The word Мрія (Myria) is a Russian word meaning 'inspired dream’ that must owe something to the design brief for such an aircraft – a Strategic Airlifter. Built in the late 1980s, its sole purpose was to serve the Russian space program by hauling the Buran space shuttle orbiter from destination to destination. However after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 much of the Russian space program was cancelled along with any further development of the An-225.
Though the plane is by far the biggest in the world, the idea of using a large plane to transport a space shuttle was actually originally devised by NASA. The Americans used a similar method of transporting their space shuttle on a modified Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. Yet the Russians went a step further and built an Airlifter that remains the most capable ever made.
This marvel of aeronautical engineering took its maiden flight on 21st December 1988, and proved what it was capable of. With a crew of just six, consisting of two pilots, two flight engineers, a navigator and a communications officer, she was able to transport 250 tonnes in the cargo area or 200 tonnes on her upper fuselage. In fact, the An-225 recorded the world’s heaviest maximum take-off weight (which includes the aircraft’s weight as well) when it managed to take off at a massive weight of 600 tons. It’s truly astonishing that such a plane can actually get off the ground let alone stay in the air once it's up there. Just for perspective, remember that the Wright Brothers first flight was 36.5 metres yet the wing length of an Antonov-225 is 44 metres.
Of course the Antonov requires a fair amount of space to get up to speed, but as long as you have a runway of at least 3,500 metres you should be fine. Then again the 32-wheel landing gear is capable of putting down on asphalt-free runways should the need ever arise. The point we are really getting at is why buy a Flying Fortress A380 when you can resuscitate that second An-225 and have by far the coolest private jet ever made, let alone the biggest! With a maximum flight speed of 460 knots and a range of 4,000 kilometres fully loaded, or 7,600 unladen kilometres, this thing just defies the imagination. Load up your entire fleet of cars and head on holiday.
