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Stuttgart, 28.03.2003 – With a wingspan of 88 meters and a
length of 84 meters, the Antonov AN 225 is con-
sidered to be the largest airplane in the world. The winged giant was originally designed as a carrier-air-
craft for the transport of the space shuttle Buran, the Soviet equivalent
of the American Space Shuttle. This also explains the striking double vertical stabilizer of the Antonov, since strong air turbulence is created at the tail of the aircraftl during the piggyback transport of the shut-
tle.
With
the first prototype of the AN 225, produced in 1988, there were no fewer than 106 world records set for weight, distance, and altitude during the course of flight testing, including the particularly prestigious title for the highest
take-off weight ever achieved by an aircraft, which weighed in at 506.8 tons.
But the joy evoked by the triumph was only short-lived. Then the ambitious aircraft project got caught up in the turmoil of world politics only a few
months later: as a re-
sult of the collapse of the former Eastern Block, a pre-
viously started second model could no longer be com-
pleted due to a lack of funds, and instead ended up as a spare parts depot for the previously
launched airborne version. And even the airworthy AN 225 dozed mothball-
ed for years, facing an uncertain future, until finally in 2001 arrangements for civil use were added to its reper-
toire. Since then, it is deployed as a
charter aircraft for international air cargo and is always very much in de-
mand when especially heavy or bulky loads need to be transported.
Its very first commercial flight brought the AN 225 to Stuttgart, where it loaded
190 tons of food for transport to the Persian Gulf by order of the US Armed Forces. A few weeks ago, the airplane paid a second visit to the Stutt-
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