Talk:Antonov An-124 Ruslan/Archive 1

United Arab Emirates
I couldn´t find any source saying an An-124 is/was deployed with Gulf Cargo,  Etihad Crystal Cargo or  Emirates SkyCargo 217.86.45.118 20:30, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

The Aircraft is not operated by any of the above mentionned Airlines but by the Government of the UAE, registered UR-ZYD. It has no logo or colours on it. A picture of it can be viewed here: Hudicourt 17:54, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Recent Airliners.net pictures indicate that UR-ZYD is now operated by Kiev Aviation Plant AVIANT Hudicourt 07:01, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

What is the actual production status??
This text from the article seems to infer that no aircraft have been produced since the late 90's:

"Currently no An-124 are being produced. Series production ceased with the breakup of the Soviet Union. Several unfinished airframes left from the Soviet times were completed in late nineties."

However, the next paragraph says: "In response to complaints by commercial users, aircraft built after 2000 (the An-124-100) have an improved service life"

I'm assuming this is highlighting the difference between the An-124 and An-124-100, but I would suggest this be made a little clearer in the article. What exactly is the production status of the An-124 and its variants? Kurt 05:14, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

My information indicates that the last airframes, manufactured from parts already in stock, were delivered new in 2004. I think the UAE aircraft was the last one delivered. Several companies have orders for the AN-124 (about 10) but there are not enough to justify re-opening of the production line and Antonov has encountered financing problems, maybe politically related, ever since the Russians pulled their support from the AN-70 program. I also learned that the specially modified Antonov 22 that was used to carry the AN-124 wing on its back from the Chkalov Tashkent Aircraft Production Company in Uzbekistan, to the plants in Ukraine and Russia (the AN-124 was manufactured in 2 different locations), has been grounded and is sitting in a museum in Germany. That is one of the problems that would need to be resolved before production can resume. Hudicourt 17:51, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The production parts transportation shouldn´t be the major problem: Pretty uneconomic but An-225 with its top-loading capabilites would be usable. 84.173.209.141 14:09, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

Safety record
I´ve found the Irkutsk crash in 1997 and the Turin crash in 1996. Could anyone mention the other crashes? 217.86.40.254 23:11, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

I Think the crash in Windsor, Ontario is supposed to be Gander,Newfoundland. It crashed around the same time and with no casualties also. It too slid off the runway and had to be dug out with excavaters. It was holding military equipment for the US I think, which they unloaded and reloaded onto another An124-100.

Irish Operator
What´s its name? I think this is not true. 84.173.254.111 22:24, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I´ve deleted that section. 84.173.213.112 18:32, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Is Maximus Cargo the real operator?
With Maximus's An-124, UR-ZYD, still registered in the Ukraine and flown by Ukrainian licenced crews, can Maximus really be considered the operator? I think it's probably a wet-lease deal with the real operator being Ukrainian. I also think that the money behind this aircraft is from the UAE, which complicates things a bit. But an "operator" means someone who is licenced by the civil aviation authority of a country to fly the aircraft commercially. Where is this aircraft certified? Who conducts the crews' twice annual type ratings tests? Who conducts their medical exams. Who insures the aircraft? Who oversees' its' airworthiness and its' maintenance ? I suspect the answers to all of these questions to be "Ukraine". Hudicourt (talk) 14:14, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Ukraine Air Force an An-124 Operator
Someone added with Reference that the Ukraine Air Force has AN-124s. That is not true. Hudicourt (talk) 22:52, 18 February 2008 (UTC)
 * And why not? Bogdan що? 22:53, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Unless the Ukraine Government-owned Antonov Airlines fleet is considered part of the Ukraine Air Force, there are no other An-124 in Ukraine. That same reference also says that the Ukraine Air Force has An-225 and An-70, two models for which there is only one aircraft in existence. The only An-225 belongs to Antonov Airlines and the only An-70 belongs to the Antonov Design Bureau. Hudicourt (talk) 22:57, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

ID of aircraft in NASA photo
Is there a way to positively identify the aircraft in this photo as an Antonov An-124? (sdsds - talk) 05:07, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

The Antonov in the NASA photo is aircraft RA 82045. The tail number and the STS-127 JAXA payload can be seen in a photo that I took but don't know how to attach. Am willing to send photo. The NASA web site did not show the tail number on any of their photos.ISS man (talk) 21:31, 1 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Ah, yes, excellent! In the NASA photo, full-size, you can just see "82045" painted on the top of the wing. (sdsds - talk) 15:30, 2 October 2008 (UTC)