Photo: Ariplane Pictures/Twitter
In the six months or so it has been raging, the war in Ukraine has forever changed our world, and its effects will probably be felt for years to come. The human and economic costs are immense, but the war also has another side effect: it takes out the symbols of our until recently peaceful world.
One such symbol is the Antonov AN-225 Mriya. Introduced back in the 1980s as a strategic airlift aircraft, it could carry 640 tons of oversized cargo, becoming back in its day the heaviest aircraft ever built, and the largest by wingspan. Speaking of wings, each held three engines, something that’s very uncommon in civilian aviation - it's worth mentioning though the plane was first developed with military use in mind.
In service with the Antonov company for decades, the Mriya climbed to the sky with such success that it holds some 240 records to its name. That number would have probably increased in the coming years, had it not been blown to pieces by Russian forces in their failed attempt to capture the Hostomel airport.
There are some plans in place to rebuild the An-225, but it’s unclear at this point if they’ll succeed. Until they do, all that’s left of the plane are old videos of it in action.
We uncovered one such clip on Twitter, where Airplane Pictures posted it this week. It doesn’t show the plane taking off or landing in the usual fashion, shot from the ground, but as seen through the camera of an airborne drone, giving us a rare bird’s eye view of the behemoth climbing to the sky.
Specific details, such as where or when the clip was shot, are not provided, but that doesn’t make the sight of this incredibly large machine taking flight any less spectacular. Especially the bit where the drone starts moving towards the incoming beast to get a closer, yet potentially very dangerous closer view of it.
In service with the Antonov company for decades, the Mriya climbed to the sky with such success that it holds some 240 records to its name. That number would have probably increased in the coming years, had it not been blown to pieces by Russian forces in their failed attempt to capture the Hostomel airport.
There are some plans in place to rebuild the An-225, but it’s unclear at this point if they’ll succeed. Until they do, all that’s left of the plane are old videos of it in action.
We uncovered one such clip on Twitter, where Airplane Pictures posted it this week. It doesn’t show the plane taking off or landing in the usual fashion, shot from the ground, but as seen through the camera of an airborne drone, giving us a rare bird’s eye view of the behemoth climbing to the sky.
Specific details, such as where or when the clip was shot, are not provided, but that doesn’t make the sight of this incredibly large machine taking flight any less spectacular. Especially the bit where the drone starts moving towards the incoming beast to get a closer, yet potentially very dangerous closer view of it.
The Mighty AN-225 taking off captured from a Drone by Antonov themselves ?? pic.twitter.com/qv9OHRQVjU
— Airplane Pictures ? (@ilove_aviation) July 26, 2022
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