Unfortunately the biggest plane in the world, the Antonov An-225, will not be active for the next few months, after being yet another victim of Russia's attacks on Ukraine.
During its history, the Antonov An-225 managed to break more than 240 world records, 110 of which in the first period of operation alone, between 1988 and 1994.
After being refurbished in 2001, the aircraft returned to flying and practically broke all its previous records.
The size of the plane is Meters 18, impressive 84 meters long, 88m from wingtip to wingtip, and 285 tons with it completely empty.
The An-225 could take off with up to 640 tons of total weight, and carry more than 300000 kg of fuel when completely empty, allowing a autonomy of up to 15000 km (also empty). If that number were quantified it would be like putting 21 humpback whales in a pile and putting them inside the plane and there would still be 10 tons left
Antonov An-225: 10 fun facts about the largest plane in the world
The An-225 shared many operational aspects with the veteran and An-124, smaller brother of the smallest aircraft in the world, which is only the 2nd largest freighter today.
One of these aspects was the front cargo door, identical to the An-124, as well as an internal system with cranes and the aircraft's own avionics, which require 6 crew to operate.
But for those who think that the Buran space shuttle was the largest cargo transported by the Antonov An-225, they will be in for a surprise, it is among the lightest, weighing just 60 tons. Check below with us the An-225 cargo transport records throughout its life.
1.Four tanks with a total of 253 tons on board
On the fateful and sad September 11, Antonov Airlines scheduled a flight to demonstrate the capabilities of the An-225, which at the time had returned to operating flights. For this, the company assembled five war tanks, flying around Kiev with a load of 253 tons.
The tanks transported were three T-72B, weighing 41,5 tons each, and two T-80UD, weighing 42,5 tons each. At the time, several people followed the short flight of the An-225 in the skies of Kiev, taking off and landing at Gostomel Airport.
At the time, the aircraft had just received an increase the maximum takeoff weight, from 600 to 640 tons. The entire process of reinforcing the floor and updating the engines was carried out in the US$ 20 million update between 2000 and 2001, which culminated in the reactivation of the An-225.
2. A massive payload of 247 tons, the record for the An-225
On June 16, 2004 the Antonov An-225, still equipped with its old livery, was moved to transport machinery for an oil pipeline from Prague (Czech Republic) to Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
The cargo had a total weight of 247 tons, and required the An-225 to stop in Kiev (Ukraine) and Ulyanovsk (Russia) for refueling. When close to the maximum possible load on board, the largest plane in the world needed to reduce the amount of fuel on board to fit the maximum takeoff weight of up to 640 tons.
The operation was cataloged as a record for cargo transported in flight, which until today belongs to the Antonov An-225.
3. When the Antonov An-225 broke another record in 2009
On this mission, performed on August 11, 2009, the Antonov An-225 recorded the heaviest single payload carried by an airplane. A gas power plant generator weighing 187,8 tons was transported from to Armenia.
The transported generator had a total size of 16,23 meters in length and 4,27 in diameter, and was cataloged in the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS as the heaviest single load carried on an aircraft in flight.
The An-225 has the same internal crane as the An-124, which assists in loading large loads. But this time the operators needed an external crane to assist with the mission.
4. The longest cargo in the world
Shortly after setting a record, a Danish company in June 2010 needed the services of the Antonov An-225 to achieve another record. Transport the longest cargo in the world.
Amidst efforts to generate green energy, Denmark has started installing wind farms with 42,1 meter long blades.
Needing to get closer to the installation site with the blades, the An-225 was deployed for this mission, transporting all two blades inside it during a special mission, from Tianjin, China, to Skrydstrup, Denmark.
The cargo space of the world's largest plane is 43,35 meters long, 6,4 meters wide and 4,4 meters high.
It wasn't the heaviest payload on the An-225, but it broke the single-size record for a payload inside an aircraft.
5. Last visit of the Antonov An-225 to Brazil, with 182 tons on board for Chile
On the last visit of the Antonov An-225 to Brazil, between 14 and 15 November 2016, the aircraft transported a 2016-tonne transformer from São Paulo to Santiago, Chile.
The plane first visited Viracopos Airport, where it received a 30-ton piece that served as the basis for boarding the transformer weighing approximately 150 tons.
This is among the largest payloads (by weight) ever to be loaded onto the An-225. Check out the entire procedure at video below.
The first visit was in 2010, when the aircraft transported three large valves to the Paulínia Refinery, located in the interior of São Paulo. The plane at the time landed at Guarulhos Airport, which still did not have changes to receive aircraft of that size, for this reason, a special operation was set up.
6 – Extra. Medical supplies from China to
This was not the heaviest load carried by the Antonov An-225, however, flight ADB3350 set a record for unloading time.
On April 19, 2020, the aircraft made a flight from China to , making a stopover in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In this operation, the largest plane in the world took 150 tons of medical products to , to help in the fight against Covid-19.
As the cargo consisted of several boxes, this was the record for the volume transported by plane, with more than 1000 cubic meters. Considering all the “small spaces”, the interior of this plane could take up to 1200 m³.
In a few days of activity, during the beginning of the pandemic, the Antonov An-225 managed to exceed the 1500 tons transported in several flights.
