Microsoft Flight Simulator continues its digital preservation efforts and is proud to introduce today the Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world's largest ultra-heavy jet transport aircraft. This Ukrainian-built aircraft has six engines and holds the record for the longest aircraft in the world as well as many other aviation size records. Only one Mriya was completed, but it was rendered inoperable during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Efforts are underway to attempt to rebuild the aircraft and fly it again.
The design of the An-225, later named Mriya ("dream" in Ukrainian), began in 1985 using the An-124 Ruslan as the basis. As well as being much larger than the An-124, the Mriya featured six turbojet engines, the same power sources as the Ruslan. The tail fin of the An-225 had a different shape than its smaller predecessor. Instead of a large vertical stabilizer, the An-225 was designed with two stabilizers, one at each end of its horizontal stabilizer, a design dictated by the aerodynamics of carrying massive loads above its fuselage. The landing gear was also enlarged compared to that of the An-124; the Mriya had a total of 32 wheels, the rearmost of the main landing gear assembly being rotatable.
The Mriya first flew on December 21, 1988, officially becoming the heaviest aircraft ever built to fly. On a subsequent flight on March 22, 1989, the AN-225 set 110 world records in one go, which in itself is a record.
Unfortunately, on February 27, 2022, the Mriya was attacked during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and became unusable. Plans are underway to fly the Mriya again by reassembling the destroyed An-225 parts with those of the fuselage that was never completed.
The An-225 Mriya has six different liveries:
- Antonov Airlines '2010'
- Antonov Airlines '2008'
- Antonov Airlines '2006'
- White
- Xbox Aviators Club
- Aviators Club
The An-225 is available now in Microsoft Flight Simulator's in-game store on PC for around twenty euros. All profits will go to the Antonov company for the reconstruction of the An-225. It will be available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Cloud Gaming from the end of March.