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The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (NATO reporting name: Condor) is the largest aircraft ever mass produced, and was, until the advent of the An-225 Mryia, the largest aircraft in production. During development it was known as the An-400 and An-40 in the West, and it flew for the first time in 1982. Over forty are currently in service (but about 28 civilian models) in Russia, Ukraine, UAE, and Libya.
Physically, the An-124 is similar to the American Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but is larger in many dimensions. An-124s have been used to carry locomotives, yachts, aircraft fuselages, and a variety of other oversized cargoes. The An-124 is able to kneel to allow easier front loading. Up to 150 tonnes of cargo can be carried in a military An-124: it can also carry 88 passengers in an upper deck behind the cockpit. However, due to limited pressurization in the fuselage, it seldom carries paratroopers.
Since the type was initially designed for only occasional military use, original An-124s were built with a projected service life of merely 7,500 flight hours. In response to complaints by commercial users, aircraft built after 2000 (the An-124-100) have an improved service life of 24,000 hours. There are also plans to increase the lifespan of older airframes. The state enterprise Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT (Kiev, Ukraine) offers upgrades to the 124-100 version.
Service
Germany lead the recent effort to lease An-124s for NATO strategic airlift requirements. Two aircraft are leased from SALIS GmbH as a stopgap until the Airbus A400M is available.
Boeing has used Russian cargo company Volga-Dnepr to ship outsize aircraft components to their Everett plant with their An-124 fleet. The An-124 is the only means of airlifting the massive General Electric GE90 turbofan engines used in the Boeing 777 airliner.
Airbus Transport International has selected another Russian cargo company, Polet Airlines as 'designated carrier' to the company. Polet expects its three An-124-100s will transport astronautic equipment manufactured by EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus and full-size components of a model of the Airbus A380 superjumbo. As the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is the only A380 engine that can be transported whole in a Boeing 747F, the competing Engine Alliance GP7200 needs a larger aircraft, like the An-124, if it is to be shipped in one piece.
Significant activities
- An An-124 was used to transport the Obelisk of Axum back to its native homeland of Ethiopia in April of 2005. The shipment was done in three trips, each carrying a third of the monument's 160 tons and 24-metre (78 ft) length. Modifications were done to the airstrip at Axum in order to accommodate such a large aircraft.
- A Volga-Dnepr An-124 can be seen in the Guns N' Roses music video "Estranged," a video notorious for its high-budget excesses. The aircraft was shown unloading concert equipment and CGI dolphins.
- A Ukrainian An-124 was featured in the James Bond film Die Another Day, although the interior shots appear to be of an Ilyushin Il-76.
- An An-124 was used to transport an EP-3 spy plane from Hainan Island, China on July 4, 2001 during the U.S.-China spy plane incident.
- A 109-tonne train locomotive was transported by an An-124 from Canada to Ireland in September 2001.
Safety record
As of 2005, there have been four major crashes of An-124s, with a total of 50 fatalities.
Operators
Civil
Military
- Soviet Union/Russia
Specifications
Notes
References and external links
Related content
Soviet cargo aircraft 1980-1989
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"Antonov An-124"