Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Antonov An-225 Mriya Largest Aircraft

The An-225 Mriya (Антонов Ан-225 Мрія) is a strategic airlift transport aircraft which was built by Antonov, and is currently the world’s largest flying airplane. The design, built to transport the Buran orbiter, was an enlargement of the successful An-124 Ruslan. Mriya (Мрія) means “dream” (inspiration) in Ukrainian.

With a maximum gross weight of 640 tonnes (1,411,000 lb), the An-225 is the world’s heaviest aircraft. The Hughes H-4 Hercules, known to most as the “Spruce Goose”, had a greater wingspan and is larger overall, but lighter due to its materials, and only flew once; the An-225 is the largest aircraft in the world to take off multiple times.
The An-225 is also larger than the Airbus A380 airliner, the Antonov An-124 and the C-5 Galaxy, the nearest equivalent heavy airlifters.