Airplane an 225 4 letters. The three largest aircraft in the world (34 photos)

People are always attracted by some kind of record - record planes always enjoy great attention.

The Airbus A380 is a wide-body double-deck jet passenger aircraft developed by Airbus S.A.S. (formerly Airbus Industrie) is the largest production airliner in the world.

The aircraft is 24.08 meters high, 72.75 (80.65) meters long, and has a wingspan of 79.75 meters. The A380 can fly nonstop up to 15,400 km. Seating capacity - 525 passengers in three classes; 853 passengers in a single-class configuration. There is also a cargo modification A380F with the ability to transport cargo up to 150 tons at a distance of up to 10,370 km.

It took about 10 years to develop the Airbus A380, and the cost of the entire program was about 12 billion euros. Airbus says it needs to sell 420 aircraft to recover costs, although some analysts estimate the figure should be much higher.

According to the developers, the most difficult part in creating the A380 was the problem of reducing its mass. It was possible to solve it due to the widespread use of composite materials both in load-bearing structural elements and in auxiliary units, interiors, etc.

To reduce the weight of the aircraft, advanced technologies and improved aluminum alloys were also used. So, an 11-ton center section for 40% of its mass consists of carbon fiber reinforced plastics. Top and side panels of the fuselage are manufactured from Glare hybrid material. On the lower panels of the fuselage, laser-welded stringers and skins were used, which significantly reduced the amount of fasteners.

According to Airbus, Airbus A380 burns 17% less fuel per passenger than "today's largest aircraft" (most likely a Boeing 747). The less fuel is burned, the lower the carbon dioxide emissions. For an aircraft, CO2 emissions per passenger are only 75 grams per kilometer. This is almost half the CO2 emissions standard set by the European Union for cars manufactured in 2008.

The first sold A320 aircraft was delivered to the customer on October 15, 2007 after a long phase of acceptance tests and entered service on October 25, 2007. commercial flight between Singapore and Sydney. Two months later, Singapore Airlines President Chiu Chong Seng said the Airbus A380 was performing better than expected and consuming 20% ​​less fuel per passenger than the Boeing 747-400.

The upper and lower decks of the aircraft are connected by two ladders, in the bow and aft of the liner, wide enough to accommodate two passengers shoulder to shoulder. In a 555-passenger configuration, the A380 has 33% more seating capacity than a Boeing 747-400 in its standard three-class configuration, but the cabin has 50% more space and volume, resulting in more space per passenger.

The aircraft has a maximum certified capacity of 853 passengers when configured with a single economy class. The announced configurations range from 450 passenger seats (for Qantas Airways) to 644 (for Emirates Airline, with two comfort classes).

Hughes H-4 Hercules is a wooden transport flying boat developed by the American company Hughes Aircraft under the leadership of Howard Hughes. Originally designated the NK-1 and unofficially nicknamed Spruce Goose, this 136-ton aircraft was the largest flying boat ever built, and its wingspan remains a record to this day. - 98 meters. It was designed to carry 750 soldiers fully equipped.

At the beginning of World War II, the US government allocated Hughes $ 13 million to build a prototype flying ship, but by the end of hostilities aircraft was not ready, which was due to the lack of aluminum, as well as the stubbornness of Hughes, who sought to create a flawless machine.

Specifications

• Crew: 3 people
• Length: 66.45 m
• Wingspan: 97.54 m
• Height: 24.08 m
• Fuselage height: 9.1 m
• Wing area: 1,061.88 m²
• Maximum takeoff weight: 180 tons
• Payload weight: up to 59,000 kg
• Fuel capacity: 52 996 l
• Engines: 8 × air-cooled Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4A, 3000 hp each. with. (2240 ​​kW) each
• Propellers: 8 × four-bladed Hamilton Standard, 5.23m diameter

Flight characteristics

• Top speed: 351 mph (565.11 km / h)
• Cruising speed: 250 mph (407.98 km / h)
• Flight range: 5634 km
• Service ceiling: 7165 m.

Despite its nickname, the plane is built almost entirely of birch, more precisely from birch plywood glued to a template.

The Hercules aircraft, piloted by Howard Hughes himself, made its first and only flight on November 2, 1947, when it took off to an altitude of 21 meters and covered approximately two kilometers in a straight line over the harbor of Los Angeles.

After long-term storage (Hughes kept the plane in working order until his death in 1976, spending up to US $ 1 million a year on this), the plane was sent to the Long Beach Museum, California.

The plane is visited by about 300,000 tourists annually. The biography of the aircraft creator Howard Hughes and the aircraft tests are shown in Martin Scorsese's film "The Aviator".

It is currently on display at the Evergreen International Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it was moved in 1993.

This machine was designed and built in a very short time: the first drawings began to be created in 1985, and in 1988 the transport plane was already built. The reason for such a tight deadline can be easily explained: the fact is that the Mriya was created on the basis of the well-developed components and assemblies of the An-124 Ruslan. For example, the Mriya's fuselage has the same transverse dimensions as the An-124, but longer, the wingspan and area of ​​the wings have increased. The same structure as the Ruslan has a wing, but additional sections have been added to it. The An-225 has two additional engines. The landing gear of the aircraft is similar to that of the Ruslan, but it has seven instead of five struts. The cargo hold has been changed quite seriously. Initially, two aircraft were laid down, but only one An-225 was completed. The second copy of the unique aircraft is about 70% ready and can be completed at any time, subject to proper funding. For its completion, an amount of $ 100-120 million is needed.

On February 1, 1989, the plane was shown to the general public, and in May of the same year, the An-225 made a non-stop flight from Baikonur to Kiev, carrying a Buran weighing sixty tons on its back. In the same month, the An-225 delivered the Buran spacecraft to the Paris air show and made a splash there. In total, the aircraft has 240 world records, including the transportation of the heaviest cargo (253 tons), the heaviest monolithic cargo (188 tons) and the longest cargo.

The An-225 Mriya aircraft was originally created for the needs of the Soviet space industry. In those years Soviet Union built "Buran" - his first reusable ship, an analogue of the American shuttle. For the implementation of this project, a transport system was needed with the help of which it was possible to transport large cargoes. It was for these purposes that Mriya was conceived. In addition to the components and assemblies of the spacecraft itself, it was necessary to deliver parts of the Energia rocket, which also had colossal dimensions. All of this was transported from the production site to the final assembly points. Units and components of Energia and Buran were manufactured in the central regions of the USSR, and the final assembly took place in Kazakhstan, at the Baikonur cosmodrome. In addition, the An-225 was originally designed so that in the future it could carry the finished Buran spacecraft. Also, the An-225 could transport bulky goods for the needs of the national economy, for example, equipment for the mining, oil and gas industries.

In addition to participating in the Soviet space program, the aircraft was to be used to transport oversized cargo over long distances. An-225 "Mriya" will perform this work today.

The general functions and tasks of the machine can be described as follows:

• transportation of general cargo (oversized, heavy) with a total weight of up to 250 tons;
• inland non-stop transportation of goods weighing 180-200 tons;
• intercontinental transportation of goods weighing up to 150 tons;
• transportation of heavy bulky goods on external sling with a total weight of up to 200 tons;
• the use of the aircraft for the air launch of spacecraft.

Other, even more ambitious tasks were set before the unique aircraft, and they were also related to space. The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft was supposed to become a kind of flying spaceport, a platform from which spaceships and rockets would be launched into orbit. Mriya, as conceived by the designers, was to become the first stage for the launch of the reusable spacecraft of the Buran type. Therefore, initially, the designers were faced with the task of making an aircraft with a carrying capacity of at least 250 tons.

The Soviet shuttle was supposed to take off from the "back" of the plane. This method of launching spacecraft into low-earth orbit has many serious advantages. Firstly, there is no need to build very expensive ground-based launch complexes, and secondly, launching a rocket or a ship from an airplane significantly saves fuel and allows you to increase the payload of the spacecraft. In some cases, this may make it possible to completely abandon the first stage of the rocket.

Various air launch options are being developed at the present time. They are especially active in this direction in the United States; there are also Russian developments.

Alas, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the "air launch" project, with the participation of the An-225, was practically buried. This aircraft was an active participant in the Energia-Buran program. An-225 performed fourteen flights with "Buran" on the upper part of the fuselage, within the framework of this program, hundreds of tons of various cargoes were transported.

After 1991, funding for the Energia-Buran program ceased, and the An-225 was left without work. Only in 2000, the modernization of the machine for commercial use began. The An-225 Mriya aircraft has unique technical characteristics, huge payload capacity and can carry bulky cargo on its fuselage - all this makes the aircraft very popular for commercial transportation.

Since that time, the An-225 has performed many flights and transported hundreds of tons of various cargoes. Some transport operations can be safely called unique and unparalleled in the history of aviation. The plane took part in humanitarian operations several times. After the devastating tsunami, he delivered power generators to Samoa, transported construction equipment to earthquake-devastated Haiti, and helped clean up the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan.

In 2009, the An-225 was modernized and its service life was extended.

The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft is made according to the classical scheme, with high-raised wings of a small sweep. The cockpit is located at the front of the aircraft, and the cargo hatch is also located in the bow of the aircraft. The aircraft is made on a two-keel scheme. This decision is associated with the need to transport goods on the fuselage of the aircraft. The glider of the An-225 has very high aerodynamic properties, the aerodynamic quality of this aircraft is 19, which is an excellent indicator not only for transport, but also for passenger aircraft. This, in turn, significantly improved the aircraft's performance and reduced fuel consumption.

Almost the entire interior space of the fuselage is occupied by the cargo compartment. Compared to the An-124, it has grown by 10% (by seven meters). At the same time, the wingspan increased by only 20%, two more engines were added, and the aircraft's carrying capacity increased by one and a half times. During the construction of the An-225, drawings, components and assemblies of the An-124 were actively used, thanks to which the aircraft was created in such a short time. Here are the main differences between An-225 and An-124 Ruslan:

• new center section;
• increased fuselage length;
• single-fin tail unit was replaced with two-fin tail unit;
• lack of a tail cargo hatch;
• the number of main landing gear struts has been increased from five to seven;
• system of fastening and pressurization of external loads;
• two additional D-18T engines were installed.

Unlike Ruslan, Mriya has only one cargo hatch, which is located in the nose of the aircraft. Like its predecessor, "Mriya" can change the ground clearance and the angle of the fuselage, which is extremely convenient for loading and unloading operations. The chassis has three pillars: a front two-pillar and two main pillars, each of which consists of seven pillars. Moreover, all racks are independent from each other and are produced separately.

For takeoff without cargo, the plane needs a runway length of 2,400 meters, with cargo - 3,500 meters.

An-225 has six D-18T engines suspended under the wings, as well as two auxiliary power units located inside the fuselage.

The cargo compartment is made sealed and equipped with all the necessary equipment for loading operations. Inside the fuselage, the An-225 can carry up to sixteen standard aviation containers (each weighing ten tons), fifty passenger cars, or any cargo weighing up to two hundred tons (turbines, extra-large trucks, generators). On top of the fuselage, special fasteners are provided for the transportation of bulky cargo.

Technical characteristics of An-225 "Mriya"

Dimensions (edit)

• Wingspan, m 88.4
• Length, m 84.0
• Height, m ​​18.2

Weight, kg

• Empty 250,000
• Maximum takeoff 600,000
• Fuel mass 300000
• Engine 6 * TRDD D-18T
• Specific fuel consumption, kg / kgf h 0.57-0.63
• Cruising speed, km / h 850
• Practical range, km 15600
• Range of action, km 4500
• Practical ceiling, m 11000

Crew of six people

An-225 is a Soviet super-heavy-duty transport jet developed by the OKB im. O. K. Antonova is the largest aircraft in the world.

An-225 "Mriya" is a unique transport aircraft with an extra-large payload. It was developed by the OKB im. Antonov. The project was supervised by Viktor Ilyich Tolmachev.

From 1984 to 1988, this unique aircraft was competently designed and created at the Kiev Mechanical Plant. He made his first flight on December 21, 1988. At the beginning of the development of the project, 2 aircraft were laid, and now one Mriya is used by Antonov Airlines. As for the second car, its readiness is estimated only at 70%.

Specifications An-225

This aircraft model has a six-engine turbojet vysokoplane with a swept wing and two-fin tail, as well as 6 D-18T aircraft engines. They were developed by ZMKB "Progress" them. A. G. Ivanchenko.

An-225 "Mriya" is a jet transport aircraft with a huge payload, which was named Cossack by NATO coding. It was designed back in the days of the Soviet Union by the chief designer V.I. Tolmachev. at the OKB im. Antonov. It flew for the first time on 12/21/1988. In our time, only one copy of the "Mriya" is in a working flight condition, another is 70% ready, but due to a lack of funding (about $ 100 million is required) the work is not being carried out. The operator of the one-of-a-kind giant aircraft is the Ukrainian airline AntonovAirlines.

History of creation

The need to design a huge-scale transport jet arose in connection with the maintenance of the Buran spacecraft. The functions of such an aircraft included the transportation of individual heavy elements of the spacecraft and the launch vehicle from the place of its assembly to the place of launch. The fact is that rockets and spacecraft are launched mainly in the equatorial region, where the value of the Earth's magnetic field is minimal, and, accordingly, the risks of accidents during takeoff are reduced.

Also, for the An-225, the task was set to carry out the first stage of the air launch of the spacecraft, and for this its carrying capacity must be at least 250 tons.

Since the dimensions of the Buran and the launch vehicle exceeded the dimensions of the cargo compartment of the Mriya, external fasteners were adapted to the transport aircraft for transporting goods outside. This specificity led to a change in its tail. It was necessary to replace the tail of the aircraft with a two-keel in order to avoid the heavy effects of aerodynamic currents.

All this suggests that the An-225 was designed as a highly specialized heavy transport aircraft, but some of the features that were taken from the An-124 made it versatile in its qualities.

Many sources mistakenly call P.V. Balabuev the chief designer of the An-225, but this is not the case. Balabuev was the chief designer of the entire Antonov design bureau in 1984-2005, but V.I. Tolmachev was appointed the head of the An-225 project.

Cooperation ties during the creation of "Mriya"

Since 1985, the leadership of the Central Committee of the CPSU has outlined a short time frame for the development of the An-225. Therefore, in the course of designing and creating a transport heavyweight, hundreds of thousands of designers, scientists, engineers, technologists, pilots, military men and workers from all republics of the former USSR were involved.

Consider the work of individual enterprises to create the An-225

• "OKB im. Antonov "(Kiev) - the main project work. Production of most of the assemblies, fuselage parts, fairings and fairings, bow, etc. Assembly: fuselage and general assembly of the aircraft.
• “Tashkent Aircraft Production Association named after Chkalov "- production of central and end parts of the wings on the basis of An-124.
• Ulyanovsk Aviation Complex - production of large-sized milled power frames, fuselage brackets, some serial units and aircraft parts.
• "Kiev Aviation Production Association" - manufacture of the nose of the fuselage, nose and horizontal empennage, front landing gear, ball screws for fuselage struts.
• Moscow Institute of Automation and Electromechanics - design and manufacture of the A-825M aircraft control complex.
• Zaporozhye Engine-Building Plant - production of serial D-18 engines.
• "Hydromash" ( Nizhny Novgorod) - production of new chassis.
• Voronezh aircraft plant. The specialists were engaged in painting the aircraft in Kiev.

An-225 aircraft capabilities

• Transportation of general cargo (heavy, oversized, long) with a total weight of up to 250 tons.
• Inland non-stop transportation of goods with a total weight of 180-200 tons.
• Intercontinental transportation of goods up to 150 tons.
• Transportation of external mono-cargoes attached to the fuselage with a weight of up to 200 tons.
• Mriya is a promising base for designing aerospace systems.

Let's consider the volume of the cargo compartment of the fuselage using examples.

• Cars (50 units).
• Universal aviation containers UAK-10 (16 pcs.).
• Large-sized mono-cargoes with a total weight of up to 200 tons (generators, turbines, dump trucks, etc.)

Exploitation

The first flight of the "Mriya" is dated 12/21/1988.

The aircraft was designed to transport the Buran spacecraft and Energia launch vehicles. However, before the completion of work on its release, the carrier rockets had already been transported by the Atlant aircraft, and the An-225 was only involved in moving the Buran itself. In May 1989 he was presented at the Paris Air Show and conducted several demonstration flights over Baikonur in April 1991.

After the collapse of the USSR, in 1994, the only Mriya unit stopped flying. Engines and some other items of equipment were removed from it and delivered to the Ruslans. But by the beginning of 2000, it became clear that the need for a working An-225 was very great, so they tried to restore it at Ukrainian enterprises. In order to fit an aircraft vessel to modern certificates civil aviation, it also required minor revision.

On May 23, 2001, the An-225 Mriya received certificates from the International Aviation Committee and the State Department of Aviation Transport of Ukraine. They made it possible to carry out commercial activities for the transport of goods.

At the present time, the owner of a single copy of the An-225 is the airline "AntonovAirlines", which carries out commercial cargo transportation as part of a subsidiary of ANTK im. Antonov.

On the basis of the aircraft, a flying complex is being designed for launching various aviation and space systems. One of the promising projects in this direction is MAKS (Ukrainian-Russian multipurpose aerospace system).

Records

For a short time of its existence, the An-225 has set hundreds of aviation records.

An-225 "Mriya" is the heaviest lifting aircraft that has ever taken off. The wingspan is second only to the HuglesH-Herkules, which made only one flight in 1974.

Especially many records have been set by the An-225 in terms of carrying capacity. So, on 03/22/1989, lifting a cargo with a total weight of 156.3 tons into the sky, he broke 110 world aviation records. But this is not the limit of his capabilities. August 2004 - the plane "Mriya" transports a cargo consisting of Zeromax equipment in the direction of Prague - Tashkent with refueling in Samara, with a total weight of 250 tons.

Five years later, in August 2009, the name of the Ukrainian aircraft once again entered the Guinness Book of Records, this time for transporting the heaviest mono-cargo in the cargo hold. It turned out to be a generator, which together with an auxiliary installation weighed 187.6 tons. The cargo was sent from the German city of Frankfurt to Yerevan at the request of one of the Armenian power plants.

An-225 "Mriya" holds the absolute record for carrying capacity of 253.8 tons.

10.06. In 2010, this aircraft carried the longest cargo in the history of air transportation - two blades of a propeller windmill, each with a length of 42.1 m.

If we sum up all the world records of "Mriya", then there are over 250 of them.

The second copy of "Mriya"

The second An-225 is only 70% ready in our time. Its assembly began back in the days of the Union at the aircraft plant. Antonov. According to the management of the plant, when a customer appears, it will be able to bring it to operational flight readiness.

Based on the statement of the general director of the Kiev Aviant Oleg Shevchenko, now it takes about $ 90-100 million in investments to lift the second copy of the An-225 into the air. And if you take into account the amount required for flight tests, then the total cost could rise to $ 120 million.

As you know, the development of this aircraft is based on the An-124 Ruslan. The main differences between the AN-225 and the AN-124 are as follows:

two additional engines,

an increase in the length of the fuselage as a result of inserts,

new center section,

replacement of the tail,

no tail cargo hatch,

system of fastening and pressurization of external loads,

an increase in the number of main landing gear struts.

As for the rest of the characteristics, the An-225 "Mriya" almost completely corresponds to the An-124, which greatly facilitated and reduced the cost of developing a new model and its use.

Appointment of An-225 "Mriya"

The reason for the development and creation of the An-225 was the need for an aviation transport platform designed for the Buran spacecraft. As you know, the main purpose of the aircraft within the project was the transportation of the space shuttle and its components from the production site to the launch site. In addition, the task was set to return the "Buran" spacecraft to the cosmodrome if it suddenly had to land at alternate airfields.

The An-225 was also supposed to be used as the first stage of the space shuttle air launch system. That is why the aircraft had to withstand a payload of more than 250 tons. Since the blocks of the Energia carrier and the Buran spacecraft itself had dimensions that slightly exceed the dimensions of the aircraft's cargo compartment, it was provided for external fastening of cargoes. This, in turn, required the replacement of the basic tail unit of the aircraft with a two-fin one, which made it possible to avoid aerodynamic shading.

As you can see, the aircraft was created to carry out a few specialized transport tasks that were very demanding. However, its construction on the basis of the An-124 Ruslan endowed the new aircraft with many qualities of a transport aircraft.

An-225 has the ability to:

transportation of multi-purpose cargo (oversized, long, heavy), the total weight of which is up to 250 tons;

inland transportation of goods weighing 180-200 tons without landing;

intercontinental transportation of goods, the total weight of which is up to 150 tons;

transportation of heavy mono-cargoes, with a total weight of up to 200 tons and with large dimensions.

An-225 is the first step in the creation of an aviation-comic project.

The model is distinguished by a spacious and roomy cargo compartment, which makes it possible to transport a wide variety of goods.

For example, you can translate into it:

fifty passenger cars;

mono-cargoes with a total weight of up to 200 tons (dump trucks, turbines, generators);

sixteen ten-ton UAK-10, which are universal aviation containers.

Cargo compartment parameters: 6.4 m - width, 43 m - length, 4.4 m - height. The An-225's cargo compartment is sealed, which expands its capabilities. Above the cargo compartment, there is a room for a 6-person replacement crew and 88 people who can accompany the transported cargo. Moreover, all control systems have a fourfold reservation. The design of the front cargo hatch and the on-board equipment complex allow loading / unloading cargo as conveniently and quickly as possible. The aircraft can carry bulky cargo on the fuselage. The dimensions of these goods do not allow them to be transported using other ground or air vehicles... A special fastening system ensures the reliability of finding these weights on the fuselage.

Flight characteristics of An-225

800-850 km / h - cruising speed

1500 km - flight distance with maximum fuel reserve

4500 km - flight range with a load of 200 tons

7000 km - flight range with a load of 150 t

3-3.5 thousand m - required runway length

Dimensions (edit)

88.4 m - wingspan

84 m - aircraft length

18.1 m - height

905 sq. m - wing area

Today An-225 "Mriya" is the largest aircraft in the world, as well as the most cargo-carrying one. Moreover, the giant has set a large number of world records, many of which are in terms of carrying capacity, take-off weight, length of cargo, etc.

Potential competition

The president of Antonov Airlines claims that launching satellite vehicles from the An-225 will be much cheaper than using the cosmodrome infrastructure. Moreover, the plane will not compete with the Polet project, which implies launching from the Ruslan. All this is because the Polet project planned to launch the so-called light satellites weighing up to 3.5 tons. But with the An-225 it is possible to produce medium-sized structures weighing up to 5.5 tons.

Well, as for the updated projects of the West, we are talking about the Airbus A3XX-100F aircraft and the Boeing 747-X aircraft model, their carrying capacity is no more than 150 tons, and they are beginning to compete with the An-225. Moreover, they have quite a lot of chances to win.

The last modernization of the An-225 aircraft took place in 2000, as a result of which it received navigation equipment that meets international standards.

In April 1973, after graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute, I was assigned to the Kiev Mechanical Plant (I come from the village of Velikopolovetskoye, Kiev region), where the general designer was O.K. Antonov. Since our institute was taught by outstanding specialists in the field of aviation, in particular, Eger S.M. (Deputy Tupolev A.N. on passenger topics), then I really wanted to get into the department of general types of KO-7, where the foundations of future aircraft are laid. But the deputy. the plant's HR director M. S. Rozhkov said: "Either go to the strength department of RIO-1, or drive back to Moscow." I had to reluctantly agree. And I was very lucky because I ended up in a wonderful team, where the leader was Elizaveta Avetovna Shakhatuni, the ex-wife of O.K. Antonova, a highly qualified specialist and a wonderful person. She always strived for new knowledge and introduced them into strength calculations, took care of young specialists, helped in both production and household issues.

I got into the new fatigue strength team created 4 months ago, where there was only one leader, Bengus G.Yu., and I later became his deputy. The fact is that in 1972 an An-10 passenger plane crashed near Kharkov, and in flight near Kuibyshev, the pilots heard something bursting in the area of ​​the central wing of the An-10 aircraft. Miraculously, the catastrophe did not happen. The Commission determined that the cause was fatigue failure of the wing center section. As a result, by order of the Ministry of Aviation Industry (MAP), such brigades were formed in all Experimental Design Bureau (OKB) of the USSR. Earlier in the USSR, the aircraft life was determined by the results of laboratory tests of full-scale aircraft airframes, which were calculated only for static strength, as well as by the results of the operation of aircraft, the so-called leaders (greater flight time and more frequent and thorough inspections).

The task of the new brigade was to develop methods for calculating the life of aircraft at the design stage. Since there was little experience, we tried to make the most of the available foreign experience, and the work that was carried out in other design bureaus, in particular Loim V.B, who worked for A.N. Tupolev, TsAGI (Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute), about the results of field tests of KMZ aircraft. Fatigue tests of samples and elements of aircraft structures were carried out. The main samples were with a hole, for calculating regular sections, and lugs, for calculating irregular (transverse joints) sections of the structure. Based on these tests and materials, methods were developed for calculating the wing, fuselage, empennage and other complex elements of the airframe structure. Later, they began to carry out calculations and tests for the rate of crack growth and residual strength of samples and structural elements. This work was carried out by S.P. Malashenkov. All these developments were first used in the design of the An-72, and then An-74. Moreover, the sturdy ones, out of fear (the specialists who were responsible for the resource of the An-10 aircraft, the prosecutor's office really wanted to put in jail, with great difficulty the management saved them) laid such a margin of safety that they could not destroy the wing during static tests. This made it possible to ensure maximum lifting capacity 10 tons, which is more than 1.5 times higher than the requirements of the TK.

Also, I would like to separately note the work performed on the selection of an alloy for complex milled parts from forgings and stampings for the An-72 and An-74 aircraft. In the USSR, low-strength (ultimate strength 39 kg / mm2) alloy AK6T1 was mainly used for these purposes. Although the V93T1 alloy (48 kg / mm2) was already widely used in the An-22 aircraft, the big problems with its low resource (see below) were very frightening for the strength specialists. In the USA, high-strength (56 kg / mm2) alloy 7075T6 was used for these purposes. According to the results of many studies, it was known that the medium-strength (44 kg / mm2) alloy D16T has high fatigue life characteristics and surpasses the listed alloys, but is practically never used in the form of a forging alloy. However, we found in the literature that in the aircraft "Karavella" (France), an analogue of the alloy D16T was used for these purposes. The All-Union Institute of Aviation Materials (VIAM) scared us, but not with any specific consequences, but, in general, that this alloy is not used for forgings and stampings. Nevertheless, at the Verkhne-Salda Metallurgical Plant (VSMOZ), we made experimental stampings, tested, and E.A. Shakhatuni. it was decided to use alloy D16T for forgings and stampings of the An-72 aircraft. I was sent to the indicated plant to agree on technical conditions, where we laid down the strength slightly above the average level, because the problem of weight reduction in aircraft construction has not yet been canceled. Nobody at the plant wanted to subscribe to these characteristics. I ran for a whole week between the workshops and the bosses, my ears froze, but the deputy helped us a lot. chief engineer E.M. Nikitin, forcing the lower classes to sign our characteristics. (Subsequently, the management of KMZ took him to our plant as the main metallurgist).

For more than 35 years, the An-72 and An-74 aircraft have been operated in difficult climatic conditions and there are no problems with D16T alloy parts!

At the same time, life tests of the full-scale airframe of the An-22 aircraft were carried out in the static testing laboratory. And there very early cracks began to appear, especially in the transverse joints of the wing. The wing of the An-22 aircraft was made: the bottom was pressed panels from alloy D16T, the top was pressed panels from alloy B95T1, and the transverse connecting elements, the so-called combs, were made of alloy B93T1. So, literally after 1000 laboratory cycles, cracks began to appear in the parts from the V93T1 alloy. And this alloy was also very widely used in the construction of both the fuselage and landing gear. And it was announced that whoever finds the crack will pay 50 rubles. And we climbed this wing like cockroaches in search of cracks. But they were found by specialists from the testing department, mainly by non-destructive testing methods. Later, when there was already an understanding of the causes of such early cracks, we realized that it was not only the alloy that was to blame, but also the designers and strength specialists who designed it. In particular, holes with a diameter of about 250 mm were made in the wing structure for the installation of fuel pumps. Around these large holes there were many small holes for the bolts that held the pump. This created the highest stress concentration. In the transverse joint comb, to which the wing panels were attached, for the purpose of facilitation, longitudinal holes were made, which intersected with the holes of the fasteners. All of these holes were sharp edged and of poor quality. Therefore, it is not surprising that the structure began to collapse so early. For calculations, in order to increase the resource of transverse joints, M.S. Schuchinsky. a computer program was developed, which made it possible to determine the load on bolts in multi-row joints. Using this program, specialists changed the diameter and material of the fasteners in order to evenly distribute the load between the bolts. Later, to ensure the service life of the wing of the An-22 aircraft in operation, the transverse joints were reinforced with steel plates, and the holes for the fuel pumps were cut and enlarged, removing the holes for the fasteners, which made it possible to significantly reduce the stress concentration. The fuel pumps were attached to the wing by means of adapters.

Shakhatuni E.A. doubts arose that the level of resource characteristics of domestic alloys was the same as that of their foreign counterparts, and in 1976 she commissioned me to compare the fatigue life. It was very difficult to do this, because there were significant differences - we have samples with a hole, they have side cuts; we have a test frequency of 40 Hz, they have 33 Hz. The test modes did not always coincide: pulsating load or symmetrical cycle. Nevertheless, having sifted through a bunch of foreign sources, we managed to find some convincing results, where we showed some advantages of foreign alloys over domestic ones in terms of fatigue life. A small report was prepared, I signed it with E.A. Shakhatuni. and thought that Antonov O.K. she will sign herself. But Elizaveta Avetovna sent me. She agreed with the secretary, Maria Alexandrovna, to let me see Oleg Konstantinovich. He was aware of these works, since Shakhatuni told him about it. And here I, a young specialist, come to Antonov with a report and a cover letter, in which this report was sent to the heads of the branch institutes TsAGI, VIAM and VILS. And Shakhatuni wrote a rather tough letter. I show all this to Antonov, and he says that the letter needs to be corrected and softened, which he does. I object because it has already been approved by Shakhatuni, to which Oleg Konstantinovich very gently and delicately tells me why it is necessary to remake the letter. Later I met Antonov several times in different situations, and I got the impression that he was emanating "warmth from the sun." After meeting with this outstanding Scientist, Designer, Organizer and Human I wanted to work and literally "fly"!

After the dispatch of this report, we started a real "war" with the leadership of VIAM and VILS (All-Union Institute of Light Alloys), who said that in the USSR all the characteristics of alloys and semi-finished products made of them are the same as in the United States, and we have nothing to do with them. we concede. Particularly tough confrontation was with the head of laboratory No. 3 of VIAM, IN Fridlander. TsAGI leadership, represented by Deputy. A.F. Selikhov, Head of TsAGI for Strength and the head of the department Vorobyov A.Z., although they took our side, they behaved very passively. The management of KMZ brought these issues to the level of the Ministry. We also took on our allies the strengthists from the Tupolev Design Bureau A.N. Over time, we at VIAM were supported by Academician S. T. Kishkin and his wife S. I. Kishkina, Doctor of Science, head of the laboratory of strength tests. Later, when R.E. Shalin was appointed the head of VIAM, joint productive work began. I was very lucky because I have worked with outstanding specialists in the branch metallurgy, ranging from ordinary employees to the heads of institutes, metallurgical plants and MAP. In general, at that time in the metallurgy industry there were many wonderful people and outstanding specialists with whom we collaborated: deputy. head of VILS Dobatkin V.I., head of VILS laboratory Elagin V.I., deputy. Head of VIAM V.A. Zasypkin and many, many others.

In the USSR, they could not understand in any way how foreign aircraft B-707, B-727, DC-8, etc. have a resource of 80,000-100,000 flight hours, while in the USSR 15,000-30,000. Moreover, when the aircraft was designed Tu-154, so twice it was already in operation to remake the wing, because it did not provide the required resource. Soon, we had the opportunity to study the design of foreign aircraft. At Sheremetyevo near Moscow, a DC-8 aircraft of a Japanese airline crashed, and then a B-707 aircraft of a Korean airline was "landed" on the Kola Peninsula by fighters, which got lost and got into the airspace of the USSR.

In MMZ, General Designer Ilyushin S.V. pieces of structures were collected and Shakhatuni sent me to select the necessary samples for research and study. They were also tested at TsAGI, in particular, for survivability (duration of crack growth and residual strength in the presence of a crack).

According to the results of research and testing, it was determined:

In the design (tail and longitudinal set of the fuselage) of American aircraft, the high-strength alloy 7075-T6 (analogous to the B95T1 alloy in the USSR) is more widely used, while in domestic aircraft for these structures, a less durable, but more high-resource alloy D16T (analogue in the USA 2024T3) was used ;

The widespread use of bolt-rivets and other fasteners, which were installed with an interference fit, which significantly increased the fatigue life;

Automatic riveting of wing panels with rods by Jemkor automatic machines, which ensured high fatigue characteristics and their stability, while in the USSR most of these works were carried out manually;

The use of hard cladding on the sheets, which increased their fatigue life. In the USSR, plating (coating to protect against corrosion) was carried out with pure aluminum;

Significantly higher level of structural design to ensure high fatigue life;

Higher quality of workmanship of structural elements and careful fitting of parts in production;

A lower content of harmful impurities of iron and silicon in alloys 2024 and 7075 than in domestic alloys, which increased the survivability (duration of crack growth and residual strength in the presence of a normalized crack) of the structure;

In the design of the chassis, high-strength (210 kg / mm2) steel was used, while our steel 30HGSNA with a strength of 160 kg / mm2.

The result of these studies and others subsequently became the widespread use of tension fasteners and high-purity alloys in the design of the An-124 aircraft for the indicated impurities D16ochT, V95ochT2 and V93pchT2, improving the culture and quality in serial production, introducing new technological processes, in particular, shot blasting panels and parts, etc., which made it possible to significantly increase the resource and corrosion resistance of load-bearing structures.

According to an unspoken tradition, if some kind of military transport aircraft was created in the United States, then something similar was built in the USSR: C130 - An-12, C141 - Il-76, C5A - An-124, etc. Lockheed was created and took off in 1967, the C5A aircraft, in the USSR they began to prepare an adequate response. At first it was called the "200" product, then the "400" product, later the An-124 aircraft. I don’t know for what reason its creation was delayed, but it helped us a lot to create an outstanding aircraft, because a huge amount of research, applied scientific and design work was carried out, as well as the negative experience of operating the C5A aircraft, in particular, early fatigue damage to the wing in operation, was taken into account. They tried so hard to reduce the weight of the airframe structure when creating the aircraft that they completely forgot about the resource. When they began to carry out intensive traffic during the Vietnam War, they quickly discovered the appearance of cracks in the wings, and they were first forced to reduce the weight of the transported cargo, and subsequently change the wings on all aircraft to new ones with a higher resource.

In particular, there was an acute problem of the choice of semi-finished products (pressed panels or rolled plates) for the manufacture of the structural structure of the wing of the An-124 aircraft. The fact is that abroad for the wings of passenger aircraft, which have a huge resource, rolled plates with stringers riveted to them are used (with the exception of military transport aircraft С141 and С5А, where pressed panels are used), and in the USSR, pressed panels were used more. where the skin and stringer are one piece. This was due to the fact that in the USSR, on the initiative of the head of VILS, academician A.F. In the early 1960s, for the production of the An-22 aircraft and taking into account the future in the industry, unique horizontal presses with a capacity of 20,000 tons for the production of pressed panels and vertical presses with a capacity of 60,000 tons for the manufacture of large-sized stampings were developed and built. There was no such equipment anywhere in the world. In the late 1970s, such a vertical press was bought in the USSR even by the metallurgical company Peshinet, France. Pressed panels were widely used in the wings of the An-24, An-72, An-22, Il-62, Il-76, Il-86, etc.

In the early 1970s, the Soviet Union considered the possibility of purchasing a wide-body passenger aircraft B-747 from Boeing. In the city of Everett, where these aircraft were built, a large delegation of the heads of the Ministry of Aviation Industry, Design Bureau and institutes flew. They were greatly impressed by what they saw in production and, especially, the automatic riveting of the wing panels, as well as the fact that the life of this aircraft was 100,000 flight hours. Then Boeing specialists flew in with reports on the B-747 aircraft in the USSR, where Elizaveta Avetovna also took part. After arriving in Kiev, she gathered us and talked about this meeting. Most of all, Shakhatuni was struck by the fact that the Americans wore a new suit, tie and shirt every day (these reports lasted only 3 days), since we usually had one suit for all occasions.

Also, TsAGI specialists, in particular G.I.Nesterenko, believed and showed, based on the test results of structural samples, that the survivability of riveted structures is higher than that of monolithic structures made of pressed panels, and I always agreed with this. (By the way, the B-747 was never bought, but an Il-86 was built instead).
Impressed by what they saw on Boeing, all industry institutes took the position that it was necessary to make the wing of the An-124 aircraft a prefabricated structure of rolled plates! We took the position that the wing should be made of pressed panels. And then, as they say, I found a scythe on a stone. Our designers and technologists have shown that in the case of using pressed panels with a tip, it is possible to use a flanged joint, rather than a shear joint, which simplifies the docking of the terminal and central parts of the wing and reduces labor intensity, simplifies the sealing of the wing box. The fact that in the USSR there is no production of long (up to 30 m) rolled plates, as in the USA. The posters also showed other benefits, but I don't remember them anymore. But we still had to prove that the resource and weight characteristics of such a wing would be no worse.

We prepared and agreed with the institutes a large Program of comparative tests and in the summer of 1976 I flew to the Tashkent Aviation Plant, where the head of our branch was I.G. Ermokhin. At this time, the Il-76 aircraft was being built here, the wing of which was made of pressed panels. I was assigned as an assistant to Demidov K.I. and we selected 10 extruded panels from alloy D16T, which differed, within the tolerance limits for strength and chemical composition. According to the "Program ...", the plant had to produce hundreds of different samples of different sizes for fatigue and survivability tests and send them to TsAGI, VIAM and KMZ. All this work, not specific to a serial plant, was then provided by Ermokhin and Demidov. Then I went to the MAP, where the management of the KMZ decided the issue, so that they would accept me at the Voronezh Aviation Plant, and also agree and implement the Test Program. From Moscow, I went to Voronezh, where the Il-86 aircraft was produced, in the design of the central part of the fuselage of which rolled plates of D16T alloy were used. I selected 3 plates, agreed on the Program, resolved all issues and got acquainted with the plant. At that time, in addition to the Il-86, the Tu-144 supersonic aircraft was also being built. Excellent workshops were built, the latest machine tools and equipment were purchased and installed, in particular, the wing of the aircraft was monolithic and was made by milling rolled plates from heat-resistant alloy AK4-1T1. I looked at all this splendor and thought, if all these funds that were invested in the creation of the Tu-144 aircraft were invested in subsonic aviation, then maybe we would have reached the level of the United States? The fact is that it was a "political" project that the Soviet Union never mastered. But this is from a different area.

Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Shakhatuni and the management of KMZ, funds were knocked out at the MAP and special testing equipment from the "Schenk" company (USA) was purchased, on which various tests of large-size structural samples were carried out. Muratov V.V. dealt with this issue. Less powerful equipment was purchased and a team was organized under the leadership of G.I.Khanin, which was engaged in numerous tests of small samples. Then Elizaveta Avetovna created a fractographic research team and “knocked out” a special microscope for crack research. The head of the brigade was L.M. Burchenkova, a highly qualified specialist in this field. In all these issues and in terms of the level of confidence in the results obtained, in a very short time we reached the level of the TsAGI and VIAM laboratories, which were considered the best in the industry, and even more so in the USSR!

As a result of a huge amount of tests carried out in 3 different laboratories of the D16T alloy, it was shown that:

Pressed panels surpass rolled plates in static strength by 4 kg / mm2;

Pressed panels surpass rolled plates in terms of fatigue life by 1.5 times;

The growth rate of a fatigue crack in pressed panels is 1.5 times lower, and the fracture toughness of CW is 15% higher.

These advantages were revealed only in one longitudinal direction, in which, in fact, the panels in the wing structure work. Microstructure studies have shown that pressed panels have a non-recrystallized (fibrous) structure, while rolled plates have a recrystallized structure, which explains the resulting difference in properties (see A.G. Vovnyanko's dissertation “Durability and Crack Resistance of New Aluminum Alloys Used in Airframe Construction ", Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, 1985).

Based on the results of these studies, pressed panels were selected for the manufacture of the wing of the An-124 aircraft.

Further, there was a huge work of VILS and VSMOZ on the development of long (30 meters) panels with a tip for the wing end part, large-sized profiles for spars and massive pressed strips for the central part of the wing, their manufacturing technology, as well as on casting large-sized unique ingots, creation and development equipment. It should be noted that VSMOZ was the largest metallurgical plant. He manufactured all kinds of large-sized pressed and stamped semi-finished products for most of the AN aircraft, so we had very close and close ties. At the plant, electric furnaces were used to smelt aluminum alloys, while at other plants, gas furnaces were used, which increased the purity of the metal. Also, all titanium blanks for aircraft, as well as semi-finished products for the manufacture of hulls of nuclear submarines were made at this plant, not to mention blanks for blades for jet engines and much more. The People and the Collective were amazing, solving the most advanced tasks in the aviation industry and the defense industry of the USSR!

After modifications and certification work and flight tests in 1991, the aircraft received a type certificate and began to be designated An-124-100. After that, other airlines, Russian and foreign, began to use it. The reserves incorporated into the design made it possible to increase the carrying capacity from 120 tons to 150 tons, and the resource up to 40,000 flight hours and 10,000 flights. Now, at the request of Volga-Dnepr Airlines, the possibility of further increasing the resource is being considered, since years of talk about the restoration of serial production of this aircraft, nothing more than an imitation of activities and self-promotion.
In the 1970s, a new generation of aluminum alloys appeared abroad: 2124, 7175, 2048, 7475, 7010, 7050 and technologies for manufacturing semi-finished products from them, as well as new two-stage aging modes T76 and T73 for 7000 series alloys. strength and, especially, resource properties and corrosion resistance. It should be noted that, in general, the USA was 10-15 years ahead of the USSR in this area (see article Vovnyanko A.G., Drits A.M., "Aluminum alloys in aircraft construction - past and present", Non-ferrous metals, No. 8, 2010).

In January 1977, the management of KMZ, at the suggestion of Shakhatuni, made a decision to create a group "Structural strength of metals", and I was appointed the head of this group. Zakharenko E.A. already worked for us, and I had to find the best guys for this job. I went from department to department, asked, consulted, and I managed to find excellent (in every sense) young specialists: I.S. Vorontsov, then V.V. Kuznetsov, who dealt with aluminum alloys, V.V. Grechko. - titanium alloys, and A.P. Kovtuna. - structural steels. Later Elizaveta Avetovna suggested expanding the research, and we took Nikolaychik A.I., who dealt with residual stresses in stampings and parts from them. These specialists carried out a huge amount of research, analysis of the results obtained, analysis of foreign literature, processing of the results and preparation of reports, etc. Since I spent most of my time on long business trips, the group was actually led by E.A. Shakhatuni.

In the RIO-1 department of Shakhatuni E.A. a huge work was organized to study foreign experience in various directions. Subscribed to domestic and foreign scientific journals. Translator M.N. Shnaidman, specially introduced to the department. exploration work was carried out on everything new in the field of strength, resource, materials and alloys. All this was translated, analyzed and implemented. For example, during the Vietnam War, the newest tactical bomber, the F-111A, crashed. The research results revealed that the cause was a minor manufacturing defect, from which a crack appeared prematurely. Work began in this direction abroad, and we did not lag behind here. On numerous, conventional and structural samples, tests were carried out and the calculation methods were worked out by S.P. Malashenkov. and Sements A.I .. Most of the work on research on design samples ed. "400" was headed by Ye.T. Vasilevsky.

Since for a long time working with metallurgists, studying special literature and foreign research, I already began to understand some of the laws in the field of creating alloys, and was well acquainted with specialists and with the heads of institutes and metallurgical plants, the idea appeared to create alloys specifically for the An-124 aircraft , fortunately what characteristics were needed I knew. However, it was the prerogative of the VIAM laboratory No. 3, which was headed by IN Fridlander. Therefore, it was necessary to bypass them. In VILS there was a team of like-minded friends with great knowledge and a desire to do this work - A.M. Drits, V.B. Zaikovsky. and Shneider G.I. and others. We were all young and the difficulties did not bother us. E.A. Shakhatuni supported us in this endeavor.

For the lower panels (work in flight in tension) of the wings of passenger and transport aircraft, medium-strength (44-48 kg / mm2) alloys were used, where the main alloying element was copper: 2024, D16 and their derivatives. These alloys have high level fatigue life and survivability. They have a relatively low corrosion resistance. Since the level of stresses in the lower wing panels is determined (with the exception of the wing ends, where the thickness is so small that it is determined structurally) only by resource characteristics, their significant improvement increases the weight efficiency and service life of aircraft. In the case of using pressed panels, it was also important to ensure that a non-recrystallized structure is obtained. This is facilitated by the introduction of a small amount of zirconium into the alloy. A very important characteristic for a precast-monolithic (11 panels in the root part) wing made of pressed panels is the crack growth duration and residual strength in the presence of a two-span crack (one stringer is destroyed and the crack approaches two adjacent stringers). Later it was determined that this wing can withstand operational loads when one panel is completely destroyed. Some reduction in alloying plays a role here. However, it was necessary not to lose significantly the tensile strength and, especially, the yield strength.

For the upper panels (work in flight in compression) of the wing, high-strength glories on a zinc basis were used: 7075, B95. These alloys have also been widely used for fighter and bomber wings, where the resource requirements are not so high. With one-stage heat treatment T1, they have high strength, but low resource characteristics and corrosion resistance.
Introduced first abroad, and then in the USSR, two-stage aging modes, with a slight decrease in strength, somewhat increased the resource characteristics and, significantly, corrosion resistance. In the USSR, high-alloyed high-strength alloys V96 were developed, and then V96ts for single-use missiles. But they were not suitable for aircraft with a large resource, and it was impossible to make large-sized ingots from them, and therefore semi-finished products. In the USA, a high-alloy high-strength universal alloy 7050 was developed and widely introduced, which replaced alloys 7075, 7175 for all types of semi-finished products. It surpasses the indicated alloys in static strength by about 4-5 kg ​​/ mm2 and is used only in two-stage aging modes. We analyzed it, but it did not suit us in terms of technological properties, since it was impossible to cast large-sized ingots of the required size from it. Therefore, all efforts were directed to slightly increase the ultimate strength and yield strength and, significantly, resource characteristics.

An alloy for the manufacture of forgings and stampings. As mentioned above, in the USSR there were 2 AK6T1 and V93T1 alloys, which did not suit the designers, and we used the D16T alloy for the An-72 and An-74 aircraft.

The peculiarity of the B93 alloy is that iron is an alloying element in it. This allows the workpieces to be quenched in hot (80 degrees) water, which reduces the leash and the level of residual stresses. Fee - low survivability characteristics. The 7050T73 alloy used at that time in the USA for these purposes significantly exceeded all the indicated alloys in terms of the entire range of properties.

But we also had other problems, namely, for the manufacture of long panels and massive pressed strips of forgings and stampings, it is necessary to cast large ingots with a diameter of up to 1200 mm, and we physically could not go for high alloying. A special feature of transport aircraft is the high wing position to bring the fuselage closer to the ground and to simplify the loading of cargo. As a result, it is necessary to use very massive power frames, as well as chassis mounting brackets, power lows in the area of ​​attaching the front struts and the threshold of the rear load carrier. In airplanes with a lower wing, such massive semi-finished products and parts from them are not needed. This is the difference between the An-124 and the B747: in the latter there are much fewer complex parts made of stampings and they are much smaller in size.

Also, at this time it became generally known that the impurities of iron and silicon, which are present in all these alloys, significantly reduce the survivability. Therefore, their content in alloys had to be reduced as much as possible. The development of new alloys is not done in one year, because it is necessary to carry out a large complex of research and development, first in the laboratories of the institutes, and then in the production and design bureau.

We had just begun to carry out this work, and it was already necessary to determine, and what should be used for the design and manufacture of the An-124 aircraft? Based on the knowledge gained, the following decisions were made: lower wing panels - pressed alloy panels from alloy D16 ochT (och - very clean); upper wing panels - extruded panels from V95ochT2 alloy; forgings and stampings from alloy D16ochT. Also widely used in the airframe design are sheets and profiles made of high-purity aluminum alloys (PM). In the critical load-bearing structures of the airframe and landing gear, parts made of titanium alloy VT22 and high-alloy steel VNS5 are used. The sheet flooring of the cargo compartment floor is made of sheets of titanium alloy VT6. Also titanium alloys are widely used in aircraft systems, in particular, air systems.

I am here forced to interrupt the story about the development of new alloys, because All efforts during this period were directed to the manufacture and supply of semi-finished products, as well as the manufacture of parts from them for the construction of the first An-124 aircraft for flight tests and the second aircraft for static tests.

As I said before, we used large-sized long (30 m) extruded panels with tips and profiles for the side members for the aircraft. The long length was chosen due to not making an additional transverse joint, because it is mass and labor intensity. In Verkhnaya Salda, where these semi-finished products were made, there was no equipment for their quenching and stretching. Such equipment was in Belaya Kalitva, Rostov region, since it was planned to develop the production of long rolled plates there. But the rolling mill purchased abroad stood and rusted in boxes. To deliver these panels, first to Belaya Kalitva, and then to Tashkent, where the wing was manufactured, a special railway platform was made. And then one day I was called by the chief controller of the KMZ V.N. Panin. and says that we need to go to the metallurgical plant in Belaya Kalitva to see how things are going there. The three of us, including the head of production OG Kotlyar, went there on a study trip. The first batch of panels was already there. And the workshop had just been built and the factory workers did not know which side to approach these panels. The bosses went for a ride and left for Kiev, and they left me hostage, although I was not a metallurgist and did not understand anything about these matters. If in Verney Salda the panels were lowered vertically during hardening, then horizontally, because it is impossible to build a bathtub 31 meters deep and instantly lower the panel there. When the panel, heated to a temperature of about 380 °, was lowered into cold water with a temperature of 20 °, it was curled up in a terrible way. We spent, probably, a whole month, until various experiments provided acceptable geometry. I will not reveal all the secrets here. Then, again, the required stretching of semi-finished products was experimentally determined in order to remove residual stresses and obtain the required geometry. Difficulties were due to the different thicknesses of the regular section and tip, and therefore, different degrees of deformation.

Later, the lead designer from the wing department A.V. Kozachenko was sent to help me. Together, it became more fun not only to work, but also to survive, because we worked 16 hours a day with a break only for sleep and seven days a week. deadlines were running out. We moved on to the next stage - checking for defects detected by ultrasonic testing methods. And then we were horrified! The number of such defects (delamination) inside the metal reached 3000-5000 pieces. And they were not evenly spaced, but in some kind of spots, as if someone was “shooting” this panel from a shotgun. No one could guarantee that it would not fall apart on the very first flight. And so the whole first batch of panels. There is nothing to do - we went to Kiev to report to the authorities. After I reported to P.V. Balabuev, he convened a meeting with the general designer O.K. Antonov. There were not many people. In addition to the above, there were the chief technologist Pavlov I.V., the head of the airframe design division Bragilevsky V.Z., the head of the wing department Gindin G.P., me and Kozachenko and how much more people. I briefly reported on the problems. After that, Oleg Konstantinovich raised the question - what to do and what will be the proposals? Balabuev P.V., who, as the chief designer for the An-124 aircraft, was responsible for the timing, suggested cutting the panels and making an additional transverse joint. Bragilevsky spoke for a long time, but what he was proposing - I still did not understand. When they gave me the floor, I said that we would try and make long panels. Why I said this, I still do not understand, tk. nothing depended on me. Probably in his youth. After that, Oleg Konstantinovich took full responsibility for himself and decided to continue to work on providing high-quality long panels. In fact, quality for defects was ensured in Verkhnyaya Salda, and not in Belaya Kalitva.

We went straight after the meeting to Belaya Kalitva. There was a huge meeting of representatives of institutes, leaders from Tashkent, who were also running out of time (they made the central and end parts of the wing), P.V. Balabuev also flew in. After the meeting, before departure, Balabuev took me aside and said - “what you want do, but provide panels for the first plane! ". Kozachenko and I had to take great risks and take responsibility upon ourselves. We have already focused not only on the number of defects, but also on how they are located in the design of the part, since a significant amount of metal is removed during the milling process. V difficult situations called up with the designers in Kiev and they analyzed the location of defects and their effect on strength. For several months, from October 1978 to April 1979, we provided the required number of panels for the manufacture of the first wing, although the number of defects in them sometimes reached 1000-1500 pieces. Work, responsibility and stress were so exhausting that after 3 weeks the roof began to go off and we drove home for 2-3 days with a report and at least one eye to see the family. After reporting to Balabuev, the very next day he called and asked why you were sitting here, let's go back. On one of these trips from Belaya Kalitva to Kiev, there was a blizzard. And in the steppe he sweeps all the tracks and the traffic stops. It took a day to get from Belaya Kalitva to Rostov, although the distance there is about 200 km. Paid truckers. I come to Kiev, I go to Shakhatuni and say that like this and so, I had to get there, spend money and ask me to compensate. And Elizaveta Avetovna says: “I didn't send you there. Go to the one who sent you there. " I had to go to Balabuev and he wrote me as much as 20 rubles. And so no bonuses, tk. I was listed in the RIO-1 department, where there was a bonus fund for the work that the department did, and I did not like it for Balabuev and Shakhatuni. These were the pies! I don't remember exactly, but probably about 50% of the panels went to waste. We took a significant number of substandard panels to Kiev, where we then made samples and carried out various tests.

Only at the end of April I arrived in Kiev, as a new misfortune - a sink in the tip (delamination inside the metal for the entire length of the tip). Again they are sent to Verkhnyaya Salda, and at the same time to Tashkent. It was May 11, in Tashkent it is already plus 30 °, I think it will not be very cold in the Urals, and I flew to Sverdlovsk in a suit. I arrive there, and there is plus 3 ° and it is snowing. Frozen like "tsutsyk". I had to visit my wife's relatives and get warm. While I was getting to Verkhnyaya Salda, the plant workers, together with VILS, had already solved the problem - they reduced the pressing speed in the tip zone and the defect disappeared.

In the summer of 1979, a new misfortune came, now from Tashkent. Huge workpieces of parts made of D16ochT alloy forgings after quenching began to crack. For the first aircraft, parts are made of forgings, because production of dies is a lengthy process. The Ministry gathered and urgently sent there a large Commission of representatives of VIAM, VILS and MAP. From KMZ - we are from Shakhatuni. We arrived there, and there about 10 blanks of parts have already cracked. Since the forgings are very huge, for example, for power frames about 4 m long, 0.8 m wide, 0.3 m thick and weighing up to 3 tons, it is pre-milled, leaving only a rough allowance. This is necessary so that the cooling rate is high and the part has the required strength and corrosion properties. After familiarizing ourselves with the situation, all of us members of the commission sit at a large table and think, what kind of attack is this, what to do? At this time, more and more new messages arrive: the workpiece has cracked and more. The bill went already over 2 dozen!

I looked, the face of Elizaveta Avetovna turned yellow like parchment. I was also frightened, I thought that if they didn’t shoot them, they would definitely send them to Siberia, because it was KMZ that insisted that forgings and stampings be made of D16ochT alloy. P.V. Balabuev arrived urgently. He took me aside to consult on what to do. I start to "bleat", like I have to do like the Americans for the C5A aircraft from the B95ochT2 alloy. By that time, we, together with institutes, had already carried out work on this alloy for forgings and stampings, and it began to be used for fighters. But Peter Vasilievia says - “No, let them (that is, VIAM) offer and answer. Enough is enough for us! " VIAM offered V93pchT2 alloy. Since the tensile strength of these alloys is the same (44kg / mm2), there was no need to change the drawings. And since the B93 alloy is quenched in hot water, no quenching cracks arise in large-sized workpieces from forgings, unlike the D16 alloy, which is quenched in cold water. The Commission wrote the Decision, where Elizaveta Avetovna nevertheless insisted that there be a point, such as continuing work on the D16ochT alloy for forgings and stampings ed. "400". There was also described the procedure for writing off these blanks and forgings, which is about 300 tons of high-quality metal, an instruction to allocate funds for the manufacture of new forgings from B93 alloy, and much more. And they sent me to the MAP so that I would approve this Decision with the Deputy Minister A.V. Bolbot. there was a "slippery" point on alloy D16, but we hoped that A.V. it will not "see" and will sign it. Orlov N.M. under A.V. Bolbot's office and says: "As you see that he is coming, so immediately call me." I was sitting under the door of the office and suddenly Anufriy Vikentievich appeared and said: "Well, why are you sitting - come in." I took the Solution and began to read quickly. I got to this unfortunate point and said: "I do not make technical decisions, but I can only give instructions to institutions." Corrects this paragraph and signs the Decision. I, like a "beaten dog", go to N. Orlov. and I get a scolding from him that it was not necessary to go to Bolbot, but it was necessary to call him. He himself went to Anufriy Vikentievich to leave that point in its original form, and left with nothing. I arrived in Kiev, went to P.V. Balabuev. and I say that I no longer want to deal with alloy D16 for forgings and let him tell Elizaveta Avetovna about it. To which he says to me: “Go yourself and tell me. She is a smart woman, she will understand. " But Elizaveta Avetovna was offended and did not speak to me for several weeks. But then we resumed our normal production relations and we, as we were "friends", have remained.

My trips to metallurgical plants and to Tashkent continued to ensure the construction of the first and then the second An-124 aircraft.

In the spring of 1982, Pyotr Vasilyevich took me to a meeting at the Ministry, which was chaired by Minister IS Silaev. The issue of providing semi-finished products for the serial production of the An-124 aircraft was considered. Serial production was launched without waiting for the results of flight tests, tk. The USSR has already lagged far behind the United States in the number and quality of strategic military transport aircraft. We went by train to SV, and I took 0.5 Armenian brandy. Dined and drank. I got numb, and Balabuev P.V. at least that. In the morning he went to his apartment to put himself in order, and I went to the MAP. We met already in the conference room, where various leaders began to gather - me "with a hangover", and Pyotr Vasilyevich, like a "cucumber". Then Pyotr Vasilyevich says - "I have business and I went, and you report." I fell into a stupor. The Minister came, academicians, heads of institutes and heads of metallurgical plants and Silaev asked where the speaker was. There is nothing to do, I take the posters and go to hang them up. When I was preparing posters for meetings, Elizaveta Avetovna taught me - “there, he says, the bosses are elderly and have poor vision. Therefore, you write on the posters in small and large letters. " That's exactly what I did. In general, stuttering and trembling with fright, I began my report. First, I showed what alloys are used abroad and that we are lagging behind in terms of characteristics. Ivan Stepanovich turned inquiringly to the leaders of VIAM and VILS, to which they began to prove that this was not the case and everything was the same with us. Since no one supported me, I had to move on to the second question. I reported numerous defects in semi-finished products and a large number of rejects. There was already nothing to cover and everyone agreed. The protocol recorded that institutes should carry out work and improve the quality of semi-finished products in order to significantly reduce scrap, and metallurgical plants increased the number of semi-finished products produced to ensure the serial production of the aircraft. And I still do not understand why Pyotr Vasilyevich set me up like that? Probably you didn't want to quarrel with the heads of the institutes?

For the first time in the industry, passports were introduced for all semi-finished products of the An-124 aircraft, which indicated the entire range of properties. The test results were used not only by VIAM, but also by KMZ. Also, for the first time in the industry for these semi-finished products, K1C fracture toughness control was introduced at metallurgical plants.

In parallel, over the course of 2 years, work has been widely developed at VILS to study the effect of various alloying elements on the entire complex of properties. Numerous ingots were cast and strips were pressed, and forgings were forged from forging alloys. The technology of their manufacture, temperature regimes and aging regimes were worked out. After that, samples were made and tests were carried out for strength, resource characteristics and corrosion resistance in VILS and KMZ. Zirconium was introduced into all investigated alloys as an alloying addition, since this improved the resource properties (See article Vovnyanko A.G., Drits A.M. "Influence of composition on fatigue resistance and crack resistance of pressed semifinished products from alloys of the Al-Cu-Mg and Al-Zn-Mg-Cu systems. Izvestiya AN SSSR . Metals. 1984, No. 1). After a large amount of research, chemical compositions and manufacturing technology were selected for industrial testing. The "Research Program ..." was written and I went to Verkhnyaya Salda, where I agreed with the management about the manufacture of a pilot batch of long panels and large-sized forgings of the An-124 aircraft from new alloys. It was an amazing time !!! Then these semi-finished products arrived at KMZ, where samples were made from them and sent for testing to VILS, TsAGI and VIAM. The test results confirmed the advantages of these alloys in terms of the entire range of properties in comparison with alloys used for the manufacture of critical load-bearing structures of the An-124 aircraft (see the article by A.G. Vovnyanko, A.M. Drits, G.I. Schneider “Monolithic structures and aluminum alloys with zirconium for their manufacture. "Technology of light alloys. August, 1984).
Then Drits A.M. phoned. and said: "We will formalize the author's inventions for the specified composition of alloys" and that VIAM specialists should also be included there. I was very indignant: “And why are they? They didn’t do anything. ” To which, experienced in these matters, Alexander Mikhailovich, replied: "If we do not include them in the team of authors, then we will introduce these alloys." without the approval of VIAM, it was impossible to use something on airplanes. I also went to Elizaveta Avetovna and suggested that she be included in the composition of the authors. At this she was very indignant and said: “And what have I got to do with it? You have studied, that's enough. " I tried to prove to her that without her support, none of this would have happened. But she did not begin to talk to me further. This is what a noble and intelligent person means! After all, I knew the bosses at KMZ who forced their subordinates to write themselves in the Copyright, otherwise they would not sign the documents. Dritsom A.M. applications were submitted and we received copyright certificates No. 1343857, registered on 8.06.1987, No. 1362057, 22.08.1987, No. 1340198, 22.05.1987). Subsequently, these alloys received the new names 1161, 1973 and 1933.

But this is not all the Achievements of Elizabeth Avetovna. After the plane had already been put into production and static and, in part, fatigue tests were carried out (by the way, at the initiative of E.A. Shakhatuni, on one aircraft copy, which no one else in the world has managed to do), Elizaveta Avetovna managed to introduce these new alloys into serial production of the An-124 aircraft! The lower wing panels were made of 1161T alloy, the upper ones - from 1973T2, stamping - from 1933T2. Later, in all new aircraft An-225, An-70, An-148 and others, these alloys began to be widely used.

In 1986, the developers of these alloys, including myself, became laureates of the USSR Council of Ministers Prize.

In 1982, I came to Elizaveta Avetovna and said that I wanted to deal with airplanes, because I had no prospects in the strength department. Shakhatuni went to Pyotr Vasilyevich and he gave the go-ahead for my transfer to the newly created service of leading designers for the An-70 aircraft. Such an amazing and bright Person was Shakhatuni Elizaveta Avetovna!

In 1985 I was appointed the head of a group of leading designers for the creation of the An-225 aircraft. And here we have already immediately introduced new aluminum alloys 1161T, 1972T2 and 1993T in all structural structures of the wing, fuselage and tail. This made it possible to provide a payload unprecedented in the world aircraft industry - 250 tons, while ensuring the resource specified in the technical specification. There is no doubt that in the future this resource will be significantly increased by analogy with the An-124 aircraft.

In the early 1990s, Drits A.M. called. and invited me to give a talk at Boeing in Moscow. Leading experts from VIAM and VILS gathered there, and Boeing recently opened its branch on the street. Tverskoy. I reported on the widespread use of milled monolithic parts in the design of Antonov aircraft, as well as their characteristics of fatigue and survivability. After some time, the head of the Boeing branch for the CIS countries, S.V. Kravchenko, came to us in Kiev. I took him to the first deputy general designer Kiva D.S., where he proposed to make a joint research work on a monolithic all-milled pressure bulkhead in the forward fuselage (this is where the containment zone ends and a locator is installed in front). These pressure bulkheads on all aircraft, both us and abroad, were riveted construction. Kiva D.S. said that if Boeing pays $ 1 million, then KMZ agrees to carry out such work. When we left, Sergei said: "I have a budget of only $ 3 million for all the CIS, so this is unrealistic." As a result, they began to work with MMZ im. Ilyushina S.V. on the luggage rack using milled parts.

In the early 1990s, Fridlander I.N. "Contrived" to patent alloys 1161, 1973 and 1933 according to a new one, introducing into the basic chemical composition impurities in hundredths of a%, which are always present in all aluminum alloys. Naturally, I forgot about us, the developers.

What we developed and applied more than 30 years ago in the An-124 aircraft is currently used by Boeing in the designs of the newest aircraft B787 "Dreamliner", B747-8, etc. Even the name of the aircraft was stolen: "Dream-Dream-Mriya" , because this name was invented by P.V. Balabuev. for the An-225 aircraft. These aircraft are widely used monolithic milled parts from aluminum alloys and, especially, from titanium alloys. The fact is that the machining of geometrically complex parts on modern machines with the highest milling speed turns out to be much cheaper in production than manufacturing a prefabricated structure, where there is a lot of manual labor. The number of parts, work steps, workplaces, fasteners, tooling, etc. is significantly reduced. Boeing even set up a joint venture with VSMOZ (now AVISMA) to produce titanium alloy blanks and parts.

An-225 "Mriya" is the largest aircraft in the world that has ever taken off ("mriya" from the Ukrainian "dream"). The maximum lifting weight of the aircraft is 640 tons. The An-225 aircraft was built specifically for the transportation of the Soviet reusable spacecraft "Buran". The aircraft was produced in a single copy.

The aircraft project was developed in the USSR and built at the Kiev Mechanical Plant in 1988.
An-225 has set a world record for carrying capacity. On March 22, 1988, the plane took off with a load of 156.3 tons and broke 110 aviation records.

Over the entire period of operation, the aircraft flew 3740 hours. If we consider the average aircraft speed of 500 km / h, the take-off and landing time, it comes out about 1,870,000 kilometers or 46 around the Earth at the equator.

The dimensions of the An-225 are striking: it is 84 meters long, and 18 meters high.

The photo shows an illustrative example of the An-225 and Boeing-747 aircraft.
If we compare the largest Boeing-747-800, then the An-225 is 8 meters longer, and the size of the wings is 20 meters.

Not all airports can park such a giant, in such cases the aircraft is parked directly on the alternate runway.

The wingspan is 88.4 meters. There is one aircraft in the world that surpasses the An-225 in wingspan, the Hughes H-4 Hercules took off once in 1947.

On the An-225 Aircraft, external attachments were provided for transporting bulky cargo, for example, the Buran spacecraft and blocks of the Energia launch vehicle. The cargo is secured at the top of the aircraft.

The loads fixed at the top could create wake jets, which required the installation of a two-fin tail unit in order to avoid aerodynamic shading.

The aircraft is equipped with six D-18T engines, each developing a thrust of 23.4 tons during takeoff.

Each engine develops 12,500 hp during takeoff.

The D-18T engine of the An-225 Mriya aircraft is also installed on the An-124 Ruslan. The weight of the engine is 4 tons and the height is 3 meters.

The total volume of fuel tanks is 365 tons. The plane can fly 15 thousand kilometers and stay in the air for 18 hours.

It takes from 2 to 36 hours to refuel such a giant, it all depends on the volume of refuelers (from 5 to 50 tons).

Fuel consumption 15.9 tons per hour (cruise flight). When fully loaded, the aircraft can stay in the air without refueling for no more than 2 hours.

The chassis consists of 16 struts, each rack has 2 wheels, for a total of 32 wheels.

90 landings, this is the resource of all wheels, after which they need to be changed. Wheels are produced in Yaroslavl, the price of one wheel is about 30 thousand rubles.

Wheel size: on the main rack 1270 x 510 mm, on the front 1120 x 450 mm. Wheel pressure 12 atmospheres.

An-255 has been performing commercial transportation since 2001.

Cargo compartment: 43 meters long, 6.4 meters wide, 4.4 meters high.
The cargo compartment is completely sealed, which allows you to transport any type of cargo. What can be fit on the plane, for example: 80 cars, 16 containers or trucks of the giants "BelAZ".

The cargo compartment is opened by lifting the bow upwards.

It takes 10 minutes to open access to the cargo hold.

The landing gear folds under itself, the front of the aircraft is lowered down onto special supports.

Auxiliary dough.

Aircraft lowering system control panel.

This type of loading has a number of advantages over the Boeing 747, which is loaded from the side of the fuselage.

The An-225 aircraft carries cargo: commercial 247 tons (4 times more than the Boeing-747), and the record carrying capacity is 2538 tons. In 2010, the longest cargo in air transportation was delivered, 2 windmill blades of 42.1 m each.

For the safety of the flight, the cargo is placed strictly according to the instructions, observing the center of gravity, after which the co-pilot checks the correct placement of the cargo and reports to the commander.

The aircraft is equipped with its own loader of 4 lifts, each lifting 5 tons. The floors are equipped with two winches for loading non-self-propelled goods.

The services of the largest aircraft are used all over the world, for example: now it is necessary to transfer 170 tons of cargo of a French engineering company from Zurich to Bahrain. Refueling will be required in Athens and Cairo.

Alston turbine rotor for electricity generation.

Towing of the An-225 "Mriya"

The very heavy weight of the aircraft leaves such marks on the asphalt.

The technical compartment is located in the rear of the cockpit. There are many different systems here, but their work is controlled by 34 on-board computers, human intervention is minimized.

The crew of the An-225 aircraft consists of six people: the aircraft commander, co-pilot, navigator, senior flight engineer, aviation equipment flight engineer, flight radio operator.

The helm, it is flown by the largest plane in the world.

For an empty plane to take off, 2400 meters of the runway are enough. If the plane is fully loaded, a 3500 meter runway is required.

It takes 10 minutes for the engine to warm up before takeoff, which provides maximum thrust.

Takeoff and landing speed depends on the weight of the aircraft (with and without cargo) and ranges from 240 to 280 km / h.

The plane is gaining altitude at a speed of 560 km / h.

After climbing to more than 7 thousand meters, the speed increases to 675 km / h and further increases, the ship climbs to the flight level.

The cruising speed is 850 km / h. The speed is calculated taking into account the cargo carried and the flight range.

Pilots' dashboard (middle panel).

Dashboard of the senior flight engineer.

Instruments for monitoring the operation of engines.

Navigator.

Flight engineer.

The ship's captain and co-pilot.

Landing at a speed of 295 km / h, landing gear braking occurs at a speed of 145 km / h and until the very stop of the aircraft.

Aircraft service life: 25 years, 8 thousand flight hours, 2 thousand take-offs and landings. The aircraft reached its service life in 2013 and was sent for thorough research and repair, after which the service life will increase to 45 years.

The services of transportation of the largest aircraft An-225 "Mriya" are very expensive. An aircraft is ordered when very heavy and long cargo needs to be transported, only if transportation by land and water is not possible. The company wants to make a second such plane, but this is just talk. The cost of building the second An-225 aircraft is about $ 90 million, taking into account all tests, it increases to $ 120 million.

The largest aircraft in the world, the An-225, belongs to Antonov Airlines.

An-225 "Mriya" (translated from Ukrainian - "dream") is the heaviest cargo aircraft ever to take off. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 640 tons. The reason for the construction of the An-225 was the need to create an aviation transport system for the project of the Soviet reusable spacecraft "Buran". The plane exists in a single copy.

The aircraft was designed in the USSR and built in 1988 at the Kiev Mechanical Plant.

Mriya has set a world record for take-off weight and payload. On March 22, 1989, the An-225 flew with a load of 156.3 tons, thereby breaking 110 world aviation records at the same time, which is a record in itself.

Since the beginning of operation, the aircraft has flown 3740 hours. Assuming that average speed flights (taking into account takeoff, climb, cruise flight, descent, landing approach) is about 500 km / h, then you can calculate the approximate value of the mileage traveled: 500 x 3740 = 1,870,000 km (more than 46 orbits around the Earth at the equator) ...

The scale of the An-225 is striking: the length of the aircraft is 84 meters, the height is 18 meters (like a 6-storey 4-entrance building)

A visual comparison of the "Mriya" and the passenger Boeing-747.

If we take the largest of the Boeing 747-800s as a basis, then the length of the An-225 will be 8 meters longer, and the wingspan by 20 meters.
Compared to the Airbus A380, the Mriya is 11 meters longer, and its wingspan surpasses it by almost 9 meters.

It happens that the airport does not have an adequate parking space for such a large aircraft, and it is parked directly on the runway.
Of course, we are talking about an alternate runway, if the airport has one.

The wingspan is 88.4 meters and the area is 905 m²

The only aircraft that surpasses the An-225 in wingspan is the Hughes H-4 Hercules, which belongs to the class of flying boats. The ship flew into the air only once in 1947. The history of this aircraft is reflected in the film "Aviator"

Since the "Buran" spacecraft itself and the blocks of the "Energia" carrier rocket had dimensions exceeding the dimensions of the "Mriya" cargo compartment, the new aircraft provided for cargo fastening outside. In addition, it was planned that the aircraft would be used as the first stage at the launch of the spacecraft.

The formation of a wake jet from a large-sized cargo fixed at the top of the aircraft required the installation of a two-fin tail unit in order to avoid aerodynamic shading.

The aircraft is equipped with 6 D-18T engines.
In takeoff mode, each engine develops a thrust of 23.4 tons (or 230 kN), i.e. the total thrust of all 6 engines is 140.5 tons (1380 kN)

It can be assumed that each engine in takeoff mode develops a power of about 12,500 horsepower!

The D-18T engines of the An-225 are the same as on the An-124 Ruslan.
The height of such an engine is 3 m, the width is 2.8 m, and the weight is more than 4 tons.

Starting system - air, with electric automatic control. The auxiliary power unit, consisting of two TA-12 turbine units installed in the left and right fairings of the chassis, provides autonomous power supply to all systems and engine start.

The mass of the fuel in the tanks is 365 tons; it is stored in 13 wing-type caisson tanks.
The aircraft can stay in the air for 18 hours and cover a distance of over 15,000 km.

The refueling time for such a machine ranges from half an hour to one and a half days, and the number of tankers depends on their capacity (from 5 to 50 tons), i.e. from 7 to 70 tankers.

The aircraft's fuel consumption is 15.9 tons / h (in cruise mode)
When fully loaded, the plane can stay in the sky without refueling for no more than 2 hours.

The chassis includes a two-post bow and 14-post main (7 posts on each side) support.
Each rack has two wheels. A total of 32 wheels.

Wheels require replacement every 90 landings.
Tires for "Mriya" are produced at the Yaroslavl Tire Plant. The price of one tire is about $ 1000.

On the nose rack - wheels measuring 1120 x 450 mm, and on the main one - wheels measuring 1270 x 510 mm.
The pressure inside is 12 atmospheres.

Since 2001, the An-225 has been performing commercial cargo transportation as part of the "Antonov Airlines"

Cargo compartment dimensions: length - 43 m, width - 6.4 m, height - 4.4 m.
The aircraft's cargo compartment is hermetically sealed, which allows for the transportation of various types of cargo. Inside the cab it is possible to place 16 standard containers, up to 80 cars and even heavy-duty dump trucks of the "BelAZ" type. There is enough space here to fit the entire body of a Boeing 737.

The cargo hold is accessed through the nose of the aircraft, which folds upward.

The process of opening / closing the cargo compartment ramp takes no more than 10 minutes.

To unfold the ramp, the plane performs the so-called "bow of the elephant".
The front landing gear is tilted forward and the weight of the aircraft is transferred to auxiliary supports that are installed under the front sill of the cargo compartment.

Auxiliary support.

The control panel for the "squatting" system of the aircraft.

This loading method has a number of advantages in comparison with the Boeing-747 (which is loaded through a compartment in the side of the fuselage.

Mriya holds the record for the weight of the transported cargo: commercial - 247 tons (which is four times more than the maximum payload of Boeing-747), commercial mono-cargo - 187.6 tons, and an absolute record for carrying capacity - 253.8 tons. On June 10, 2010, the longest cargo in the history of air transportation was transported - two windmill blades, each 42.1 m long.

To ensure a safe flight, the center of gravity of the loaded aircraft must be within certain limits along its length. The loader-master performs loading in strict accordance with the instructions, after which the co-pilot checks the correct placement of the cargo and reports this to the crew commander, who decides on the possibility of performing the flight and is responsible for this.

The aircraft is equipped with an onboard loading complex, consisting of four lifting mechanisms, each with a carrying capacity of 5 tons.
In addition, there are two floor winches for loading non-self-propelled wheeled vehicles and cargo on the loading dock.

This time, the An-225 was chartered by the French engineering company Alstom to transport 170 tons of cargo from Zurich, Switzerland to Bahrain, with refueling in Athens and Cairo.

These are turbine rotor, turbine generator for electricity generation and components.

Flight manager Vadim Nikolaevich Deniskov.

For towing the An-225 it is impossible to use the carrier of the aircraft of other companies, therefore the carrier is transported on board the aircraft.

And since the aircraft is not equipped with a rear cargo hatch and the towing carrier is unloaded and loaded through the front cargo hatch, which requires a full cycle of the airplane squatting on the front support, as a result, at least 30 minutes is lost and the resource of the airplane structure and the squatting system is unnecessarily consumed.

Aircraft maintenance foreman.

To ensure turns when the aircraft moves on the ground, the last four rows of the main support struts are orientable.

Aircraft maintenance technician: specialization in hydraulic systems and chassis.

The heavy weight of the aircraft causes the landing gear to leave marks on the asphalt.

Ladder and hatch to the cockpit.

The passenger compartment is divided into 2 parts: in the front there is the crew of the aircraft, and in the back - the accompanying and service personnel.
The cabins are sealed separately - they are separated by a wing.

The back of the escort's cabin is intended for eating, working with technical documentation and holding conferences.
The aircraft provides 18 seats for the crew members and members of the engineering and technical brigade - 6 seats in the front cockpit and 12 in the rear.

Ladder and hatch to the escort's cockpit at the rear of the aircraft.

Technical compartment located at the rear of the cockpit.

On the stacks, you can see the blocks that ensure the operation of various aircraft systems, as well as the pipelines of the pressurization and air conditioning system and the anti-icing system. All aircraft systems are highly automated and require minimal crew intervention during operation. Their work is supported by 34 on-board computers.

The wall of the front side member of the center section. Installed on it (from top to bottom): transmission of slats and air bleed pipelines from engines.
In front of it there are stationary cylinders of the fire protection system with the Khladon extinguishing agent.

Stickers - souvenirs from numerous visitors on the panels on the doors of the aircraft emergency escape hatch.

The farthest point from the base airport, which the plane managed to visit, is the island of Tahiti, which is part of French Polynesia.
Shortest arc distance the globe about 16400 km.

Rynda An-225
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mason, mentioned in the engraving, is an aircraft operation engineer who worked at Mriya for many years.

Aircraft commander (PIC) - Vladimir Yurievich Mosin.

To become a commander of the An-225, one must have at least 5 years of experience in flying the An-124 as a commander.

Weight and balance control is simplified by installing a weight-measuring system on the chassis.

The aircraft crew consists of 6 people:
aircraft commander, co-pilot, navigator, senior flight engineer, aviation equipment flight engineer, radio operator.

Ores

To reduce the efforts on the throttle and increase the accuracy of setting the operating modes of the engines, a remote engine control system is provided. In this case, the pilot applies a relatively small force to move the lever of an electromechanical device mounted on the engine with the help of cables, which reproduces this movement on the lever of the fuel regulator with the required force and accuracy. For the convenience of joint control during takeoff and landing, the extreme engines' thrusters (RUD1 and RUD6) are linked to the RUD2 and RUD5 respectively.

The steering wheel of the largest aircraft in the world.

Aircraft control is booster i.e. the steering surfaces are deflected exclusively with the help of hydraulic steering drives, in case of failure of which it is impossible to control the aircraft manually (with an increase in the required forces). Therefore, a fourfold reservation is applied. The mechanical part of the control system (from the steering wheel and pedals to hydraulic steering drives) consists of rigid rods and cables.
The total length of these cables is: aileron control systems in the fuselage - about 30 meters, in each console (left, right) wing - about 35 meters; elevator and rudder control systems - about 65 meters each.

With an empty plane - 2400 m of the runway is enough for takeoff and landing.
Takeoff with a maximum weight - 3500 m, landing with a maximum weight - 3300 m.

At the executive start, the engines begin to warm up, which takes about 10 minutes.

This prevents engine surge on takeoff and provides maximum takeoff thrust. Of course, this requirement leads to the fact that: takeoff is performed during the period of minimal airport congestion, or the plane waits for its turn for takeoff for a long time, skipping flights on schedule.

The takeoff and landing speed depends on the takeoff and landing weight of the aircraft and ranges from 240 km / h to 280 km / h.

The climb is carried out at a speed of 560 km / h, with a vertical speed of 8 m / s.

At an altitude of 7100 meters, the speed increases to 675 km / h with a further continuation of the climb to flight level.

Cruising speed An-225 - 850 km / h
When calculating cruising speed the weight of the aircraft and the flight range that the aircraft must cover is taken into account.

Dmitry Viktorovich Antonov - Senior PIC.

The middle dashboard of the pilots' dashboard.

Back-up instruments: artificial horizon and altitude indicator. Fuel lever position indicator (UPRT), engine thrust indicator (UT). Indicators of deviation of steering surfaces and takeoff and landing devices (slats, flaps, spoilers).

Dashboard of the senior flight engineer.

In the lower left corner there is a side panel with controls for the hydraulic complex and signaling of the chassis position. Top left panel of the aircraft fire protection system. At the top right is a panel with controls and devices for control: starting the APU, pressurization and air conditioning systems, anti-icing systems and a block of signal boards. Below is a panel with controls and monitoring of the fuel supply system, engine operation monitoring and an onboard automated monitoring system (BASK) of all aircraft parameters.

Senior Flight Engineer - Alexander Nikolaevich Polishchuk.

Instrument panel for engine operation control.

On the left, at the top, there is a vertical indicator of the position of the fuel levers. Large circular gauges - high pressure compressor and engine fan speed indicators. The small round gauges are the oil temperature gauges at the engine inlet. The block of vertical instruments at the bottom - indicators of the amount of oil in the engine oil tanks.

Aviation equipment engineer dashboard.
The controls and instruments for monitoring the aircraft power supply system and oxygen system are located here.

Navigator - Anatoly Binyatovich Abdullaev.

Flight over the territory of Greece.

Navigator-instructor - Yaroslav Ivanovich Koshitsky.

Flight radio operator - Gennady Yuryevich Antipov.
The ICAO call sign for the An-225 on the flight from Zurich to Athens was ADB-3038.

Onboard engineer - Yuri Anatolyevich Mindar.

Athens airport runway.

Landing at night on the "Mriya" is performed instrumentally, that is, by instruments, from the leveling height and before touching - visually. According to the crew, one of the most difficult landings is in Kabul, due to the high mountains and many obstacles. The approach begins at a speed of 340 km / h up to an altitude of 200 meters, then gradually the speed is reduced.

Landing is carried out at a speed of 295 km / h with fully extended mechanization. It is allowed to touch the runway at a vertical speed of 6 m / s. After touching the runway, thrust reverse is immediately shifted on engines 2 through 5, and engines 1 and 6 are left at low throttle. The landing gear is braked at a speed of 140-150 km / h until the aircraft comes to a complete stop.

The service life of the aircraft is 8000 flight hours, 2000 takeoffs and landings, 25 calendar years.

The aircraft can still fly until December 21, 2013 (25 years have passed since the start of its operation), after which a thorough study of its technical condition will be carried out and the necessary work will be performed to ensure the extension of the calendar service life up to 45 years.

Due to the high cost of transportation on the An-225, orders appear only for very long and very heavy loads, when transportation by land means of transport is impossible. Flights are random: from 2-3 per month to 1-2 per year. From time to time there are talks about the construction of a second copy of the An-225, but this requires a corresponding order and appropriate funding. To complete the construction, an amount of approximately $ 90 million is required, and taking into account the tests, it rises to $ 120 million.

Perhaps this is one of the most beautiful and impressive aircraft in the world.

Thanks to Antonov Airlines for the help in organizing the photo shoot!
Special thanks to Vadim Nikolaevich Deniskov for his help in writing the text for the post!

For all questions regarding the use of photos, write to e-mail.