To withstand this load, he needed a huge amount of traction – hence the six engines of the aircraft. The finished aircraft also boasts a wingspan of 290 feet, a length of 275 feet and a payload of 250 tons.
However, after her first flight in 1988 and a series of appearances on international air shows, including Farnborough, Mriya remained unaccounted for when the Soviet Union disintegrated and Ukraine became independent.
With such a huge plane, so rarely needed, it remained inert for years. But in the late 1990s, it was rebuilt as a specialized cargo ship and has since undertaken a huge number of record-breaking flights, transporting many sites that were previously considered impossible to move by air.
These items include a 130-ton generator, prototype wind turbine blades, a tank and even diesel locomotives.
The wind turbine blades, moved from Tianjin in China to Lunderskov in Denmark in 2010, were the longest air cargo ever, 42 meters long.
However, there is still hope that Antonov Airlines may be able to reassign some of the wreckage of the Mriya that is sinking in Hostomel and build a new plane.
The left wing of the plane survived almost intact, along with its three propulsion devices, though only because when it broke off, it landed on a smaller plane that was parked below.
Its tail also looks almost intact – like most others – it is dotted with bullet holes and has shrapnel scars.
The other, more severely damaged wing was completely cut off, and the front of the fuselage and cockpit were almost completely destroyed.
It is also believed that the second half-built – but never completed – An-225 is stored in a hangar elsewhere in Kyiv, although its condition is currently unknown. Some speculate that this may be the basis of the replacement aircraft.
After the war with Russia, Antonov hopes that there will be global efforts to help restore Mriya, probably with the support of major international companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier.
“I believe that the plane will get a new life,” he added. “We are currently trying to end the war with Russia. But then we’ll see what we do.
“We have everything to make new planes and we expect a lot of help from the world. But not from Russia.”
The thought of the resurrected Dream rising again in the sky will be enticing to aviation enthusiasts, both in Ukraine and elsewhere. It would also be a powerful symbol of the resilience of Ukrainians and their valiant struggle to remain free from Russian tyranny.
But, of course, this idea has never been tied to just one plane anyway – as Kyiv troops demonstrated when they regained Antonov’s airport earlier this month.
“The Russian invaders destroyed Mriya,” they wrote. “But [the Ukraine] the dream is indestructible! “
Add Comment