Cargo aircraft AN-124-100

• aircraft AN-124-100

Ruslan, also known as "product-400", also known as Condor - the world's largest transport aircraft for load capacity (not including the An-225 Mriya, of course, exists in a single copy).

This giant transports not only containers and boxes. It is placed: a whole army of 880 soldiers, more tanks, garage car, train with a locomotive, and even other planes.

To download it to capacity, it will take up to 150 tons of cargo, but this is not the limit - it holds the record of 171 ton, delivered in the Soviet era as a response to US counterpart C5-Galaxy!

I clambered all the nooks in his big belly, sat in the cockpit, and a closer look at this fairly well-known aircraft.

The first An-124 took off December 24, 1982. And it was developed as some of the best the Soviet hardware, primarily for military purposes: for the transport of ballistic missile launchers, the personnel of the Airborne Troops and armored vehicles. Only 56 units were built, most of which are operated by the Ministry of Defense and the company "Volga-Dnepr".

Multishelf chassis, equipped with 24 wheels, allows the use of the aircraft on the ground bands, change the clearance and the angle of inclination of the fuselage, which allows loading vehicles, and various non-standard cargo.

The plane two wide hatch: on the nose and tail, with ramps for transport arrival.

There are non-standard loads that can not carry any other aircraft, so the "Ruslan" works around the world.

It is transported even spacecraft. And not only the Federal Space Agency, and NASA's but, if something did not happen to cram into their own C-5. So that there is a relatively peaceful NASA? NATO's fighters have resorted to his help when they can not transfer their own SAM "Patriot"!

The truck cab mounted traction electric winch 2 to 3 tons each hoist 4 and a total capacity of 30 tons. The most unusual loads which are transported in different time of the AN-124 152-ton dump truck "Euclid" (transferred for two flights); hydro turbine impeller with a diameter of 6 meters and a weight of 80 tons; 52 tons of gold; Michael Jackson moved in 1993 310 tons of equipment and things in three An-124, for a concert in Moscow; 109-ton locomotive; 160-ton 24-meter Axumite obelisk (divided into three sections); large 86-ton pump to eliminate the accident at the plant in Fukushima; flight simulator Sukhoi Superjet.

Aircraft manages a crew of 7-9 people.

Inside, of course, it looks more brutal and "old school" than Boeing.

Made in the USSR.

Serial production was halted in the mid-90s. But in 2009 the Russian government has ordered to include in the state armaments program until 2020 purchase of 20 AN-124-100 aircraft for the Russian Air Force. Developed and improved version of the 124-300.

An-124 was repeatedly hero movies. Among them: "Die Another Day" from the James Bond, "Shirley Myrli", "2012".

Shop for accompanying.

Reminds second-class train car. It can fly 21 people. Interior has no through-passage to the control cockpit and cabin crew, although located on the same level with them, above the cargo deck.

Maximum range of non-stop flight can be up to 14,400 km (unladen, with a full load of 150 tons - 3200 km), therefore, provides sleeping space. Spartan furnishings.