The An-124 proves its lift capability for the Paris Air Show

Published: 5/26/1999

An AN-124-100 cargo plane of Volga-Dnepr on Thursday 21 May delivered an Angara-1 rocket from Moscow to Paris, according to ITAR-Tass. The rocket was being transported for the 43rd international aerospace show, at Le Bourget on June 13. At 36.4 metres, the rocket could not have been carried by any other aircraft according to a spokesman for Volga-Dneper. There was however, not a lot of room to spare given the 36.5 metre length of the An-124 ‘s hold. The technical crew headed by Vladimir Petrishchev, deputy technical director of VD, and senior engineer Alexander Sysoyev ‘coped with the complex task masterly", reported ITAR-Tass, which given the space to spare cannot be disagreed with. Vladimir Strunayev piloted the plane. The transportation of aerospace industry products accounts for 30 percent of the air company"s large-size cargoes, one of which includes the wings for Airbus which are carried as part of the joint marketing agreement between Heavy Lift of the UK and VD.

Article ID: 547