Ukraine is building a second An-225!!!

[SFDMALEX]

I could not belive this at first, but here look. Recent picture from may last year.

LINK
http://tinyurl.com/6bus6

The current one.

http://www.aviation.ru/An/An-225_Buran.jpg
http://www.lockett-photography.com/Antonov%20An-225/933463%20An-225%20RA82060%20right%20side%20rev%2020031004%208x 10%20l.jpg
http://www.simviation.com/pageimages/an225-15.jpg


For those of you who dont know what it is its the largest aircraft in the world capable of handling over 250tons of cargo, traveling at 850kmh with a max range of 15, 400km...

Its quite impressive that they are building a new one. The current one is booked for a few years in advance, and it is doing a lot of AID related flying, it brought goods to Iraq and probably is now working on South East Asia.

[sentra_dude]

Dang...they are building another one! That thing is freckin huge! The biggest plane I've seen flying is a C-5, its really odd to see something that large flying...

[TransAm]

Very impressive aircraft. I remember one landing at a BAES site in the UK, wingspan was bigger than the width of our runway...

Everyone was running round getting all excited about the fact that an Antonov was there :roll:

[gis]

wow thats a big ass plane,id liek to see that fly over me,lol

[TopGearNL]

I went and see the plane when it was held in Germany last year, it was just outsite Holland towards Keulen, the plane had landed there but could not takeoff since the cargo papers were not in order, I went and see it with my uncle and believe me, its bigger then you think, and when it did takeoff it nearly couldn't get of the ground :shock:

Its good news their building a new one, the old one is big and modern ok, but it still has the analog control panel with all the dials and thingies, very complex so I guess that their putting a whole new computer control panel in it like they do on the bigger new passenger planes or jets, it would be cool to see and to fly :wink:

[tekwar]

im sure the pictures arent doing it justice. The space shuttle looks tiny on top and that thing is big on its own...

[blinkmeat]

Thats ridiculously large!

[BADMIHAI]

Just one of the crazy legacies of the USSR. :shock:

[bmwmpower]

yes, mega USSR aeroplane, but i know better one, i dont name, but it was combination of aeroplane and howercraft - from USSR , speed about 300 km/hod. traveling about some meter up sea, now its somewhere in docks, maybe is dead

[possessed_beaver]

that thing is incredibley large, but true it's soemthing you will have to see in person,
with alot of new technology.

they still going to use 6 engines, or maybee they could replace it with 4 very efficent engines.

[TransAm]

yes, mega USSR aeroplane, but i know better one, i dont name, but it was combination of aeroplane and howercraft - from USSR , speed about 300 km/hod. traveling about some meter up sea, now its somewhere in docks, maybe is dead

I remember seeing something on that - It maybe works on the ground effect principle - fly fast enough, close enough to the ground or ocean, and you kind of ride on the air 'cushion' beneath,

NB: Excuse my crap tech explanation, I work in the commercial part of the company and do not profess to be an engineer!

[fedezyl]

hehe, you guys are talking about an Ekranoplane I beleive, it does use the ground effect, to have two small wings, they had two versions, a small one with turboprop engines, and one with four turbojets, the idea was to carry troops and equipement for long distances over the oceans...didn't work that well though...

[saadie]

whaoo ...cant wait fer more info on this one ... antonov rocks :mrgreen:
i like russian aeroplanes better then the american ... 8)

[bmwmpower]

hehe, you guys are talking about an Ekranoplane I beleive, it does use the ground effect, to have two small wings, they had two versions, a small one with turboprop engines, and one with four turbojets, the idea was to carry troops and equipement for long distances over the oceans...didn't work that well though...

yes, that one, i got some books about aeroplanes, i will find it ,

that problem was fuel consumtion,

[TransAm]

hehe, you guys are talking about an Ekranoplane I beleive, it does use the ground effect, to have two small wings, they had two versions, a small one with turboprop engines, and one with four turbojets, the idea was to carry troops and equipement for long distances over the oceans...didn't work that well though...

yes, that one, i got some books about aeroplanes, i will find it ,

that problem was fuel consumtion,

Maybe big waves too LOL!

@Saadie - yeah - Firefox every time!!! (the plane in the Clint Eastwood film, not the internet browser)

[saadie]

@ TA01 yeah russian technology seems old ... but look at it this way ... sikorsky was russian ... the first ever shuttle launch was made by the russians ( yeah they borrowed the blueprints of the shuttle but they were the first one to do it .... the russinans made the first aircraft that can do the cobra and the summersault maneuver ..... the russians made the K36 ejection seat ... the point is even if th russian stuff was used in a 17th century movies .. they are better then americans in one one way or the other .. no offence ... american also did some things unmatchable .. like the X-29 X-15 SR-71 .....

oh and one more thing ..... the AN-225 was grounded but life extention was done later to make it fly again ....

[philios55]

Look at the size of this plane, this is the biggest plane
in the world by some margin!!!

[SFDMALEX]

whaoo ...cant wait fer more info on this one ... antonov rocks :mrgreen:
i like russian aeroplanes better then the american ... 8)

Jezz please use the right country names were needed. Antonov is a Ukrainian Buero. And Mr. Antonov him self was a Ukrainian...at least say USSR because thecnicaly USSR is the country were it was made.

Sick of people calling all military technology from Eastern Europe Russian.

Russia has, SU, Yak, Mig thats Russian.

[bmwmpower]

Ecroplane - so
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/row/rus/903.htm
link with tech data and pic
http://img88.exs.cx/img88/3710/project903image10ld.th.jpg (http://img88.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img88&image=project903image10ld.jpg)

[Fleischmann]

It's enormous!! Just look how many wheels it needs to support it and how small the Challenger rocket is compered to it :shock: :shock: :shock:

[ikon2003]

That's so much weight and so much power going through the air... craziness. I think pop-sci might have written an article on this plane - or definitely one similar to it, if anyone's interested.

[TransAm]

@ TA01 ... sikorsky was russian ... the russinans made the first aircraft that can do the cobra and the summersault maneuver ... etc ... american also did some things unmatchable .. like the X-29 X-15 SR-71 .....



That firefox aircraft, while fictious, just goes to show the respect hollywood (or whoever wrote the story) had for their cold war 'friends' though. What I am saying, is if the USSR was not building great machines, they'd not have set the storyline to involve that country :wink:

Anyway, just as innovative as the rest - Let's not forget the Harrier Jump Jet from that tiny little country just off the French mainland, eh? :wink: I can proudly say that our success with the Harrier is one of the major reasons we are helping the US on F-35 today...and why I am in TX!

[sentra_dude]

I am American...and a big fan of American fighters and aircraft in general...but the USSR's aircraft definitely deserve a lot of respect. Many, many times the engineers have far stricter restrictions on the amount of money they can spend in development, but they still manage to make impressive planes like the MiG-29.

[SFDMALEX]

I'm more of a fan of Russian figheter jets. I believe that Americans have better avionics and in some cases better ammunition but Russians still manage to make some of the most manuvarble planes out there...and some of the sexiest aswel.

[TransAm]

I'd agree with that, Alex.

[ferrarif1fan89]

i think it was originally designed to carry the Buran space shuttle, which made only one flight. this plane debuted at the paris air show and flew in with the Buran on its back. incredibly impressive.

[neilo63]

Wow i'm impressed. Thats a great engineering feat.

[Zonda11]

HUGE...never knew that existed.

[SFDMALEX]

This Baby can pull Gs, and look at how big it is.

http://www.lockett-photography.com/Antonov%20An-225/933760%20An-225%20RA82060%20rear%20in%20flight%20rev%202003100 4%208x10%20l.jpg
http://www.machtres.com/an-225-2.jpg
http://www.astronomija.co.yu/istorija/letovi/buran/An225_2.jpg
http://www.bearcraft-online.com/museum/photos/b.19.0.jpg
http://www.mwindridge.com/Airshow_2001/Le_Bourget_-_Paris/An-225_UR-82060.jpg
http://home.att.ne.jp/alpha/plechanov/avia/ussr/photo/an225_2.jpg

[saadie]

whaoo ...cant wait fer more info on this one ... antonov rocks :mrgreen:
i like russian aeroplanes better then the american ... 8)

Jezz please use the right country names were needed. Antonov is a Ukrainian Buero. And Mr. Antonov him self was a Ukrainian...at least say USSR because thecnicaly USSR is the country were it was made.

Sick of people calling all military technology from Eastern Europe Russian.

Russia has, SU, Yak, Mig thats Russian.

sry i meant ukranian :oops: ... i always take ukrain and russia as a cluster .. so i accidently wrote russia ....

anywayzz ... im totally wid yea ALEX :P :P :wink: 8)

[nthfinity]

for comparision agains a boeing 747
http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/STS-111/Small/EC02-0131-10.jpg
and
http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/Fleet/Small/EC90-280-1.jpg

that ukranian jet is friggin huge!

[saadie]

yep :mrgreen: it can hold upto 3+ 737's if im not wrong

[possessed_beaver]

http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/Fleet/Small/EC90-280-1.jpg

hi res plz!

[saadie]

here yea go (http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/Fleet/Large/EC88-0051-20.jpg)
click here fer more (http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/index.html)

:mrgreen:

[nthfinity]

thanks for getting to thier wonderful site first, saadie!

would it suprise you to know i have some of the original copies of one of DFRC's photographs? ive had them for about 18 years... (given to me by my dad) on old school normal photo paper :-D

one has the only pic i have ever seen of 2 SR-71's in flight together... i think its hiding on the DFRC site somewhere.... (YF 12c's)

http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/YF-12/Small/ECN-4775.jpg (http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/YF-12/Large/ECN-4775.jpg)
the hi-res digital is pretty good, but i like my original :-D
its pretty wierd, but none of my originals have a name associated with them... :shock:

[saadie]

thanks for getting to thier wonderful site first, saadie!
thx ... i've been usin tht site fer 4 years now .... for pics videos and info :twisted:

would it suprise you to know i have some of the original copies of one of DFRC's photographs? ive had them for about 18 years... (given to me by my dad) on old school normal photo paper :-D
yep :shock: ....... but wtf .. im not even 18 yet .. lol ...
yer dad was in the military ?
btw originals are originals ...

one has the only pic i have ever seen of 2 SR-71's in flight together... i think its hiding on the DFRC site somewhere.... (YF 12c's)
:shock: .. havnt seen that one .... but i'd love to see it ... 8)

http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/YF-12/Small/ECN-4775.jpg (http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/YF-12/Large/ECN-4775.jpg)
the hi-res digital is pretty good, but i like my original :-D
yeah originals are pritty good .... my dad got some pics of USS Enterprise .. he never lets me touch them .... the time will come whwn i get my hands on them ... except that .. i got pics of carrier landings and takeoff's on USS Nimitz ... and got some photos fer the paki airforce ..

its pretty wierd, but none of my originals have a name associated with them... :shock:

its a good thing .... i like pics better without markings

[nthfinity]

yep ....... but wtf .. im not even 18 yet .. lol ...
yer dad was in the military ?
btw originals are originals ...

military contractor 20 some years ago... lots of secretive buisness trips, which is what turned up the photos in the first palce... i'll go look for them, take some pictures of pictures. a good number of the photos arent on the DRFC website, and there are some number of prototype aircraft, including one VTOL while taking off 8)

[TransAm]

:!: Nth I'd just check with your dad that they can be shared publicly before you go posting R&D pics :wink: It might be he shouldn't 'officially' have those pics himself, if ya know what I mean 8) .

[nthfinity]

:!: Nth I'd just check with your dad that they can be shared publicly before you go posting R&D pics :wink: It might be he shouldn't 'officially' have those pics himself, if ya know what I mean 8) .
you need not worry about that :wink:
the pictures are not at all related to his work at all from that time. nor are they secret... hence why a large number of them (mabey all of them, just well hidden in the on-line archive) are on the public website.

its kinda funny, but they were actually a spur of the moment gift to him from who i assume is the photographer. i think he just wanted to share his photos 8)

[Toronto]

my dad saw this plane fly by and he has a pick that he took in his office, a very amazing plane, but I think they shouldn't make another one, from what I hear new super-blimps are going to be moving heavy cargo around the world.

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

Man if they build that, and fix up the other one, they would have 3 of those giant beast.
They used the parts off of one to get the one in the photo flying, so now it just sits there.

I never knew you guys liked plans this much.

[SFDMALEX]

/\/\/\
Well I think Antonov is the only aircraft Design Beurou in Ukraine but they do built a lot of different planes. From the 255 to bussiness jets. Other one would be Motor Sech motor/engine design Berue, they build a lot of air craft jet engines and prop engines, a lot of Russian aircraft use those engines aswel.

[saadie]

yeah ... antonov is the only aircraft manufacturer in Ukraine .... as alex said .. they got a huge line up ...... they are junt not popular enough ...

@ Chris .... atleast its better then the C5 ... **runs hides** :P

military contractor 20 some years ago... lots of secretive buisness trips, which is what turned up the photos in the first palce... i'll go look for them, take some pictures of pictures. a good number of the photos arent on the DRFC website, and there are some number of prototype aircraft, including one VTOL while taking off8)

:shock: kelw ..... millitary contractors are rich men 8) ... i know a guy here who was the main man behind the mil 171's tht pak bought ..... he made more then 10 million dollars out of it ... 8) ......
post all the pics tht yea got ... :mrgreen: .... oh and hope nasa or the us millitary donsnt get any hard headed about it ... :fadein:

[nthfinity]

rich, no :lol:

he just was an engineer working for a company with some contracts

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

yeah ... antonov is the only aircraft manufacturer in Ukraine .... as alex said .. they got a huge line up ...... they are junt not popular enough ...

@ Chris .... atleast its better then the C5 ... **runs hides** :P



C-5 sucks !! it locks cool when it working, but while i was away in Kuwait, every time a AN-124 landed, ther was always a broke C-5 sitting near it, only once did one come in after it and not be broke. I actualy gave the Russian crew members a tour of the C-5. They were amazed at the gear on the US plan, becuase it is so complicated.

Also the crew told me that they were flying the AN-225 around some wear in one of the Stand lands, Afkanastand, Tajikastand...some place out there, any way they said the wing span was to big to come to wear i was wich is why they were there so much with the 124..

[FoxFour]

What are the main problems with the C-5's? Is it airframe? structurally related or are the problems due to subsystem failures. I remember when the Chas AFB had a squadron of C-5's here back in the 60's and '70's.

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

You rember that!?!? It's mainly becuase they are so old, and lots and lots of stuff on it was exprimental at the time, and not nearly 50 years latter, the companys that made lots of the parts they need have been out of business since the 70's.
So getting the stuff you need to keep it going is hard as hell. And becuase of it, it is not that reliable, but if it wer then it would have been updated through the years, like the Airliners plans are, and they would have fixed many of the problembs back in the 70's-80's. But they did not start useing aluminum tell the late 60's to mid 70's, so all the A models have diff wing supports, as apposed to the B models wich have the lights stronger wing boxes and stuff. And the wings are so big they flap like a bird in flight, so they had to make a computer that always kept it from doing so much and shake the plan apart. Which is why the newer plans have there wing tips bent up so the air preuser keeps the wings from flaping, and also gives it more lift and stable flight.
I think becuase they Russ.....Ukraine plan was built way latter, they have the advateg of newer matirials for there planes so the airfram should be stronger, and the motors are way stronger and much more efeciant.

[FoxFour]

Just to build a highly specialized craft to do Aid related work, when the 124 fleet can do so just as effectively, seems to me a little suspect. This second craft has to be built for another, more profitable reason. The newly unveiled Kliper shuttle concept that was just unveiled, the first unmanned flight is expected in 2010. I say closer to 2020. That's one reason. Another reason may be because of the Ukraine launching air launched rockets for profit using the 124 and 224 craft.

[04RCSTI]

WOW that thing is ridiculous, whats the price o nthat thing?

[SFDMALEX]

Just to build a highly specialized craft to do Aid related work, when the 124 fleet can do so just as effectively, seems to me a little suspect. This second craft has to be built for another, more profitable reason. The newly unveiled Kliper shuttle concept that was just unveiled, the first unmanned flight is expected in 2010. I say closer to 2020. That's one reason. Another reason may be because of the Ukraine launching air launched rockets for profit using the 124 and 224 craft.

Might be, ukrainians are big players in the space rocket bussiness...like sea launch. The ukrainian zeninth's are the rockets the sea launch program uses.

But I think the real reason is simply the fact that the current 225 is booked years in advance. And making another one would simply mean more money transporting goods...it looks like there is a lot of need for a big air craft like this.

[Skaala]

I've been inside the US Galaxie, wich is the second largest, and it is enormous! Worked one year at NATO headquarter in Stavanger. The Galaxie had to be mooved several times a day so it would'nt crush the foundation at Sola Airport in Stavanger

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

I'v been inside 2 of the 3 big planes, and ours can do more, but there's is more simple and easyer work with.