Thursday, May 19, 2016

World's Largest Plane: It's Hard to Believe it Can Fly

Huge...

The jumbo of jets.

When the largest plane on the planet comes to town, it tends to attract attention. Like, more than 10,000 people turning out to the airport and causing mega traffic jams just to get a look, wired.com reports.

That’s what happened in Perth, Australia this week, when the 32 wheels of the Antonov An-225’s landing gear met the tarmac. Also known as the Mriya (that’s Ukranian for “dream”), the most jumbo of jets is 275 feet long and 288 feet wide, and entered service in 1988, according to wired.

The Soviet Union designed the plane to carry its space shuttle on its back, but went out of business before it could deliver more than one. The Antonov stacks up superlatives—it’s the longest bodied, longest winged, and heaviest plane in the sky. Six engines and a twin tail let the 600-ton aircraft haul 250 tons of cargo, loaded through its nose.

For more about the huge plane:  

-- From wired.com's report:  https://www.wired.com/2016/05/antonov-225-mirya-perth-australia-traffic/

-- From a fascinating video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRBHkeP_y5k


The Antonov 225 parked next to a Boeing 747.

Photoa: Pinterest. 

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