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The World's Largest Cargo Plane Can Swallow a 737 Whole

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Whether you need to get an airliner across a continent without flying it, piggyback a space shuttle to its launch site, or ship Snoop Dog's oversized tour stage to Nigeria, you're going to need the world's biggest and strongest aircraft: the Antonov An-225. (gizmodo.com) Mehr...

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jwm707
jwm707 9
Whole? I don't think so. Wouldn't they have to remove the wings and tail first?
jeffnielsen
Jeff Nielsen 8
Swallow a 737 WHOLE? Well, maybe a scale model of a 737. Ain't no way that thing can swallow a real 737. Gotta love these "journalists."
crownkestrel500
Javier Baez 5
It WAS Russian...now it's proudly Ukrainian. They should build an additional pair...
bentwing60
bentwing60 3
R.E. the picture, isn't it amazing how much the Buran looked like a U.S. shuttle. Sorta like a B-29 made in a Boeing plant was a good rendering of the Stalin buggy. Neither worked as well. As for the 225, they are incomparable for big hauls.
acmi
acmi 3
and it flys with a usual crew of about 19
dral6503
Ed Berling 3
There was a cable show on Discovery or TLC about this plane. They tagged along on a flight from Russia to the Canary Islands then on to Brazil. The most interesting part was, since this is basically one of a kind they had to bring a spare 'everything' with them onboard! What a flying warehouse!
johan1965
Johan Verhoef 0
It was on Discovery Channel about 4 or 5 months back. It was in a series about the largest plains in the world.
N9ZN
N9ZN 3
There is a one hour TV documentary focusing on this aircraft. It takes you with the crew of the plane as they deliver massive cargo laods to destinations around the world. Look it up, I am pretty sure you will find it on google.
xtoler
Larry Toler 1
Heck yeah, will do! I was so used to C-5's in the USAF, but never got to work the Antonovs. Travelling as an F/A I used to see a lot of 125's here in the States, but never had a chance to get up close and personal to one.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 2
Vodka burner
MACGSO
MACGSO 2
I got to see this plane "up close and personal" at Rickenbacker Airport in Columbus, OH in 2004 (I think). It was picking up a load (!!??) of generators. I talked to some of the crew and got to walk around the plane - it is huge! Also, in line with typical Soviet design philosophy, it seemed to be very ruggedly built. Look at the basic empty weight - nearly 630,000 lbs - as compared to, say, a more-or-less contemporary 747-400, at only about 393,000 lbs. Yeah, it's larger - very much so - but it's also an economic failure.

[This poster has been suspended.]

clabo
gene kwiecinski 1
It doesn't "dwarf" anything. It's a big honkin' plane sure, and I'd love to get a close-up and pix of it, but it's *about* the size of an A380 and B747, just different in different dimensions (height, length, etc.).

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_planes_comparison.svg
xtoler
Larry Toler 1
Okay,but the whole point is to take oversized loads. I've loaded and unloaded quite a few 747's and C5's and there is a difference. You can't really load a CH47 Chinook helicopter on a 747, but you can put 2 on a C5 for instance. 747's and 380's can't kneel, like a C5 or some other cargo aircraft to easily roll on and roll off cargo. I did see a mod for a 747 we put on an Iraqi airlines 747, but it's not really practical space wise on ramp. What I don't get is putting a crane on the 125's and 225's. Seems like that would eat up a lot of the allowable cabin load. We use rollers and winches on our AF cargo planes.

Off subject, but the 747 and C5 were contenders for the USAF heavy airlift back in the '60's. Lockheed won out for a better and more practical design. Plus the C5 has an upper deck in the back for 72 pax. The flight deck and aft of that is pretty impressive too.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 2
I can only hope it was a one way for the Dog!

aqqn
Alain QQN 1
WHAOU....it onces landed in CDG - The take-off is always fantastic
canuck44
canuck44 1
For long range moves they have to plot a series of fuel stations along the way with runways that can handle them for their range drops from about 10K miles empty to about 2500 miles with a huge fuel burn to achieve altitude.
NolanMiddlemas
Nolan Middlemas 1
This is not true. The 737 and the tail which is 41 feet, I would be amazed.
mpenney
Michael Penney 1
They also copied the NASA 747 split tail design for the same reason. Stability with the eternal cargo. BTW NASA 905 747 will be moved to Space Center Houston by Boeing one of these days. I think she has made her last flight already.
bentwing60
bentwing60 1
Saw her parked at Ellington a couple of weeks ago. No activity around her that I could see.
joyfulsongster
J. mueller 1
Supposing it's true, how much does it cost to fly a 737 to destination X as opposed to flying a loaded AN-225? Unless the 737 is unflyable, this is not good business.

[This poster has been suspended.]

xtoler
Larry Toler 1
Soviet originated, but Ukranian built.

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