The Ruslan aircraft, which at one time bears the title of the largest aircraft in the world, transported a turbine for a gas compressor installation between continents.
The Ukrainian plane “Ruslan” transported a unique cargo: it delivered a 67-ton turbine from the USA to Australia. Antonov Airlines announced this on its Facebook page.
The turbine arrived with the help of a Ukrainian plane to Avalon, from where Air Charter Service transported the cargo to Winchelsea (a city in Australia, ed.). There it is planned to be used in a gas compressor plant.
According to the Ukrainian company, Ruslan was the only plane that could make this transfer.
“The total weight of the cargo was 67 tons, including additional equipment and a solar turbine weighing 35.5 tons, 11.33 meters long and 3.63 meters high,” the Antonov Airlines press service said.
Ukrainian aircraft “Ruslan” set a new record
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Aircraft “Ruslan”: what makes it remarkable
“Ruslan” or An-124 is a heavy transport aircraft developed by OKB named after O.K. Antonov.
An-124 at the time of construction became the largest aircraft in the world, depriving the American Lockheed C-5 Galaxy of this title.
In 1985, the An-124 “Ruslan” aircraft set 21 world records, including those for carrying capacity (171,219 kg at a height of 10,750 m), and on May 6, 1987, a world record for the flight distance along a closed route was set (20,150, 92 km).
An-124 aircraft are used to transport locomotives, yachts, aircraft fuselages and many other bulky cargoes.
Recall that at the end of February it became known what the new Ukrainian “Mriya” will look like. The new version of the AN-225 aircraft will be more powerful than its predecessor, but at the same time it will be much lighter, as noted by the General Designer of the Antonov State Enterprise. International donors are already ready to start disbursing funds.
In the fall of 2022, Focus wrote that the development of the new Mriya aircraft was already in full swing. The completion of the world’s largest aircraft will cost half a billion euros.
