Antonov An-225: ride a colossus | DW English

it looks like something out of a museum it doesn't even have a hi-tech flight control system but the Antonov an-225 is still going strong despite being almost 30 years old I am at the airport in Prague and I'm about to board the largest aircraft in the world a huge cargo plane I've downloaded an app onto my smart phone to communicate life with fans who want to take part in the experience yes I am the only girl I'm travelling with six male flight engineers and ten technicians as well as captain Dmitri Antonov whose name just happens to be the same as the planes he is proud of his plane everybody want to see because it's only one in the world on the endeavour Ecco house is flying six Asian cargo and and raise the build ah is it Russian owner Russia Ukraine how Ukrainian purse that the Ukrainian can make this aircraft the cargo hold alone is 43 meters long it looks like a huge tunnel the plane will deliver a generator yesterday it was loaded onto this truck in Pilsen Czech Republic it will travel 14,000 kilometers to replace a broken generator at an aluminum plant in Perth the capital of Western Australia for now it's travelling by Road very slowly we need almost four hours to cover 100 kilometers after a long day I'd have preferred to go a bit faster we arrived at Prague Airport at 2:00 in the morning the plane is already waiting early next morning the nose cone is opened up so the generator can be loaded I've never seen this done before it's a lengthy process cranes and ramps are needed to hit the generator in and they take hours to set up as I wait I have a chat with flight manager Vitaly trust we had to do a lot of certification work to prove that we are good enough to create Australia didn't I trust a Ukrainian company it doesn't depend on the nation it depends on proficiency of the airline and each airline must prove that their proficiency proficiency level is good enough to operate safely to Australia more and more fans arriving to me the excitement is rising this plane is something else 84 metres long and almost 20 metres high German logistics company DB Schenker chatted the plane to transport the generator why such a huge plane well designed one of this Antonov is the only plane that can load over 100 tons therefore mälaren can the generator weighs 117 tons that's the equivalent of 117 Volkswagen Beetles no other plane can do this there was no question of using a ship it would have taken six weeks for the generator to arrive the Australian aluminum firm would have lost thousands each week buying in electricity from elsewhere the technicians build a ramp to load the generator it takes seven hours before it's finally in the hold ready for takeoff and I'm getting a bit nervous the plane now weighs 400 tonnes how will it ever get off the ground I'm only allowed to be in the world's biggest cockpit with Captain Antonov and his crew when we are not in the air twelve hands are needed to fly this former military plane I barely noticed the takeoff it's slow and pleasantly smooth the first leg of the journey will take us to Turkmenistan I'm in the bag with the technicians who are responsible for loading and maintaining the plane it feels just like a normal plane but without windows Stephan Roble of DB Schenker is also on the plane the company paid Antonov over two million dollars for the flight what is the price based on that's how much expected you can throw up good first of all the route then the weight of the cargo here how many stops will there be what will the plane do when we have arrived in Australia will it go back to Europe empty or will it do a job in Asia job five hours later we intok mandazi in Turkmenistan here fuel costs half of what it does in other countries of the region we'll have to stop for fuel twice more before landing in Australia I'm not allowed to film in the airport time for a break with captain Antonov in the cockpit the first leg of my trip is over tonight we head on to India after a few minutes our loft cam returns to the cabin the technicians take a break I am traveling in the world's largest airplane the Antonov 2 to 5 the second leg of my trip takes me from Turkmenistan to India we've already been traveling for a day we communicate using a bit of English and a bit of Russian we even share breakfast I have no idea what kind of food this is but I'm game to try it it's a bit sour a little bitter I feel like I'm part of the crew we are constantly together in this machine for two to three months both when working and in our leisure time we're colleagues and friends like a family with an app I can communicate with my followers all over the world I haven't got reception up here but as soon be able to answer questions we first took off in Prague our next stops are India and Malaysia we are flying at 800 kilometers per hour we arrived in Hyderabad India in the middle of the night I hardly feel a thing when our foreign return machine lands on the tarmac on the ground the technicians disappear under the plane to check the tires brakes and hydraulics that's routine after landing but today there was a problem with the landing gear not broken as I said it doesn't work properly in this one but it's not broken did they fix it already no no we are trying to solve this issue it's the middle of the night but hundreds of airplane aficionados are here on the runway along with a few airport employees who hung on after this shifts the Antonov is a sensation it's the world's largest airplane some enthusiasts are even allowed on board I'm back online and my friends are eager for answers all the questions no there's no dinosaur in the cargo space that's the power generator well we got permission after 22 days of hard work with DGCA as well as the Gmail app oh so it's an order to have it over and coming in the South Asia Pacific region for the first time so it's really a matter of pride for the US the only one who's not so enthusiastic is me tally short he has a lot of paperwork to attend to permits customs forms and ordering food for tomorrow he's got pressing things to attend to but now he has to stay with the guests and I want to ask him something too I need to drop my things my time columns pay attention still nobody admitted to do my official duties out on the runway the Antonov plane is not the only star captain Dmitri Antonov has been welcomed with the cake I think it's a little bit too sweet for him but he feels honored I remember one time in in Honolulu when I first hand we're coming to provide its rocks with the same flowers and but allowed the speakin does it make you proud yeah yeah thirty degrees we spent the next day in the airport hotel after 18 hours in the air the crew is entitled to a break an aluminum plant is paying three million dollars for the generator and the transport the engine of two to five consumes a lot of fuel about sixteen tons an hour but aviation fence seldom care about the environmental impact this is not really shown of course we'll strive to work together with airlines whose engines have low co2 emissions so I go to laser to keep that guy hard so why did Shankar take such a guest gasps loud this time though because the unit couldn't break the generator down into small plants it's one piece a unit and we can't saw it down the middle to make two parts out of it so we could load it onto a smaller plane shortly before midnight we check out of the hotel and go back to the airport we are scheduled to take off in two hours but everything is moving so slowly we have to fill out lists wait in lines the crew says no other airport is so slow why are we being checked like normal passengers the flight manager is anxious he wishes we'd left the hotel earlier we will be late with departure because of all this and what does it mean problems in kuala lumpur then no it's maybe I will have problems with my management because our policy is just keep the schedule it's my fault I should have known I should care not an hour later we're in the transport bus on the runway it's 3:00 a.m. I marvel at these men who don't seem fazed by moving from one time zone to the next almost half the journey is over our next and last stop over will be Kuala Lumpur it's the next evening we've been here for 20 hours now we have to get moving but when kept an Antonov is standing on the runway instead of sitting in the cockpit then something's not quite right for 10 years the Ukrainian has been flying the Antonov 2 to 5 the world's biggest plane a cargo aircraft for oversized payloads I've joined him and his crew to fly from Prague to Perth Australia right now we're in Kuala Lumpur but it's time to move gear didn't we have to start in 15 minutes then we can talk about a pollutant on board the crew speaks Russian and Ukrainian and I don't understand much except that right now they are unlock pressure just making no flight plan in the system in kuala lumpur tower they're making vitaly calling to office about this vitaly shows the flight manager every time I see him he's in a rush on the phone with papers in his hands his colleague in Europe sent the flight plan to the air traffic controllers last night know just before takeoff the plane has been given another departure route and everything has to be adjusted the man's name is meet it's not our fault this pipeline was about five hours ago is the fault of Malaysian air traffic controllers and tell me the colleague from the airport operating company has to find a solution I feel a bit sorry for him but and then it'd be okay oh yeah and indeed we take off two hours later than planned the last four thousand kilometers from Kuala Lumpur to Perth go away too little sleep stress and jetlag the technicians seize every opportunity to get some rest I ought to do the same but I get caught up in my fans messages from yesterday then we wear on the runway it's 40 degrees Celsius and oppressively humid listen we have to remove the part or it'll overheat that doesn't sound very reassuring what happens if one of the six engines breaks down we could continue to fly but we wouldn't be allowed to take off yeah we can't connect it Vasily Savchenko can't leave till he has checked all the engines meanwhile in the air-conditioned terminal building the German representative of DB Schenker has finished his shift and his Asian colleague takes over he'll hand over the generator to the aluminum plant in Australia everyone's back on board we crossed the equator long ago and we are now approaching Perth we hear that 50,000 people are waiting for the Antonov to land this is the first time the world's largest airplane has come to Australia as it turns out the crowd is only 30,000 but what's the difference this is still a major event we got here at 4:30 just to be ahead of the queue originally I thought the c-17 Globemaster and b-52 bomber went on the Air Force Base in Guam I thought that was heaviest aircraft in the world but in two mouths it's - it's a Antonov 225 we never thought the Antonov 25 would come to Australia we've actually talked about one day going to England to see it so we're very excited to see here after traveling for four days by way of Turkmenistan India and Malaysia we finally arrived at our destination due to the 400 tons of cargo we were unable to make up for the time we've lost this morning that's why everybody jumps into action now the technicians have to have the 117 tone generator out of the plane and onto a track by this evening by now I know that's easier said than done Rams cranes it all takes time and they have to reload the aircraft metallic sauce tells me they've accepted a new contract on short notice to transport a 23 ton turbine rotor to Italy it's been 8 hours since we landed finally the generators on the truck tomorrow morning it will be driven to the aluminum plant the whole Commission is worth millions for the shank a logistics company kind of goons to give this wasn't an inexpensive solution to the recipient but it saved them 8 weeks though the transport costs of about 3 million dollars were worth it and 15 for each net not having a generator costs more money than the cost of transport is one from Prague to here in Perth austere on a transport coordinates from kroff you see an offer for we tally shots it's been a stressful trip his employer Antonov Airlines wants to attract customers all over the world you can see that now we are opening new brains for our activity here in Australia and we are trying we will try to develop cooperation between industrial companies in Australia and internal company in with respect of using this airplane bread and salt have been brought here to welcome captain Dmitri Antonov courtesy of the Ukrainian ambassador almost 50,000 Ukrainians live in Australia and I've begun the last stage of my journey in three hours the generator my followers and I will arrive at the aluminum plant when I get back to Perth this evening the antenna of two to five will already be in the air flying back to Europe you

Channel: DW Documentary

Views: 1,401,195

Rating: 4.7073421 out of 5

Keywords: Antonov, An-225, Mryja, logistics, Schenker, Made in Germany, DW, Deutsche Welle, Antonov An-225

Id: 8aIzARbiyN0

Length: 20min 48sec (1248 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 08 2016