World's Largest Airplane visits US!

[Flightjock30]

The other day I was at SWF (Stewart Intl Airport in New York) and the Russian Antonov 225 was there. 6 engines and 276 feet long. The world's largest airplane!!!! Makes 747s and C5s look small. It was an amazing site. It was at Stewart because it was picking up power units to fly off to the Middle East for the US Military. Anyone else ever seen this "beast" in person? Just curious.

 

[Ravengirl]

Saw one flying overhead at SNA (seemed like it was on the way to LGB, or maybe SLI) about 4 years ago. Neither my CFI nor anyone sitting outside with us had any idea what it was at the time, though. Man, that is one huge airplane.

 

[jarhead]

Sometime in the mid 80's, there was one parked on static display at the annual Oshkosh EAA airshow. It was parked nose to nose to a Lockheed C-5. It was open to walk-throughs to the general public. I recall that while in it, how great a distance it was from the cargo deck to the overhead bulkhead. There was an aluminum ladder that the flight crew climbed up to get to the cockpit. It was a very tall ladder.

A little kid asked one of the Russian crew members a question. He asked, "How high is the ceiling in this airplane" In the Russians very thick accent he replied without a pause, "The ceiling is about ten thousand meters" The kids dad explained to the lad what the comunication error was to his question, about ceiling being how high the aircraft could fly, not how high it was to the overhead bulkhead. The Russian pilot upon hearing that explanation broke out in a big belly laugh, and then answered again, the distance the kid was interested in.

Very big airplane, and yes, it was considerably larger than the C-5

 

[phishn@daves]

" Power Units"?

......But I wanted to go to hitachi and pick up some power converters!

......Not till you finish cleaning those droids.

 

[jtf]

There was one at STL a couple of years ago. I watched the beast take off on 30L and I didn't think it would make it. It just barely got off the ground started a slowwwwww climb just above HW67. This was before 9/11 when the observation parking lot was still open and busy during lunch hour- must have been pretty cool watching it up close from that lot. That airplane is so big that it looked like it was just taxiing down the runway when in fact it must have been doing at least 150 kts by the end of its roll. I'm sure this has been dicussed before, but are there any good parking lots left for watching the airplanes come in and out of major airports or have they all been shut down since 9/11?

 

[jarhead]

Pretty good parking area to watch take-offs and landings at MSP. There is a parking area for cars to park right up close on the south side of the field, on Post Road, just east of Signature Aviation FBO. Good view and very close to the runway. Just a cyclone fence about 8 feet tall, which in no way impairs the view. I have gone over there at noon, and I see a lot of cars parked there with just a driver, eating his sandwich and drinking a Pepsi over the lunch hour. Always plenty of space, and never crowded.
When those 747's come in from the east, they are flying over the Minnesota River, and their is no obstuction at all to the view.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

Originally posted by Big Russian Pilot
Get into mah belly!

 

[flywithastick]

Pretty good parking area to watch take-offs and landings at MSP.

Not in Houston. Must be 5-600 signs posted around the perimeter of Hobby. Good thing, too. We defnitely don't want any bad guys shooting at planes from the fenceline. It *must* be done from the neighborhoods and businesses 100' across the street! Only ones affected were people like you and me just sitting there eating lunch watching the planes... Very simple people, these bureaucrats. And some wonder why "W" didn't want to fill the TSA positions with more of the mind-void, fire-proof individuals.

 

[TonyC]

Russian Antonov 225 ... Anyone else ever seen this "beast" in person?

I had the good pleasure of walking through the cargo area and receiving a tour of the flight deck when one was on static display at the Paris Air Show in 2001. The Russian test pilot was quite friendly and receptive to questions and compliments. The flight deck was like a trip back to the 50's. 6 crewstations (navigators, engineers, radio operators) were behind the pilot and copilot, all facing outboard, with a huge aisle down the center. Two headsets were hanging on the yokes -- a David Clark on the left, and a black conglomeration of wires and earcups on the right. When we asked about them, he described the second as the "Russian piece of s#!&." It was QUITE spacious, even compared to the C-5.

Primitive described much of the avionics as well. One of the Navigators had access to some sort of GPS information, but there was no way of electronically linking that to the autopilot. It required coordination with the pilots and manual inputs to the autopilot.

Behind the flight deck was a large area for crew rest and live-aboard facilities. Spacious rooms with bunks and tables looked quite comfortable, considering the origin and vintage.

Quite impressive.

 

[travis]

I saw an An-225 at Aerospace America in Oklahoma City in 1990. Man, they look like they're going about 25 knots on final because they're so dang big!

I even got home video of it around here somewhere.

 

[willbav8r]

I believe that there was only ever one of these beasts made (AN225).

Plenty of AN124's though.

 

[rfeathe1]

I think there was only 1 AN 225 built. I read somewhere that it was too expensive to operate (even for the Soviet Union). I've seen several AN 124s. Saw one in ABQ about 1995--they were changing no. 4 engine on the military side of the airport. The USAF gave them some help, loaning them engine stands, air compressors etc. I taxied within 200' of it & was surprised at the size of the engine cowlings--there was room to park a full size pickum up truck in one of them.

 

[crosscut]

Sometime in the mid 80's, there was one parked on static display at the annual Oshkosh EAA airshow. It was parked nose to nose to a Lockheed C-5. It.....
Very big airplane, and yes, it was considerably larger than the C-5

You're thinking of the -124, not the -225. The Antonov 225 wasn't even produced till '89 or late '88.

Also, the rest of you referencing C-5, ya'll, too, thinking of the Antonov 124, which, btw, resembles the C-5. -225 couldn't even be compared size- or shape-wise to anything out there: twin fins/rudders, 3 engines on each wing. I suppose as "different" as it sounds/looks, I have heard it being contrasted to the Spruce Goose before.

Antonov 225: http://airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=389

Antonov 124: http://airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=40

 

[jarhead]

Thank you....I stand corrected. Still, it was an awfully big airplane.

 

[crosscut]

undesputedly so.

 

[Flightjock30]

Yes one was only ever built according to a website about the AN-225. The strange thing is how inefficient the flightdeck layout and avionics were for a plane built in the late 1980s. You would think it would have a glass cockpit and just 2-3 crew members flying it. Resembles more like an old 747 or 707.

 

[ratings:all]

didnt they convert one of the original -225's to fly their space shuttle around? i think they used that one for spare parts to get the now airworthy -225 flying. or am i thinking of the 124?

taxied next to a -124 at IAH once-it was like the box the bird i was on came in.

 

[crosscut]

...taxied next to a -124 at IAH once-it was like the box the bird i was on came in.

Huh?

You lost me. Do you mean,

a)“this bird was like the box it came out of,” as in…. the airplane was as square-looking as the box it came out of? or

b)the IAH (& the city of Houston) smells like the birds’ box, or

c)are you telling “us ‘bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above…?”

 

[cargoflyr69]

Saw an AN-124 on approach up in Cleveland about a week ago. We were #1 and were cleared to go, capt looked to the left an stomped on the brakes as he thought it was more like on a 1/4 mile final vs. the 4 mile final tower had advised. Needless to say we were rolling down the centerline seconds later. If there is a next time, I will gladly hold short and take the wake turbulence delay in the mighty Saab just to see that beast on an aircraft land!

 

[metrodriver]

The An225 was originally designed to carry the russian space shuttle around, but since the shelving of the space shuttle program they finally figured out that there is a way to make money with this beast of an airplane. And since its original task was carrying the shuttle I think the russians figured it wouldn't make much sense to put a very advanced cockpit in this machine if it only flies once in a while.