العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolANTONOV AN-124
(Redirected from An-124)
The 'Antonov An-124 ''Ruslan''' (NATO reporting name: 'Condor') was the largest aircraft ever mass produced until production of the Airbus A380 started, and was, until the advent of the An-225 ''Mriya'', the largest aircraft in production. During development it was known as the 'An-400' and 'An-40' in the West, and it flew for the first time in 1982. Over forty are currently in service (26 civilian models with airlines and 10 firm orders at August 2006)[1] in Russia, Ukraine, UAE and Libya.
Physically, the An-124 is similar to the American Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but it has a 25% larger payload. An-124s have been used to carry locomotives, yachts, aircraft fuselages, and a variety of other oversized cargoes. The An-124 is able to kneel to allow easier front loading. Up to 150 tonnes of cargo can be carried in a military An-124: it can also carry 88 passengers in an upper deck behind the cockpit. However, due to limited pressurization in the fuselage, it seldom carries paratroopers.[2]
The An-124 was manufactured in parallel by two plants: the Russian company Aviastar-SP (ex. Ulyanovsk Aviation Industrial Complex) and by the Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT, in Ukraine. Series production ceased with the break up of the Soviet Union. The last five unfinished airframes left from the Soviet times were completed in 2001 (1), 2002 (1), and 2004 (3). While currently no An-124 are being produced - there are joint effort of Russia and Ukraine to resume series production in 2008-2009.2000 (the 'An-124-100') have an improved service life of 24,000 hours, older airframes are being upgraded to this standard. The works on its extension up to 40,000 flight hours are being performed. The state enterprise Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT (Kiev, Ukraine) offers upgrades to the АN-124-100М-150 version.
Germany led the recent effort to lease An-124s for NATO strategic airlift requirements. Two aircraft are leased from SALIS GmbH as a stopgap until the Airbus A400M is available.[3]
Russian cargo company Volga-Dnepr has contracts with Boeing to ship outsize aircraft components to their Everett plant. The An-124 is used for airlifting (in fully assembled form) the massive General Electric GE90 turbofan engines used in the Boeing 777 airliner.
Airbus Transport International has selected another Russian cargo company, Polet Airlines as 'designated carrier' to the company. Polet expects its three An-124-100s will transport astronautic equipment manufactured by EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus and full-size components of a model of the Airbus A380 superjumbo.[4] As the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is the only A380 engine that can be transported whole in a Boeing 747F[5], the competing Engine Alliance GP7200 needs a larger aircraft, like the An-124, if it is to be shipped in one piece.
★ On May 1987, an An-124 set a world record, covering the distance of 20,151 km without refuelling. The flight took 25 hours and 30 minutes; the takeoff weight was 455,000 kg. The previous record was held by B-52H (18,245 km).
★ In July 1985, an An-124 took 171,219 kg of cargo to an altitude of 10,750 m.
★ An An-124 was used to transport the Obelisk of Axum back to its native homeland of Ethiopia in April 2005. The shipment was done in three trips, each carrying a third of the monument's 160 tons and 24-metre (78 ft) length. Modifications were done to the airstrip at Axum in order to accommodate such a large aircraft.
★ An An-124 was used to transport an EP-3E Aries II electronic intelligence aircraft from Hainan Island, China on July 4, 2001 during the U.S.-China spy plane incident.
★ A 109-tonne train locomotive was transported by an An-124 from Canada to Ireland in June 1994.[6]
★ A Volga-Dnepr An-124 delivered a whale from Nice (France) to Japan; another flight was to deliver an elephant from Moscow to Taiwan.[7]
★ On September 9, 2003, an Antonov An-124 carried an 85-ton vessel head to Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, for use at the nearby Three Mile Island Unit One nuclear power plant.
★ The Air Launch Aerospace Corporation (ALAC) in Russia will develop a space transportation system for near-earth orbit using a space launch vehicle ejected from the AN-124-100AL aircraft.
As of 2005 there have been four major crashes of An-124s, with a total of 50 fatalities, taking place between 1992 and 1997:
# CCCP-82002, operated by Antonov Airlines crashed near Kiev, Ukraine on October 13 1992 during flight testing. 8 fatalities
# RA-82071, Operated by Aviastar Airlines crashed into a mountain at 11,000' while in a holding pattern at Kerman, Iran on November 15 1993. 17 fatalities.
# RA-82069, owned by Aeroflot but operated by Ajax, crashed at Turin, Italy, during a go-around on October 8 1996. 2 fatalities.
# RA-82005, operated by the Russian Air Force, crashed after take-off in Irkutsk, Russia, on December 5 1997. 23 fatalities.[8]
Minor incidents of An-124s include:
# UR-82029, owned by Antonov Airlines overran the runway at Windsor, Ontario while landing at night and in snow on December 18 2000. It stopped 340 feet beyond the runway after landing some 3400 feet beyond the threshold of runway 25, which is 7850 feet long. None of the 20 crew was injured, and the plane suffered minor damage.[9]
★ : Soviet Air Force
★ : Russian Air Force
★ : Ukrainian Air Force
In August 2006 a total of 26 Antonov An-124 aircraft remain in airline service, with a further 10 firm orders. It is currently operated by:
★ Aeroflot Russian International Airlines
★ Aeroflot Soviet Airlines
★ Air Foyle (in partnership with Antonov Design Bureau
★ Antonov AirTrack
★ Ayaks (Ajax)
★ HeavyLift Cargo Airlines (in partnership with Volga-Dnepr Airlines)
★ Russia State Transport Company
★ Titan Cargo
★ Transaero Airlines
★ TransCharter Titan Cargo
★ 0 tons of cargo = 15,000 km [10]
★ 10 tons of cargo = 14,125 km
★ 20 tons of cargo = 13,250 km
★ 30 tons of cargo = 12,375 km
★ 40 tons of cargo = 11,500 km
★ 72 tons of cargo = 8,700 km
★ 90 tons of cargo = 7,125 km
★ 97 tons of cargo = 6,495 km
★ 104 tons of cargo = 5,900 km
★ 108 tons of cargo = 5,550 km
★ 120 tons of cargo = 4,500 km
★ 122 tons of cargo = 4,325 km
★ 92 tons of cargo = 7,500 km
★ 113 tons of cargo = 5,925 km
★ 120 tons of cargo = 5,400 km
★ 122 tons of cargo = 5,250 km
★ Airbus A380F has a flight range of 10,400 km with 152 metric tons of cargo.
★ C-5 Galaxy has a flight range of 3,982 km with 122 metric tons of cargo. An-124 has 32% longer range.
★ Boeing 747-400 has a range of 8,240 km with 113 metric tons of cargo, 39% more than An-124 and 79% more than the C-5 Galaxy.
★ Il-96-400T has a range of 4800 km with 92 metric tons of cargo. An-124 has 56% more range. However with 40 tons of cargo both An-124 and Il-96-400T have the same range: 11,500 km.
1. Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
2. Fixed-Wing Aircraft Phillips, CPT W. Scott
3. Strategic airlift agreement enters into force
4. Airbus Taps Russian Carrier
5. Trent 900
6. The first flying train in history
7. press release 14-10-2004
8. Aviation Safety Network
9. Transportation Safety Board of Canada Incident Report
10. www.voldn.ru
★ Airliners.net An-124
★ Aviation.ru
★ The Antonov Giants at Greg Goebel's AIR VECTORS
★ Aviastar-SP
14. www.airlaunch.ru
AN-124 at Moffett Federal Airfield transporting USAF helicopters to Afghanistan.
The 'Antonov An-124 ''Ruslan''' (NATO reporting name: 'Condor') was the largest aircraft ever mass produced until production of the Airbus A380 started, and was, until the advent of the An-225 ''Mriya'', the largest aircraft in production. During development it was known as the 'An-400' and 'An-40' in the West, and it flew for the first time in 1982. Over forty are currently in service (26 civilian models with airlines and 10 firm orders at August 2006)[1] in Russia, Ukraine, UAE and Libya.
Physically, the An-124 is similar to the American Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but it has a 25% larger payload. An-124s have been used to carry locomotives, yachts, aircraft fuselages, and a variety of other oversized cargoes. The An-124 is able to kneel to allow easier front loading. Up to 150 tonnes of cargo can be carried in a military An-124: it can also carry 88 passengers in an upper deck behind the cockpit. However, due to limited pressurization in the fuselage, it seldom carries paratroopers.[2]
The An-124 was manufactured in parallel by two plants: the Russian company Aviastar-SP (ex. Ulyanovsk Aviation Industrial Complex) and by the Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT, in Ukraine. Series production ceased with the break up of the Soviet Union. The last five unfinished airframes left from the Soviet times were completed in 2001 (1), 2002 (1), and 2004 (3). While currently no An-124 are being produced - there are joint effort of Russia and Ukraine to resume series production in 2008-2009.2000 (the 'An-124-100') have an improved service life of 24,000 hours, older airframes are being upgraded to this standard. The works on its extension up to 40,000 flight hours are being performed. The state enterprise Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT (Kiev, Ukraine) offers upgrades to the АN-124-100М-150 version.
Service
AN-124 in Brussels
Germany led the recent effort to lease An-124s for NATO strategic airlift requirements. Two aircraft are leased from SALIS GmbH as a stopgap until the Airbus A400M is available.[3]
Russian cargo company Volga-Dnepr has contracts with Boeing to ship outsize aircraft components to their Everett plant. The An-124 is used for airlifting (in fully assembled form) the massive General Electric GE90 turbofan engines used in the Boeing 777 airliner.
Airbus Transport International has selected another Russian cargo company, Polet Airlines as 'designated carrier' to the company. Polet expects its three An-124-100s will transport astronautic equipment manufactured by EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus and full-size components of a model of the Airbus A380 superjumbo.[4] As the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is the only A380 engine that can be transported whole in a Boeing 747F[5], the competing Engine Alliance GP7200 needs a larger aircraft, like the An-124, if it is to be shipped in one piece.
Significant activities
Antonov An-124 taking off from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
★ On May 1987, an An-124 set a world record, covering the distance of 20,151 km without refuelling. The flight took 25 hours and 30 minutes; the takeoff weight was 455,000 kg. The previous record was held by B-52H (18,245 km).
★ In July 1985, an An-124 took 171,219 kg of cargo to an altitude of 10,750 m.
★ An An-124 was used to transport the Obelisk of Axum back to its native homeland of Ethiopia in April 2005. The shipment was done in three trips, each carrying a third of the monument's 160 tons and 24-metre (78 ft) length. Modifications were done to the airstrip at Axum in order to accommodate such a large aircraft.
★ An An-124 was used to transport an EP-3E Aries II electronic intelligence aircraft from Hainan Island, China on July 4, 2001 during the U.S.-China spy plane incident.
★ A 109-tonne train locomotive was transported by an An-124 from Canada to Ireland in June 1994.[6]
★ A Volga-Dnepr An-124 delivered a whale from Nice (France) to Japan; another flight was to deliver an elephant from Moscow to Taiwan.[7]
★ On September 9, 2003, an Antonov An-124 carried an 85-ton vessel head to Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, for use at the nearby Three Mile Island Unit One nuclear power plant.
★ The Air Launch Aerospace Corporation (ALAC) in Russia will develop a space transportation system for near-earth orbit using a space launch vehicle ejected from the AN-124-100AL aircraft.
Safety record
An-124-100 Ruslan
As of 2005 there have been four major crashes of An-124s, with a total of 50 fatalities, taking place between 1992 and 1997:
# CCCP-82002, operated by Antonov Airlines crashed near Kiev, Ukraine on October 13 1992 during flight testing. 8 fatalities
# RA-82071, Operated by Aviastar Airlines crashed into a mountain at 11,000' while in a holding pattern at Kerman, Iran on November 15 1993. 17 fatalities.
# RA-82069, owned by Aeroflot but operated by Ajax, crashed at Turin, Italy, during a go-around on October 8 1996. 2 fatalities.
# RA-82005, operated by the Russian Air Force, crashed after take-off in Irkutsk, Russia, on December 5 1997. 23 fatalities.[8]
Minor incidents of An-124s include:
# UR-82029, owned by Antonov Airlines overran the runway at Windsor, Ontario while landing at night and in snow on December 18 2000. It stopped 340 feet beyond the runway after landing some 3400 feet beyond the threshold of runway 25, which is 7850 feet long. None of the 20 crew was injured, and the plane suffered minor damage.[9]
Operators
Military
★ : Soviet Air Force
★ : Russian Air Force
★ : Ukrainian Air Force
Civil
In August 2006 a total of 26 Antonov An-124 aircraft remain in airline service, with a further 10 firm orders. It is currently operated by:
| Airline | In Service | On Order |
|---|---|---|
| Volga-Dnepr | 10 | 5 |
| Antonov Design Bureau | 7 | 0 |
| Polet Airlines | 6 | 5 |
| Libyan Arab Air Cargo | 2 | 0 |
| Kyiv Aviation Plant AVIANT ''(Operated for the UAE government)'' | 1 | 0 |
Former Operators
★ Aeroflot Russian International Airlines
★ Aeroflot Soviet Airlines
★ Air Foyle (in partnership with Antonov Design Bureau
★ Antonov AirTrack
★ Ayaks (Ajax)
★ HeavyLift Cargo Airlines (in partnership with Volga-Dnepr Airlines)
★ Russia State Transport Company
★ Titan Cargo
★ Transaero Airlines
★ TransCharter Titan Cargo
Flight Range
An-124-100
★ 0 tons of cargo = 15,000 km [10]
★ 10 tons of cargo = 14,125 km
★ 20 tons of cargo = 13,250 km
★ 30 tons of cargo = 12,375 km
★ 40 tons of cargo = 11,500 km
★ 72 tons of cargo = 8,700 km
★ 90 tons of cargo = 7,125 km
★ 97 tons of cargo = 6,495 km
★ 104 tons of cargo = 5,900 km
★ 108 tons of cargo = 5,550 km
★ 120 tons of cargo = 4,500 km
★ 122 tons of cargo = 4,325 km
АN-124-100М-150
★ 92 tons of cargo = 7,500 km
★ 113 tons of cargo = 5,925 km
★ 120 tons of cargo = 5,400 km
★ 122 tons of cargo = 5,250 km
Flight range comparison with other aircraft
★ Airbus A380F has a flight range of 10,400 km with 152 metric tons of cargo.
★ C-5 Galaxy has a flight range of 3,982 km with 122 metric tons of cargo. An-124 has 32% longer range.
★ Boeing 747-400 has a range of 8,240 km with 113 metric tons of cargo, 39% more than An-124 and 79% more than the C-5 Galaxy.
★ Il-96-400T has a range of 4800 km with 92 metric tons of cargo. An-124 has 56% more range. However with 40 tons of cargo both An-124 and Il-96-400T have the same range: 11,500 km.
Specifications
Dorsally projected diagram of the Antonov An-124.
References
1. Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
2. Fixed-Wing Aircraft Phillips, CPT W. Scott
3. Strategic airlift agreement enters into force
4. Airbus Taps Russian Carrier
5. Trent 900
6. The first flying train in history
7. press release 14-10-2004
8. Aviation Safety Network
9. Transportation Safety Board of Canada Incident Report
10. www.voldn.ru
External links
★ Airliners.net An-124
★ Aviation.ru
★ The Antonov Giants at Greg Goebel's AIR VECTORS
★ Aviastar-SP
14. www.airlaunch.ru
Related content
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
