Thousands of spectators line the runway at Perth airport to watch the world’s largest plane land in Australia for the first time. The Antonov An-225’ Mriya’, designed in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, was chartered by a resources company to transport a 117-tonne turbine.
The AN-225 ‘Mriya’ could fly at a maximum speed of 850km/h.
It had a wingspan of 88 metres (289ft) and a length of 84 metres (276ft), making it the longest aircraft in existence.
Its cargo hold, at 43 metres long (141ft), was longer than the distance of the world’s first powered plane flight, completed by the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur in 1903, at 37 metres (121ft).
It required at least six crew: a pilot, co-pilot, two flight engineers, navigator, and radio operator. It was designed as a strategic airlift cargo aircraft.
It had a passenger capacity of 70 and was designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) within the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The Ukrainian one allegedly burnt on February 27th, 2022, in a Russian shell attack on Kyiv’s ‘Gostomel Airport’, destroying her hangar. It is currently unknown when or if the Antonov 225 will ever be rebuilt and fly again but President Zelensky of Ukraine has vowed to restore it. It was the only one remaining in operation.
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