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THE ELEPHANT has landed: the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world
– the Antonov An-225 from the Soviet Union – showed its majestic paces before
crowds at the Farnborough Airshow this week. Last year, the huge aircraft
flew to the Paris Airshow carrying the Soviet space shuttle Buran on its
back, but did very little flying. This year at Farnborough, the Russians
left Buran at home, but put Antonov through its paces in the air displays
and drew a lot of attention on the opening day. With its six engines and
wide twin tail-plane, the Antonov is intended to carry large structures
on its back. As well as Buran, the aircraft transports sections of Soviet
launchers around the country.