An-225

[pepper_airborne]

Jake, in this industry most materials are pretty much required for a plane, so you could pretty easily assume that the costs go up with the amount of materials used, not looking at the design but only at the amount of materials used. If we would only look at the production of it, then i'd say it would be more expensive then your average 747. But, the 747 has gone trough a lot of designs, wich all require man power to create, and thus make extra costs. Then again, the 747 can be easier produced on a asembly line, wich also makes it quite cost effective in this case.

[bok269]

Imagine seeing that thing in UPS or Fedex colors.

[Ivan]

Again, bigger doesnt mean better.  Lots of metal, but what kind of metal?  Some is cheaper than others.  6 engines, but how much is each engine?

AFAIK Loratev is lagging for replacement production already as Russian Airforce, Polet, Volga Dnepr and the other customers want theirs to have the new quieter version of the engines to keep their machines legal in Europe, so getting six new ones is quite a difficult task.

Jake, in this industry most materials are pretty much required for a plane, so you could pretty easily assume that the costs go up with the amount of materials used, not looking at the design but only at the amount of materials used. If we would only look at the production of it, then i'd say it would be more expensive then your average 747. But, the 747 has gone trough a lot of designs, wich all require man power to create, and thus make extra costs. Then again, the 747 can be easier produced on a asembly line, wich also makes it quite cost effective in this case.

As it is basically the same machine as the An-124 with more fuselage length, the basic structure isnt the problem (as you can see on the pictures). Problem areas are the wings (not production standard) and a redesign involving the rear fuselage getting rid of the shuttle attachment frame...

[dcunning30]

How can you guesstimate how much a plane will cost without knowing the particulars?  Of course bigger means more expensive, but how much more expensive can only be arrived at by having some level of analysis performed.

What if all the parts needed are essentially a sort-of off-the-shelf quality?  What if the some of the parts needed have to be specially machined?  What if the machines needed no longer exist and have to be constructed first?

[DizZa]

The F-22 costs 350 million dollars. You know why? Because it has extremely advanced systems, not many will be made, and it is made out of RAM / composites.

The An-225 dosn't have extremely advanced systems, development cost was low, and it dosn't require mammoth auto-claves to cook it, and 75% of the parts are in common with the An-124.

[DaveSims]

$300 million is how much it would costs for the fuel.....just to take off.  Anyone who's seen the AN-124 take off would understand.  For some reason when they take off, they spend 10-15 minutes on the end of the runway running up the engines.  They blew away two weeks worth of dirt work we had just finished off the end of the runway where I worked.  Those bastards.....

[PilotDude11]

The AN-225 is a giant......it really dwarfed my C-172 while i was taxing past it last year while it had a quik stop over at CYQX (gander International, Newfoundland). The AN-225 causes some bad weight turbulance though lol i had to stay in the pattern for an extra 15 mins before the tower would give me clearance to land

[bok269]

The AN-225 is a giant......it really dwarfed my C-172 while i was taxing past it last year while it had a quik stop over at CYQX (gander International, Newfoundland). The AN-225 causes some bad weight turbulance though lol i had to stay in the pattern for an extra 15 mins before the tower would give me clearance to land

I actually read a story of a C172 getting inverted by a 747LCFs wake turbulence.  Imagine what this thing would do.

[Tom...]

The flying An-225 'aint going nowhere for a while

http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/dac ... -news.html

[Papa9571]

At least they got it repaired and made airworthy again to fly her to the factory for more subatantial work. It is nice to see she will be flying cargo again.

[Ivan]

At least they got it repaired and made airworthy again to fly her to the factory for more subatantial work. It is nice to see she will be flying cargo again.

Sounds like they lost hydro while kneeling causing the fuselage to crash into the front wheels (remember that it was loaded when the mishap happened)
Will probably have the whole lower part of the nose replaced in Kiev, but apparently they flew in a new nosegear pair and the necessary floor frames to get it flyable again

[an-225]

She will be fixed...right???  :-[

[Ivan]

[quote]She will be fixed...right???

[Papa9571]

And the US Military has utilized this aircraft to transport military supplies to the middle east in support of coalition forces.

Don't that just twist your crank

US Military using Russian aircraft......who would have thunk it?

[an-225]

Papa9571, I heard that the US Army is going to consider buying An-72/74 Coaler aircraft, and the US Navy, will consider the Il-78 Midas tanker. Crazy world, huh?