Talk:Antonov An-225

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Antonov An-225 article.
Article policies
  • Warning*

Someone has been deleting all references to the use of the An-225 by the U.S. government and by U.S. customers of Antonov Airlines. The operation of the aircraft by Antonov Airlines is the most important chapter in this plane's service history. Stop making it sound like the plane just appears at airshows. Also, the An-225 was not grounded by the collapse of the Soviet Union. It continued flying for three more years and was only mothballed when the Buran space program was terminated.

The Mriya has recently (in 2003) been spotted at Shannon Airport, Ireland and in various U.S. airports. It was hired for transporting cargo to the Gulf to support the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq ([1]) ([2]). - is it really that important that someone spotted it somewhere? After all this shouldn't be strange, especially that the sole Mriya is frequently leased to anyone who pays. If we follow that way I should mention that I saw Mriya in 2003 in Kyiv and anyone who ever saw the plane should add similar info. Does it really have sense? [[User:Halibutt|Halibutt]] 04:39, Sep 17, 2004 (UTC)

Nuke it. It's more interesting if it's found somewhere coincident with a major event. -Joseph (Talk) 05:01, 2004 Sep 17 (UTC)
I think it's improtant since only one Мрія exists in the world. Although, it might be only necessary to say where it was seen last, if at all. --Berkut 00:39, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Latest flight seen at East Midlands Airport in the UK December 2005, the first commercial flight to the UK- Photo here-http://www.airliners.net/open.file/970908/L/ and video here- http://www.flightlevel350.com/viewer.php?id=4935 2330 15 Dec 2005

Hello, I visit Gostomel from time to time. I can bring photos, or other data. Oh, by the way, An225 wasn't operative for long time (they serviced it, etc.) but now (actually a week before this post) it's again working (they even tested it few days ago). Black Phoenix 11:26, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Price

What is the price of this aircraft?

I doubt it is possible to estimate the price of such an aircraft. Halibutt 14:15, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure about the price, but as for spotting the aircraft, this is not difficult. The 225 has displayed at numerous air shows around the world for years; from Paris to Farnborough.

[edit] Payload

There seems to be some confusion about the payload in the article. In the Service section, 227 metric tonnes is quoted, converted to 250 short tonnes, yet in the General Characteristics, the figure is 250,000 kg (which is 250 metric tonnes). Which is correct ? Ruleke 14:43, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Specs are correct, it's 250,000 kg or 250 metric tonnes. - Emt147 Burninate! 20:34, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Hello! According to the book "Antonov’s Heavy Transports" the max take-off weight of the An 225 is 640,000 kg!! The cargo floor and loading ramp were reinforced in 2000 when the plane was modernised at Kiev. The giant has took-off with the max weight 630 000 kg two times in the history of the plane according to the book. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by viggenmannen (talk • contribs) .

I'm not sure which figure you're saying is the maximum gross takeoff weight. Is it 640,000 kg, or is it 630,000 kg? The aircraft can't have two max weights; its takeoff weight was 630,000 kg, then it's taken off twice with a 10,000kg- less-than-maximum weight. ericg ✈ 17:35, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
If the cargo floor was reinforced in 2000, is the payload figure in the article still accurate ? (in other words, is the 250,000 figure post-modernisation ?) Ruleke 08:20, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

The maximum take-off weight is 640, 000kg. The plane has lifted off twice at 630,000 kg weight. They hade a marginal of ten tons. For safety I think. I have looked really hard for the source about that the second An 225 is going to fly this summer but I can,t find it. I hope someone can help me! David

Okay, that makes sense. Unless we find someone who can read Russian, I don't think we'll have much in terms of An 225 news for the near future. Once it is completed, then we'll hear something. ericg ✈ 18:34, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

I can read russian and ukrainian. If you have any questions you can ask me LOL) I have some additional information about this machine. Currently An-225 (as well as An-124) is working hard for strategic transportation with Antonov Airlines. I don't remember exactly but you can rent it for ~$40K per hour. Antonov Bureau gonna use this funds to build the secound flight. Alex.

I found a link to the An 225 payload record : http://www.airfoyle.co.uk/news/heavy-lift-news.asp?NewsID=36 Pretty heavy! David Airways June 2004 have a very fine article about the An 225. "The AN-225 can also carry pieces weighing up to 200 tonnes and 70m long externally on its upper fuselage". David

The thingie once flew with five soviet T-80 battle tanks stuffed inside for FAI world record in the late 1980's. There are photos on the net. That should be about 245 metric tons. 82.131.210.162 09:01, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Door dimensions

Currently the article says:

Door dimensions: 30×70×75 cm (1.2×2.8×3.0 in))

The metric dimensions look tiny (75 centimetres for the largest dimension???? Even Hobbits couldn't get through them!), and in any case the conversion to inches is a factor of 10 too small even for those preposterous dimensions. Can someone ascertain what the actual size of the door is? -- Arwel (talk) 22:44, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Actually, that's a much more reasonable figure of about 12 × 27.5 × 30 inches. I found 4.40 × 6.40 metres, which sounds even more reasonable .[3] —Michael Z. 2006-08-17 00:35 Z
That's much more believable. Thanks. -- Arwel (talk) 09:34, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Powered?

The intro says this is the “largest powered aircraft.” Are there other larger aircraft that aren’t powered? I think it could remove some confusion to either mention why the “powered” qualifier is necessary (e.g., The unpowered Acme Glider weighs more) or omit the qualifier and say the An-225 is the largest outright. --Rob Kennedy 06:28, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

I came to this talk page to make the same point. I am sure there is a reason why the term "powered" is necessary, but could someone please clarify? 203.87.116.93 07:30, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
Is there an airship that is larger? That would count, if there is one.--Raguleader 16:31, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
An airship is powered too. Malamockq 00:50, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
But I don't think an airship is strictly speaking a powered aircraft, since it doesn't use it's engines to maintain it's airworthyness. *thinks*, actually, I suppose the phase I'd be looking for would be "Heavier Than Air", which an airship wouldn't be. Dunno if it'd be considered a powered aircraft or not, now that I think about it. *shrug*--Raguleader 06:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
Which is why "powered aircraft" is a meaningless phrase, nor an official designation. Malamockq 20:57, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
Maybe larger are Hindenburg, British R101 and R100, the German Los Angeles and Graf Zeppelin I and II, and the American Shenandoah, Akron and Macon (per [4] or [5]) --TAG 13:41, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
Why are we weaseling? Just say "airplane." —Joseph/N328KF (Talk) 04:34, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Second plane

...the decision was made to complete the second An-225. This should be accomplished by mid-2006, with certification expected later in 2006

Well where is it then? --80.63.213.182 21:33, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

The second An 225 should be completed by 2008 if all goes to plan.http://www.royfc.com/acft_news_old_sep4.html#27sep I hope they have the money in Ukraine to complete the megaplane!! David —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Viggenmannen (talk • contribs) 15:23, 17 December 2006.

[edit] Extreeeeeemly long sentence.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, and the cancellation of the Buran space program, after a bad landing, where the plane clipped the ground with is wing[citation needed], the lone operational An-225 was placed in storage, its engines removed for use on An-124s.

This sentence is really really long, and covers two or three different events. It needs to be broken up into seperate thoughts, otherwise it is very confusing, as it makes it sound like the space program was cancelled due to the bad landing (which is possible, but unclear), and the relevance to the collapse of the Soviet Union is even less clear.--Raguleader 21:36, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Just curious, but is fixing it yourself not possible? I don't understand why this needs discussion. ericg ✈ 04:09, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
Partially because I am unsure of exactly what the sentence is trying to say (did the clipping of the wing of the An-225 lead to the cancelation of the Buran program?), partially because I was posting from work. If it hasn't been redone by now, I'll go take a swing at it.--Raguleader 04:39, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
The supposed clipping of its wing is a new addition to that sentence (not to mention unverifiable), and it's where most of the fault for the run-on lies. I'm assuming vandalism until someone finds a source saying otherwise. ericg ✈ 06:29, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
And now I see you took care of it. Cool beans.--Raguleader 05:06, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Antonov Airways: Based at Luton or Stansted?

I'm sure I've seen the An-124 at Stansted. Are you guys sure Antonov Airways operates out of Luton? 84.9.33.224 20:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Launch platform

The article says "Design work is currently under way to use the aircraft as a flying launch system for future aerospace system", but the first reference in the paragraph says it's an unsubstatiated rumor, while the second one doesn't mention it at all. I'll change it to a citation needed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.109.249.138 (talk) 17:34, 24 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Possible sighting of 2nd aircraft?

Was unsure where to put this, but I recently spotted one of these when I was at Ashgabat Airport in Turkmenistan. It appeared to be having some work done on one of it's engine. I am definite it was an An-225 because I have not seen anything else that could be mistaken for one. What I was wondering is could this be the 2nd plane that is being reconditioned, or that one that does deliveries.

Indy2k6 (talk) 18:14, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Does the Spruce Goose stuff really fit here ?

This article contains all this Spruce Goose stuff - could someone remove that or create a pointer ? Edmundronald (talk) 12:56, 13 April 2008 (UTC)