“The commander of the legendary aircraft “Mriya” Dmitry Antonov shared unique memories of flights on the An-225, who left a mark in his memory forever. He told about it in an interview for ua.news. Photo: Commander of the Mriya aircraft, Dmitry Antonov pilot one of the brightest moments – the flight “Dreams” to Australia in May 2016. The aircraft was waiting throughout the route: in Turkmenistan”, – WRITE ON: ua.news
The commander of the legendary aircraft “Mriya” Dmitry Antonov shared unique memories of flights on the An-225, who left a mark in his memory forever. He told about it in interview for ua.news.
Photo: Commander of the crew of the aircraft “Mriya”, pilot Dmitry Antonov
One of the most striking points is the flight of Dreams to Australia in May 2016. The aircraft was waiting throughout the route: in Turkmenistan correspondents insisted on the praised words of local authorities, and in India, despite the night arrival, a crowd of captured people was waiting for the crew. 15,000 people came to meet the Australian Australia Australia in Australia – it was a real aviation phenomenon.
Turkmenistan came the correspondent of the main channel and asked me “How do you?”. I say “very good airport, good service.” And he says “so our Turkmenbashi, our head of state, he did it. Tell me what it is thanks to him. ” But not thanks to him, you have good staff, you have good prices – I say. And he “no, you say that thanks.” Then they flew to India, there were also met. And although they flew at night, there was a large crowd of people. And then they arrived in Australia itself, at the Pert Airport. There, too, we were welcomed very welcome. 15,000 people came to see. It was something incredible.
Commander of the crew of the An-225 “Dream” aircraft, pilot
Interesting tasks were accompanied by crew in different corners of the world. For example, transportation of 160 tonne containers with electrical equipment to Bolivia. There was no alternative to air transport due to the lack of roads. And to save on transportation of the tractor, he was brought directly from Gostomel together with the driver, who after a month of work in Chile jokingly decided to stay there.
A good contract was also a good contract-it was necessary to transport 160 tonne containers from Chile to Bolivia-electrical equipment for the station. There is not far from 500 km from the airport to the airport. But there was no other path other than air, because there are mountains and there are no roads to transport them. We worked for a month, transported a dozen such containers. It was interesting, Bolivia looked. There was no tractor at the local airport, and it took a lot of money to bring him from Santiago. Therefore, we took Uncle Vasya from Gostomel with a tractor and brought there. After a month in Chile, he said “everything, I’m staying here.” He has probably never left Gostomel.
Commander of the crew of the An-225 “Dream” aircraft, pilot
Equally memorable was the flight over Kiev to the 30th anniversary of Independence in 2021-the landscapes over the capital left an unforgettable impression.
We really liked the work when we were preparing for Independence Day, flying over Kiev – very beautiful, very remembered. Unique plane and memories are also unique
Commander of the crew of the An-225 “Dream” aircraft, pilot
An-225 “Dream” -an important transport aircraft, established in the 1980s in Kiev at the Antonov Aviation Plant. The first flight took place on December 21, 1988. The purpose of the AN-225 was the transportation of large and overweight goods in the civilian and military spheres, in particular, the Bran spacecraft and the components of the USSR space program. An-225 aircraft was destroyed At the end of February 2022, at the Gostomel airfield near Kiev as a result of hostilities due to the negligence of the then Antonov leadership, which did not give a command on the transportation of the aircraft.
During the existence of Mriya, she has set about 240 world records. Ukraine plans to create a second Dream, but it takes about $ 500 million and support the world.
Dmitry Antonov’s memories are another reminder of how special this unique airliner was.
