The days of October 7 and 8 will remain in the history book of aviation in Romania. For the first time in the history of aviation and Henri Coanda International Airport, Antonov AN-225 landed in Bucharest.
Hundreds of people were present at the airport to photograph and admire him. Dozens of photographers managed to capture this historic moment in exceptional frames. Hundreds of thousands of people interacted and watched this unique moment online. On our part, present at the event was Teodor Coman, who captured the aircraft in unique and spectacular photos.
But there were also people who did not understand why so much effervescence around this plane. For these people, we present below some of the more than 200-300 reasons, namely national and world records.
- Antonov An-225 is the largest cargo plane in the world: 88.4 meters wingspan; 84 meters long; 18.1 meters high.
- Antonov An-225 has a limit for the maximum take-off mass of 640 tons.
- Antonov An-225 is powered by 6 TRDD D18T engines with 23400 hp each.
- The heaviest payload of the Antonov An-225 was 253 kilograms.
- In 2010, Antonov An-225 carried the longest piece of cargo: 2 wind turbine blades with a length of 42.1 meters.
- In 2012, the AN-225 hosted the largest art exhibition held at an altitude of 10.150 m. The aerial exhibition included 500 works of art created by 120 artists.
- During the pandemic, Antonov An-225 was requested for the transport of medicines, equipment and medical devices. The largest cargo transported was 1000 cubic meters and consisted of boxes with PPE masks.
- The first commercial flight operated by Antonov An-225 took place on January 3, 2002, one year after receiving the standard certificate, and consisted of the delivery of 216 meals to American soldiers in Omantulet. At that time, the goods consisted of 000 pallets and weighed 375 tons.
Antonov An-225 is unique and unmistakable. It was built on the structure of the Antonov An-124 aircraft, but underwent several important changes to achieve such performance. It is among the only aircraft in the world that have a double vertical stabilizer.
Above you have some of the reasons why the presence of An-225 turns into a celebration at any airport where it lands.