The plane "Mriya", built in a single copy

The plane "Mriya", whose name means "dream" in Ukrainian, is considered to be the largest in the world, with extremely high carrying capacity.

History of creation

In the eighties of the last century, when the full-scale development of the Buran spacecraft was reusable, it took transportation that would be able to transport both the spacecraft and its components in order to assemble at the launch pad. At that time in the USSR there was not a single aircraft that would be able to fully cope with the task. And so it was decided to develop and assemble an airliner with the largest carrying capacity. This work was commissioned in 1984 by the Antonov Design Bureau. And already by December 21, 1988, the aircraft of the Academy of Sciences "Mriya" made the first flight.

When designing by designers, Ruslan AN-124 was taken as a basis. This allowed to reduce the development costs, which at that time was very important. That is why the plane "Mriya" is so similar to its predecessor.

In total it was planned to build two copies of this air superheavyweight. However, by 1994 the space program "Buran" was closed, and the plane "Mriya" was dismantled and sent to spare parts for the "Ruslanov".

Return of "Dreams"

Fortunately, in 2001 it was restored again, gathering the efforts of Ukrainian enterprises, and he again began to fly. In addition, it was finalized so that the liner could meet the standards required for civil aviation. At the same time, the second copy was ready for only seventy percent.

In the spring of 2001, the aircraft "Mriya" received the certificates of the Aviation Register of the IAC and the State Department "Ukraviatrans". This allowed him to use it as a commercial cargo carrier.

The Mriya, or AN-225, is a turbojet six-engined transport ship with a double-tailed tail and a swept wing. This is explained by the fact that initially the high-level plan was to be used as the first stage for the launch of the Burana with the launch vehicle Energia.

Its six engines could lift two hundred and fifty tons into the air, and the maximum speed of the AN-225 was equal to the cruising speed of 800 km / h.

The plane "Mriya", whose characteristics brought him as close as possible to Ruslan, was forty-three meters long and six and a half wide. Fifty cars could comfortably fit in its cargo hold. And above it was a cabin for a crew of six.

The plane "Mriya" broke two and a half hundred records and raised the cargo in 187 tons.

To date, the An-225 is part of the air transport team of ANTK them. Antonov, being at the disposal of Antonov Airlines. In parallel, design work began to use this aircraft as a launching flying complex in aerospace systems. Experts consider the Russian-Ukrainian MAKS to be one of the most promising projects.

The second "Mriya" aircraft was supposed to be completed at the Antonov plant, subject to availability of financing. Since the time of the USSR, a center wing with a fuselage and a wing has been preserved there. However, the work is suspended until the appearance of the customer. According to the most approximate calculations, more than one hundred million dollars will be needed to finish the assembly and assembly of the second An-225.