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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 Antonov An-225, the largest aircraft in production. It flew for the first time in 1982. Over forty are currently in service in Russia and Ukraine.
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. 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.
Germany intends to lease An-124s for NATO strategic airlift requirements as a stopgap until the Airbus A400M is available [1] (http://news.org.ua/reports/?id_numb=1515). Boeing also has used Russian cargo company Volga-Dnepr to ship outsize aircraft components to their Everett plant with their An-124 fleet. Specifically, the An-124 is the only means of airlifting the General Electric GE90 turbofan engines used in the Boeing 777 airliner.
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.
As of 2004, there have been four major crashes of An-124s, with a total of 50 fatalities.
General characteristics
- Wingspan: 240' 5" (73.3 m)
- Length: 226' 3" (69 m)
- Dead weight (175,000 kg)
- Weight, fully loaded: 893,000 lb (405,000 kg)
- Engines: 4 Lotarev D-18T turbofans, 51,600 lb (230 kN) of thrust each
- Cruising speed: 497 mph (800 km/h)
- Range, empty: 8,900 mi (16,500 km)
- Range, fully loaded: 2,430 mi (3,900 km)
- Service ceiling: 35,000 ft (12,000 m)
External Link
References
Related content
Related development:
An-225
Comparable aircraft:
C-5 Galaxy
Designation sequence:
An-72 -
An-74 -
An-88 -
An-124 -
An-140 -
An-148 -
An-174
See also:
List of civil aircraft
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