Lagest Airplane in the world destroyed

"Multiple reports indicate that the largest plane in the world has been destroyed during the war in Ukraine. The one-of-a-kind Antonov An-225 was a victim of the Russian invasion the first day of the war February 24 while it was undergoing maintenance in a hangar near the Antonov facilities at Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. One of its six engines was dismantled at the time."

https://fireaviation.com/2022/02/27/worlds-largest-airplane-reportedly-destroyed-in-ukraine/

They made a stopover in Fairbanks as well. The highway at the departure end was full of cars when it left. Great to see it. Lots of dark exhaust left behind.

Gary

Maybe. Beware the fog of war. No worries I'm sure the ghost will get revenge, oh right that is another fake story.

I have some very good video of her operating locally. In my airport/airline days we used to take care of her smaller sister--the AN-124. Volga-Dnepr flew her chartering under HeavyLift, then AirFoyle. British flight crews, Ukrainian staff. The AN 124 and 125 had very similar "upstairs". Interiors were by the same people who did Soviet submarines. And all of the Russian/Ukrainian airplanes had this unique odor. They were regular visitors, picking up and dropping off interesting items. Racing yachts. Mig-29s. Good fun.

Seems kind of short sighted. They had plenty of time to get her out of the country before the war started me thinks!
At least there is another 225 airframe (70% complete) in a hangar nearby.....who knows what condition it's in.
Lou
ps....I toured the 225 at the Paris Airshow many years ago. Quite the flight deck! Of course it had the obligatory plastic fans for keeping the Capt and F/O cool!

Flew a Tip Tank Gulfstream 2 into the Antonov airport in 1990. Was flying for a financial firm that was looking to invest in the company, so we got to tour the factory (that’s about a 3 paragraph post in itself). We landed at the main airport in Kiev and a Russian pilot got on board and sat in the jumpseat to act as our navigator as the airport wasn’t on the charts being military and civilian. We had just upgraded with Bendix EFIS and FMS, but all he wanted to know is where the ADF was. Anyway, runway was typical concrete and sealer, rough as can be. When we shutdown, there were probably a hundred or so workers that were on the ramp that we gave tours of our airplane. After about an hour the factory manager asked us to shut down the APU and close up so he could get everyone back to work.

When we had done that our navigator/pilot walked us over to to a AN-32 that had about 6 guys standing around it and said “now we go fly”. He puts me in the left seat and he and the flight engineer get things running and taxi us into position on the runway. He looks at me, points to the yoke and said “Mark, my good friend, please take off!” So I take off, we punch through the clouds and level at around 10,000 feet. He has me do steep turns, stalls and slow flight. Now the whole time, there’s 4 or 5 guys in the back with the ramp partially open smoking and tossing their butts out. Then he tells me to do a roll....... now I’m not an aerobatic guy so I looked back and said no, because everyone was standing up. His answer was “Well, if you do it right it won’t matter”.... I declined, but he proceeds to do 2 or 3 beautiful rolls and no one in the back flinched. He gives me the airplane back and gives me headings to fly and puts me on an ILS and we break out at an airport that to this day I have no idea what it was. I shoot 2 landings and then my buddy (the other G2 pilot) and I swap seats and we repeat the flight going back to Antonov. We go to the lunch room where they have a spread out for us complete with Vodka poured into our glasses. When we declined because we had to fly back to Moscow, he said “well then you can have only one or two”.. We didn’t. Lou, it turns out that he was the Captain that flew the 225 to Oshkosh that year and was waving the American Flag out the window when they taxied in.

When it was time to leave, he comes in our cockpit and helps us set up our radios and FMS and briefs us on our departure. He’s going to be in the tower talking to us as the local controllers don’t speak English. Great guy, and ended up having dinner at his house on another trip to Kiev. Wish I could remember his name. I’ve got some nice framed photos of all of us standing in front of the AN-32 on the ramp.....

*I was just reading some articles about the Russians coming to Oshkosh in 1989 and it was a AN-124, not the 225.. my bad.

FdxLou said:

Seems kind of short sighted. They had plenty of time to get her out of the country before the war started me thinks!

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From what I heard it was down due to maintenance/repairs and they weren't able to get it airworthy in time to fly it out of the country.

Back in 1991 the AN225 brought relief victims from Chernobyl to Conn, landed at Bradley Apt. It was parked at the end of RW15 near the New England air museum that I was associated with and my father was chief curator for a few decades. He is the person who worked with Bob Granville to build the last real Gee Bee that is at NEAM.
The 225 was scheduled to be open to the public, me being a morning person was there about sunrise, camera, a few lenses and many rolls of film in hand. I shot a roll of film before the aircraft crew arrived, communications were sparse to say the least. As they opened the front loading ramp a crewman gestured me inside, The crew was hanging 5 gallon pails on the hydraulic rams that actuate the ramp as I entered the plane. They directed me up to the flight deck and crew quarters and left me alone for my full time there. I was able to walk back into the upper storage/ service area which is open out inside the wings. I was so happy I had many rolls of film. Back at that time the plane had the light floor on the cargo bay, that was rather loud as the plane was warming as the sun was climbing higher. In time a few others from the museum started arriving to work the tour and as people were being shuttled over it got pleasantly busy. The aircraft crew treated me very well, I truly enjoyed my few hours with them as the only American alone with them and there truly marvelous machine. Great people and great aircraft.
Now if I had a decent way to scan all the slide film I shot back in those days, I have thousands of images on may subjects that are tucked away in cabinets and drawers.
Oh, as a personal note, our C5 just does not share the same impact that beautiful bird offers.
Until I see current photos of both 225s I will not believe the stories about their demise.

Just after Ukranian independence in the early 90's the Ukrainian Air Force sent a pair of fighters around the US airshow circuit. At Burlington,VT they were doing re-lights by diving straight down at 1500ft. Absolutely insane. Makes you wonder about the "ghost of Kiev".

I found my pictures of the 225 back in March 91, they are on film so I can scan them here, what a treat to look at these again.

CharlieN said:

It was parked at the end of RW15 near the New England air museum that I was associated with and my father was chief curator for a few decades. He is the person who worked with Bob Granville to build the last real Gee Bee that is at NEAM.

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That's interesting. Just by chance, I was at Bradley and watched when the B-47 landed. That was a big surprise for me since it had been announced long prior to that day the B-47s had all been permanently grounded and put in moth balls. That could have been the very last B-47 landing ever. This B-47 was later destroyed when a tornado hit the field.

In 1987 my wife and I took the Trans Siberian Express from Moscow to Khabarovsk. We took Aeroflot from Montreal to Moscow, with a stop in Gander for fuel and to pick up a platoon of Cuban infantry. On the night leg from Gander to Moscow, I asked the Stewardess if I could visit the cockpit. After some inquiries, I was invited to visit. The cockpit was huge, with a yoke right out of a Ford Tri Motor. There were 5 crew: Captain, Copilot, navigator and flight engineer. Back in a corner was a guy wearing an overcoat and hat, the political officer I presumed. I introduced myself as a 737 pilot and we talked aviation for a few minutes. They were all very nice. After about 10 minutes the political officer made some sort of noise and I was escorted out.

I went back down the aisle and thought I was going to a bathroom, but it turned out to be the crew baggage storage in the very tail. The door was unlocked, so I opened it and stepped inside. Found myself between the 4 engines, which appeared to be mounted on a horizontal I beam running thru the compartment. It was very basic structural engineering.

Interesting incident on the way back from Moscow to Montreal. I sent a note up by the Stewardess asking if I could visit the cockpit again. I said that I was a Vietnam era fighter pilot and was wondering if any of the Aeroflot pilots were MIG trained pilots. Wrong thing to ask - the Stewardess returned and chewed my ass for a few minutes in a very loud voice. She (or the Capt) was upset that I would even think Aeroflot had any connection with the Russian military. I did not get to visit the cockpit on that trip.

It was a very interesting trip. My major memory of the entire time on the train is the lack of color - everything was drab until we arrived in Khabarovsk. The May Day holiday was approaching and the city was decked out in Lenin posters. It was a relief to see some red.

Willie, we started going to Russia in 1988, and your description of everything being drab is exactly as I describe it to everyone. No color, hazy, depressed. We were all over the USSR, and when on the ground the crew had an interpreter and a guy in the “overcoat and hat”. He was always with us. We were guests who were looking to do business so we were treated pretty well. When we visited Lenin’s tomb there was a line, but he simply took us to the front and we went right in. I have many stories and good memories of the people. We were actually in Moscow in 1991 when the coup happened.. Maybe I’ll post about that experience sometime.

willie and mam90 had more interesting adventures than I did. I made about 40 trips only to Moscow. Yes it is a drab place. The ride on the subway was an experience. The escalators up and down are the fastest I've ever seen. The stations are like an art museum. Red Square is big enough for an airport, no wonder that German fellow was able to land a 172 there years ago undetected until he arrived. There is an entire city just west of Sheremetyevo with high rise buildings, roads with no vehicles on them and no windows in the buildings. Totally unfinished. Navigation, NDBs everywhere.

skywagon8a said:

That's interesting. Just by chance, I was at Bradley and watched when the B-47 landed. That was a big surprise for me since it had been announced long prior to that day the B-47s had all been permanently grounded and put in moth balls. That could have been the very last B-47 landing ever. This B-47 was later destroyed when a tornado hit the field.

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That tornado was a sad moment in time. I was working at Simsbury, 4B9. We still had the canvas door then, The tornado passed the other side of the ridge, South to North. Had our attention probably short side of a mile away. Riding home from work I had the kneel on the seat of my two month old motorcycle through some deep water. Once home I turned the stereo on and sat at my 8' drafting table drawing my next airplane. Radio stated a B25 was upside down on Rt20, Kind of did not do my mood well.
Next day back to work, mood was low at the airport, I needed to get over to Air Kaman at BDL to collect parts I had ordered, No one around as I rode there, no traffic along the perimeter road. As I turned into the old military side I realized I will not be collecting my parts, there were a few I beams sticking out of the concrete and many bricks scattered around, but no parts for me obviously. My return I went over to Rt 20 for my Southbound leg, B17 split in the middle. A flying Boxcar upside down on one or two other planes. The B25 pushed to the side of the highway.
I was not productive that day at work. I have photos somewhere in my collection that I took a day later.

There is a B-47 memorial by my place up north. The locals have done a great job of preserving the crash sites creating a memorial to the crews. It is out of the way, only snowmobilers, atvers and hunters see it. It is a sobering place to be, and a untold story of the insanity of the cold war. You would like to think we would never go there again... Biden it going to Superior today, maybe he should get on a sled and ride out there for some perspective.

My parents rode the Iron Rooster into China just a month after Chernobyl. Most of their friends tried to talk them out of it, but Dad checked the wind patterns (toward Europe) and off they went. There was an Aeroflot leg somewhere, Dad said the cast aluminum seat risers looked like they were finished with a 9 inch grinder. Tried not to think about the engines.

I still need to scan my photos but here are a few sad ones,

Yup, I would say it is destroyed. Sad, it was very useful for expeditious delivery of oversized cargo.

I the past few years that plans has flown more cubic meters of human relief goods than any out there. It was down for maintenance with #3 engine being swapped out. All the world looses now.
With luck the second plane will survive.

Somebody grab the data tags.

Web

Keep in mind they have a second plane that was also built back in the 80s. It was never finished, but maybe it is time too.

A Tribute to Mriya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEf1WTDDIYk

I've had the opportunity to see the Mriya on many cargo ramps around the world. I parked a 747 right next to it on a hard stand at KIAH and really found out just how big it is/was. Maybe they will finish building the second airframe but that takes money they didn't have anyway.

It would be nice if they could get support from engine manufacturers to get 6 modern and efficient engines onboard as well as a few in the shop.