Yesteday Houston’s George Bush Iniercontinental Airport had a special guest: Antonov AN-225. 

This AN-225 is named “Mriya”, or “Антонов Ан-225 Мрія” in Ukranian, which means inspiration of dream. Mriya is the world’s largest air freighter by volume, and is the only one of the kind. AN-225’s massive cargo bay (46,000 cubic feet) and open-nose section enable it to carry special and large equipments with aircraft’s maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. Because of its capibility to carry large objects, such as shipping contanier, AN-225’s cargo bay has it’s own crane system to lift the cargo on its own. 

AN-225 was produced in the late 1980s in Soviet Union, and only one was produced. This only built aircraft has Ukranian registration UR-82060. The second frame was partially built but stopped due to the lack of funding and interests. 

 

Below are some specification about this only of the kind AN-255

General characteristics

  • Crew: 6
  • Length: 84 m (275 ft 7 in)
  • Wingspan: 88.4 m (290 ft 0 in)
  • Height: 18.1 m (59 ft 5 in)
  • Wing area: 905 m2 (9,740 sq ft)
  • Aspect ratio: 8.6
  • Empty weight: 285,000 kg (628,317 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 640,000 kg (1,410,958 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 300,000 kg
  • Cargo hold – volume 1,300 m3 (46,000 cu ft), length 43.35m, width 6.4m, height 4.4m
  • Powerplant: 6 × ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf) thrust each

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 850 km/h (528 mph; 459 kn)
  • Cruising speed: 800 km/h (497 mph; 432 kn)
  • Range: 15,400 km (9,569 mi; 8,315 nmi) with maximum fuel; range with 200 tonnes payload: 4,000 km (2,500 mi)
  • Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,089 ft)
  • Wing loading: 662.9 kg/m2 (135.8 lb/sq ft)
  • Thrust/weight: 0.234