RIP the "dream" plane

[3roomlab]

It had been named “Mriya”, which means “dream” in Ukrainian (aka AN-225, the largest plane in the world)

The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225 Mriya is on fire in its hangar in Gostomel Airport, Ukraine (official confirmation). The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed in a tweet that the An-225 was destroyed.

https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1497947370008547332

edit :


the chinese supposedly made a deal to make copies of it, but it didnt work out.

article of AN-225 in popular mechanics
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a32162223/antonov-225-mriya/

when looked at from the rear, it looks like a "swallow" in flight.

edit 2 :
They (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_Serial_Production_Plant) should start a gofundme for Mriya 2 ...

[MrMobodies]

I don't think I have seen one of those before:



Looking at the many wheels on the back I find that fascinating.

[Nusa]

There was a second AN-225 that was about 70% complete if I recall correctly. I wonder what its status is.

[Kremmen]

I don't think I have seen one of those before:



Looking at the many wheels on the back I find that fascinating.

There ever was the one and only flying.
Check youtube, you'll find the videos where the proud captain speaks of his machine. Sure, it was only a machine but still, something great has been lost from this world.

Slava Ukraine!

[Sal Ammoniac]

I saw that plane once on the tarmac at Moffitt Field in California. I believe it was either delivering or picking up a satellite for NASA.

[SiliconWizard]

The An-225 was initially designed to carry the soviet space shuttle, IIRC.
The first was completed before the soviet union collapsed. The program was stopped right after, so the second one was never completed.

[langwadt]

The An-225 was initially designed to carry the soviet space shuttle, IIRC.
The first was completed before the soviet union collapsed. The program was stopped right after, so the second one was never completed.

and afaik the first one was only pulled out of storage and certified for flight after Antonov saw a need for something bigger than their An-124, they worked on finishing the second one some 15 years ago but stopped again

[SiliconWizard]

Yeah it didn't have enough uses to justify the cost of build and maintenance.

That said, while being pretty barebones technologically, it was amazingly maneuverable for a plane that big, from what I remember.

[langwadt]

Yeah it didn't have enough uses to justify the cost of build and maintenance.

That said, while being pretty barebones technologically, it was amazingly maneuverable for a plane that big, from what I remember.

afaik it also has some neat features like that main landing gear can be angled for landing in side wind and the wheels can be replaced while in flight in case they get a puncture on  takeoff

[3roomlab]

RIP

[tom66]

The invaders only know to destroy,  I hope Ukraine can rebuild it.

[mariush]

Yeah... RIP...

Excited even big airplane pilots when it landed somewhere:

[coppercone2]

they should sell it on Ebay maybe elon musk will fix it or something, a few years in the body shop should have it like new

I guess its not profitable to rebuild (it is a hand me down from soviet union) but it might make for a collectors item (the repair cost might never recoup from commercial operations within the lifespan of the system)

It can also be a form of philanthropy if the airplane is fixed and runs at negative costs to provide disaster relief or something (time to delivery is still critical in disaster management), and any 'ease' it provides to space-related systems could greatly accelerate space-related development and research.. so perhaps someone should think about repairing it even if it looks bad on paper, since it might have some serious benefits to staying around. I would say this is a great example of how far can hurt the scientific-logistics side of things and destroy opportunity for research and development. I think its something along the lines of having a big work bench around (it changes your lab completely).

[SiliconWizard]

It can also be a form of philanthropy if the airplane is fixed and runs at negative costs to provide disaster relief or something (time to delivery is still critical in disaster management), and any 'ease' it provides to space-related systems could greatly accelerate space-related development and research.. so perhaps someone should think about repairing it even if it looks bad on paper, since it might have some serious benefits to staying around.

Uh? With the cost of building such a plane, I think you have no idea what we could achieve.
That's one of the reasons there were never more than one to begin with.

Making "icons" survive can have benefits in terms of historic preservation, and we do it all the time. But I'm not too sure the history of the AN-225, and Antonov in general, is really what most people would like to preserve, at least not in this context. Antonov was a product of the USSR. Just a thought.

[amyk]

For huge things to be moved between continents, now the only way is to ship - literally. That will take much longer and might even be more expensive than flying it.

I'm sure that even if this one is not rebuilt, there will be some other one that takes its place in hauling such cargo.

[SiliconWizard]

There are definitely alternatives, which happen to fly more often and in a larger number (while still pretty limited): the Airbus Beluga and Beluga XL, and the Boeing Dreamlifter. While not quite as big as the AN-225, they can still transport huge payloads. The total number of those planes in operation is about 10 or so.

[ledtester]

A couple of tidbits from this video:

Day 37: Speaking About the Dream -- Operator Starsky
https://youtu.be/ZglhWkJQOFA

- (3:30) Germany offered to relocate transport airplanes to Germany before hostilities broke out
- (4:40) there is second airfoil of an uncompleted Mriya at the Antonov factory

The presenter has an earlier video which talks about the early days of the war and the destruction of the plane:

An-225: The Last Days of the Dream -- Operator Starsky
https://youtu.be/dfUQnM2CXsU

- (1:40) on 2/24 Mriya was supposed to relocate to another area but that didn't happen

Update: Another video on the history of the 2nd Mriya airframe:

Can Antonov Rebuild the AN-225? -- Coby Explains
https://youtu.be/dlKuMRe1EBo

[bdunham7]

There are definitely alternatives, which happen to fly more often and in a larger number (while still pretty limited): the Airbus Beluga and Beluga XL, and the Boeing Dreamlifter. While not quite as big as the AN-225, they can still transport huge payloads. The total number of those planes in operation is about 10 or so.

Those are modified to carry bulky objects but none of them come anywhere near the nearly 300 ton hauling capacity of the AN-225 nor do they have the range, IIRC. 

[rsjsouza]

Relevant video about Hostomel

[coppercone2]

It's getting a little crazy to discount it, its not like its some war machine, its just another human achievement. That is taking politics too far. Its from 40 years ago.

It looks like its in 3 pieces, I am not sure it could be joined back together, perhaps some latteral ribs need to be replaced, but it looks repairable. That plane can haul 300 tons, so even if you need to make it a little heavier with some reinforcements because of the damage (sometimes the same size won't be as strong on complex repairs).

IMO having that plane around as a tool for the planet is great. It encourages multinational collaboration and all sorts of good stuff (you can use heavy industry of other countries at reduced time and possibly cost where shipping would be prohibitive for better collaboration). Who knows when someone will need something real heavy fast. Literary madness occurs when large objects are shipped (its a fiasco to get something huge through a small town in Europe or whatever).

[tom66]

I don't think that airframe is ever going to be rebuilt.  The damage is too extreme.  It also looks as if the cockpit and the left hand wing are totally destroyed, as well as most of the rear section. All that survives is right wing, some fuselage, and maybe three engines are salvageable.  Do they even make AN-225 engine any more? (Progress D-18T)  Avionics, hydraulics, and unreplaceable airframe parts will all also be destroyed. Will full plans even exist to rebuild it, or are they all paper records, which itself could take a decade to re-assemble and compile into modern CAD? 

I would love to see it rebuilt - but I am sure if that does happen it would be by taking the 70% complete airframe and salvaging what they can from the wreckage. 

[langwadt]

I don't think that airframe is ever going to be rebuilt.  The damage is too extreme.  It also looks as if the cockpit and the left hand wing are totally destroyed, as well as most of the rear section. All that survives is right wing, some fuselage, and maybe three engines are salvageable.  Do they even make AN-225 engine any more? (Progress D-18T)  Avionics, hydraulics, and unreplaceable airframe parts will all also be destroyed. Will full plans even exist to rebuild it, or are they all paper records, which itself could take a decade to re-assemble and compile into modern CAD? 

I would love to see it rebuilt - but I am sure if that does happen it would be by taking the 70% complete airframe and salvaging what they can from the wreckage.

afaik it the same engine as on the AN-124, more than 50 was build and about half is in service

[Nusa]

The engine is still made, since it's the same engine used in the AN-124. Even without it's big brother, the AN-124 is still one of the most capable heavy-lift aircraft in the world. Of course, parts come from Russia, so the operational lifetime of those outside Russia will likely be affected by the current situation. If memory serves, Ukraine had most of those.

I agree that the current airframe is beyond recovery. The only chance is if the surviving parts (the whole tail assembly looks intact to me) are inspected, certified, and combined with the partly-finished 2nd AN-225 airframe that's been in storage for ages.

[SiliconWizard]

It's getting a little crazy to discount it, its not like its some war machine, its just another human achievement. That is taking politics too far. Its from 40 years ago.

Nobody is "discounting" it. My point was just that it probably made no sense to rebuild it, however sad it is, and that precisely the only reason (that I even get from your own posts) would be historical, not really practical. Then it's natural to mention history if history is the reason to even bother rebuilding it.

Of course it's human achievement. Many other artefacts of great human achievement were destroyed and never built back. You are again using an historical standpoint and yourself dismissing why history alone would probably not be a good reason for bothering rebuilding this. It was indeed an impressive, yet 40-year old plane, actually flying a few times a year. Money would be better invested elsewhere was also my point.

[nctnico]

Of course it's human achievement. Many other artefacts of great human achievement were destroyed and never built back. You are again using an historical standpoint and yourself dismissing why history alone would probably not be a good reason for bothering rebuilding this. It was indeed an impressive, yet 40-year old plane, actually flying a few times a year. Money would be better invested elsewhere was also my point.

That depends on whether it is worthwhile to design a new heavy duty cargo plane from scratch or just rebuild a new one from parts and a design that are readily available. It is not like it is flying on a daily basis so fuel consumption and wear are not things that are high on the priority list to improve.