Antonov An-124

Russian An-124 in Volga-Dnepr service.

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 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.

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)
• 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

• Airliners.net An-124 (http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=40)

References

• Aviation.ru (http://www.aviation.ru/An/)

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

de:Antonow An-124 Ruslan ja:An-124 (輸送機) pl:An-124 Rusłan