Soviet Engineering Project of the Week

Like with endless tundra, vodka, and socialist dictatorships, Russia does huge cargo planes better. This is the Antonov 225. Built in 1988, it is the largest plane in the world, at 276 feet long and weighing nearly 1.5 million pounds. As you can see, it carries SPACE SHUTTLES. Shuttles. That go to space.

Take that, puny American c-5 Galaxy!


Of course, like most Soviet Engineering Projects, the AN-225 was left to languish after the collapse of the USSR along with the defunct Buran space shuttle program. Unlike the Buran, however, the remaining An-225 was not destroyed in the collapse of an abandoned airplane hanger (another post). A test flight was conducted in May 2001, and the An-225 might yet grace the Russian skies again.