The thick wings of the An-124 with their supercritical profile were adopted for the An-225. However, a big middle section was inserted, to which two further Progress-D-18T turbofans have also been fitted. The thrust is thus increased to no less than 309,540 lbs. The maximum take off weight, which is increased to 600 tons, is carried with two further pairs of tyres fitted to each side of the main undercarriage. The four at the rear are steerable, which allows the An-225 to be agile on the ground despite its size. Four wheels are sufficient for the front undercarriage, which is attached to the nose. Apart from that Antonow used as much as possible the systems of the An-124, the APUs or the redundant fly-by-wire system. When the Mrija had its spectacular debut at the Parisian Aerosalon in June 1989, test pilot Alexander Galuenko was able to comment about flight characteristics, which are very similar to that of the Ruslan. The demonstration in Farnborough in 1990 confirmed the amazing agility of this giant. After that things became quiet around the Mrija. When the Buran program was stopped after only one unmanned spaceflight, Mrija's primary function had gone. The disintegration of the Soviet Union did the rest - there simply was no need for the aircraft any more. The completed An-225 was finally returned to Antonov, and parked at Kiew. Since money was desperately short, it was even used to supply spares for engines. If the British freight charter specialist Air Foyle has his way, the world's heaviest aircraft will soon be rescued. Market research has been carried out together wit Antonov, and one is currently trying to raise interest with potential users, in order to get the An-225 airborne once again. Possibilities for deployment have already been found. Plenty of customers are to be found in the USA. According to Bruce Bird, Director of the Charter Division of Air Foyle, parts of launchers like the Delta and Atlas could be transported in the An-225. LockheedÕs planned Venture Star could be transported on its back. Additionally the Mrija could serve as a launch platform for the X-34B. Furthermore big sections of aircraft could be transported in it. The completely assembled fuselage of a Boeing 737 can be fitted in the hold. According to Bird the super performance can be had a super price. Only 160 million US dollars are required to make the plane fit for flying again, to assemble a second aircraft with components that are already available, and to construct a third Mrija. This is only a little bit more than is needed for the purchase of just one Boeing 747, and less than the price of a C-17 Globemaster III. Bird reckons, that the first Mrija can be airborne in about six months, once the investors have come forward. However, before it is ready for action, the test program for the Russian certification will have to be completed. One would need approx. 100 hours for this. It is envisaged, that a FAA-Certification will also be needed, if the aircraft is to be used in the USA. The assembly of the second An-225 will take about twelve months, the third will take two years. It goes without saying that the Mrija will only be used for a very small segment of the cargo market, but just as with the An-124, the fact that it is available will guarantee a certain need. Since the Ruslans came onto the civilian freight market, these planes have transported many a strange load. They can cope with sailing yachts and locomotives. The heaviest single load has up to now been a 124 ton (135.2 tons with its transport cradle) steam turbine by Siemens, which was transported from Düsseldorf to New Delhi in September 1993. In this way a tedious surface transport on bad roads could be avoided. A similar model went to Chile in January 1998. The Ruslan is not used to its full capacity with 135 tons. In January 1991 for example, three transformers weighed in at 140 tons. They had to be transported quickly from Barcelona to New Caledonia, where an explosion in a nickel foundry had destroyed three transformers. Only by this speedy transport an extremely costly shutting down of the plant could be avoided. Time plays an important part when the An-124 is being deployed. This also applies for her military customers. Even countries like France have fallen back on the Russian freighter, when it was needed in Africa. The An-124Õs basic rental price per flight hour (fuel, crew and maintenance), is between 6,000 to 8,000 US dollars. From page 12 of FLUG REVUE 8/98 Home | Update | LATEST ISSUE | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 8/98 Copyright 1998 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated July 13, 1998 FLUG REVUE, Ubierstr. 83, 53173 Bonn, Germany