Construction continuation is 'by market demand'

Considering that this one isnt exactly a real production type (which the An-124 is, with another 10 on order) you arent going to see much progress... but it will be finished sometime in the future

How much would it cost to buy both 

Seriously.

I doubt you could buy the AN-225 for 400 million $. I'd say 180-280 million, or even less. Though, I doubt Antonov (or whoever owns it?) would sell it.

Hmmm...

... maybe I'll look for something somewhat smaller 

The extras when you buy both are:

Illuminated ash-trays;
(Fake) leather seats;
37 inch alloy rims with spinners;
and a original 2x25W Kenwoodski soundsystem.

Crash

PS discount? Njet!

Here you go. One miniature AN225:

http://www.warplanes.com/store/item.asp?item_id=154&department_id=38

Crash

Ah thank you Sir. Crashalot! I must have missed that miniature An-225 during the 350, 000, 000, 00 times I have searched google for one.  All the rest were expensive mahogony models that I couldn't afford.

And Jakemaster I see what you're saying...but think of the materials used on it. SIX engines. VAST amounts of metal. 32 heavy duty rubber tyres. 

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.

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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.

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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...

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.

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

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

http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/dac-chat/56446-225-mriya-news.html

Papa9571 wrote on Apr 27^th, 2007 at 3:50am:


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

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Of course... because the customer wants it as the An-124 carries less volume and weight... With these planes you usually run out of weight before you run out of volume.

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?

No, not quite Arnaage. You see, those MiGs were stationed at Nellis AFB. Forgive me if I am wrong, but even the pilots at Nellis don't have access to that airspace. Therefore, those MiGs would be shot down if they flew over Groom. Maybe at Tonopah TR though.

Mobius wrote on Apr 29^th, 2007 at 2:14am:

They bougt the whole flyable MiG-29 fleet from the Moldova air force... because the German ones were being phased out for the Typhoon. Probably they mounted some of the german kit in it to be able to talk over the radio, as the germans had theirs modified with some western comm stuff.

Only interesting difference is that the German ones don't have the electrics for freefall nukes, which the Moldova ones do have, for the rest they are equal (DDR got theirs built to CIS internal use spec, and not export as the ones in other countries)


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Midas is officially for agressor training... 2 ex Ukraine AF machines were converted back to Il-78 spec after being used as standard freighters (got their wing fuelling pods back).

And about that An-72 / 74... ever seen the Boeing YC-14? The idea isnt new, but instead of developing a completely new one (is way too expensive) they go for a plane that is already in production and has a proven capability record. Dunno if they go for a TK (D328Jet looks) or a normal one (Cherubuska) though

JA 37 Viggen wrote on Apr 29^th, 2007 at 2:43pm:

In the late 80's they modded theirs to carry exocets... with the necessary software support too. Scored a few oil tankers with that (and an incorrectly noted shot on a US Navy frigate which was actually done by Iraqi Mirage F1)

MiG-29UB is a trainer... but they probably modified it (as they did with some of their other planes... that T-38 lookalike that they are using left the Northrop factory as a single seat F-5)
Their upgraded F-14 is rumoured to have Lyuka AL-31 engines fitted(same as Su-27)... and full CRT equipped cockpit has been confirmed. 2nd generation Zaslon might be installed too

JA 37 Viggen wrote on Apr 29^th, 2007 at 8:46pm:

What i've seen: F-14 with Hawk SAM and with some MK whatever bombs the navy never used
Possibles: Anything which fits on russian rails

Most of their T-38 lookalikes started their life as a single seat F-5

Iranian F-14s can fire exocet missiles since 1985 or so.
Latest mods on these (basically all the blue ones) are completely rebuilt with possibly russian engines and other stuff that Grumman never fitted on them

bok269 wrote on May 2^nd, 2007 at 9:35pm:


Read the text under the picture here.
They changed from brown to blue somewhere in the late 90s