This plane is a one of kind. I really couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this thing. It is truly a monster of the sky. The physics that allow it to even get off the ground are pretty mind-boggling. There is no other like it, take a look for yourself. It’s the biggest plane ever. This is the Antonov An-225 Mriya.
Its first flight was on 21 December 1988 under the Soviet Union and it is still in use today as a commercial cargo plane (Antonov Airlines). It was originally designed to carry the Buran space shuttle and its rocket boosters.
It takes 6 crew members to fly this plane. It also has a wingspan of over 290 feet.
The Antonov An-225 has 32 wheels supporting a maximum take-off weight of about 1,411,000 pounds.
It can hold up to 300,000 kg of jet fuel; which is about 98,000 gallons of fuel.
There is only one AN-225 built, ever.
It has carried four military battle tanks (at once), wind turbine wings, parts of other planes, etc. Basically, anything too large for a normal cargo plane.
It is said to have cost over $300 million to make.
How incredible is this amazing piece of equipment? I would love to have a flight on this.
This truly is an engineering marvel. The fact that something this big can get into the air and stay there is pretty incredible. I would have thought many more engines would have been required on the biggest plane ever.