Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Antonov An-225 – World largest and heaviest aircraft

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft, designed by the Soviet Antonov Design Bureau. It is the world's heaviest fixed-wing aircraft. The design, built to transport the Buran orbiter, was an enlargement of the successful An-124 Ruslan. The An-225's name, Mriya (Мрiя) means "Dream" (Inspiration) in Ukrainian. The An-225 is commercially available for flying over-sized payloads due to the unique size of its cargo deck. Currently there is only one aircraft in operation.