The legendary Antonov An-225 Mriya was destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Taken on Feb. 5, 2022, the interesting footage in this post features the final landing of the legendary Antonov An-225 Mriya (The Dream), the largest plane ever built, in Antonov / Gostomel / Hostomel airport.
As we have already explained the An-225 was destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine last month.
The news that the An-225 was destroyed was confirmed by the Ukrainian Government on Sunday, Feb. 27.
The An-225 made its first flight on Dec. 21, 1988, taking off from the factory aerodrome in Svyatoshyn. The airplane was flown by a crew headed by Oleksandr Galunenko. Mriya was developed for the transportation of the Buran shuttle orbiter and components of the Energiya carrier rocket.
The AN-225 was also expected to be used as a flying space launching site in the reusable aerospace transport system (MAKS) with the airplane making its first stage and a small-size space shuttle with a fuel tank – the second stage. Mriya can deliver extra-heavy oversize cargo to any point on the globe carrying it either inside the fuselage or on external stores.
Two AN-225 airplanes were built. Construction of one of the two aircraft was completed. The fuselage and tail unit were assembled at Antonov Kyiv Mechanical Works facility in Kyiv, while the wing center section and outer wing panels were assembled at Valerii Chkalov Tashkent Production Association in Tashkent. The wings and wing center sections were transported from Tashkent to Kyiv on the An-22 Antaeus (Antei).
The single example built had the Ukrainian civil registration UR-82060. The second airframe had a slightly different configuration. Its construction was halted in 1994 because of lack of funding and interest, but revived briefly in 2009, bringing it to 60–70% completion. On Aug. 30, 2016, Antonov agreed to complete the second airframe for the Airspace Industry Corporation of China (not to be confused with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China) as a prelude to commencing series production.
H/T: Denis
