The Antonov An-225 Mriya (Dream) was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft designed in the 1980s by the Antonov
Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.It was designed to airlift the Energia rocket's boosters and the Buran-class
orbiters for the MAKC (Multipurpose Aerospace System) space program,and only one example was ever completed.
After successfully fulfilling its military missions,the aircraft was mothballed for eight years.
It was then refurbished and reintroduced into commercial operation with Antonov Airlines since 3 January 2002,
until 24 February 2022,carrying oversized payloads.
The airlifter holds the absolute world record for an airlifted single-item payload of 189,980 kg (418,830 lb),
and an airlifted total payload of 253,820 kg (559,580 lb).It also transported a payload of 247,000 kg (545,000 lb)
on a commercial flight.
Only one aircraft was completed and it flew commercially.
The loads carried on the back of the aircraft are:
- Buran orbiter,
- MAKC-OS Version with the orbital plane and the external fuel tank (Molniya),
- External Tank,carried liquid oxygen,kerosene, and liquid hydrogen propellants,
- MAKC-T,Russian winged orbital launch vehicle.All cargo version of MAKS.Air-launched would use an expendable
second stage with a payload container,
- British Aerospace HOTOL (Horizontal Take-Off and Landing),unmanned,fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO)
winged spaceplane.
These objects are included in the Exterior Payload selection options in this add-on.
The plane and its systems are reconstructed on the basis of Antonov's documentation.Operation of the aircraft's
systems is also based on Antonov's documentation for this aircraft systems can be started manually--
for hardcore virtual-pilots as reading the manual is required in this mode ;-) ,however,systems can also be turned
on in automatic mode-for people who just want to fly the largest plane in the world- just press SHIFT+1 and turn
on/off selected systems (electrics,engines,etc.),or turn everything on and fly ;-).
The model shows the aircraft in the version from before 2010,therefore it does not have FMS
(there is a standard GPS as a pop-up window - SHIFT + 2).
In FSX In any mode,it is necessary to use the Autostart hotkey for each engine when starting (the default shortcut
is CTRL+E).Observe Engines N2 Turbine indicator (in Engineer Panel/Engines Panel),when the needle of starting
engine exceeds 10% -use the shortcut.Use this shortcut for each engine you start,even in Configurator
pop-up window modes-"ALL SYS AND ENGINES",and "ENGINES STARTER".
Note for fans of "flexible wings" - this plane has very stiff and thick wings that do not swing like a pigeon or B787,
but float at the right speed on the ground during take-off.
There are four aircraft models
-two in the russian version (metric units-meters,km/h)
-two in the english version fully translated (imperial units-feet,knots).
This is the final version of this add-on.
In this package Antonov An-225 Mriya in two painting schemes:
-Russian painting scheme,
-Ukrainian painting scheme,
-Ukrainian 2008 painting scheme,
Advanced simulation of avionics systems.
High quality 4k-textures.
High quality 3D cockpit with 4k-textures (no 2D cockpit).
Exterior Model and Virtual Cockpit are very detailed and animated (around 500 thousand vertices).
Ilustrated user manual in pdf format (in ...SimObjectsAirplanesAntonov AN-225 from FFS folder).
High quality soundset.
All gauges are based on real ones.
Terrible! Sounds like a default FSX 747. Thought i'd give a payware version of the greatest machine ever a go, but regretted it, waste of money! i'll be sticking with the freeware 225!
This is very close to a 5 star aircraft. Everything about this package (of 3 Liveries available to select as Russian or English language cockpits) is pretty well done. Only issues are no dome lights and a wonky auto pilot that is not instinctively operated. But the AP does work as it should when you figure out it’s weird quirks. The dome lights appear to be a known issue pending future update fix?
When loading the front cargo the whole process is animated and movements are at the speed one should expect, slow. It will kneel down to ground supports bear the forward wheels that also kind of tuck themselves in.
The plane flies like I’d expect, slow and lumbering under its massive weight and awkward external loads. I love the various load types that can be selected. They are all graphically represented in detail.
I am satisfied in general and happy with my purchase. This is a unique aircraft to have in ones virtual hangar. Not a lot of airports can accommodate such a behemoth but don’t let that stop you, just be aware of the need for a lot of braking distance when landing and use the thrust reversers.
Based on use with win 10 FSX Steam 3.3ghz i7 16GB ram Intel UHD630 integrated GPU. Zero frame rate hits even with add on scenery like the entire Moscow area.
I have both the P3D and FSX versions of this add-on and I have to admit that also in FSX this plane looks great and flies as predicted for such a giant.As it is a pre-upgrade version of the plane,we get a classic plane with an analog cockpit without all that "modern" electronics.This plane is used for flying,not for programming flights (no FMS),but a very extensive autopilot allows you to make very long flights without any problems (it supports flights according to the flight plan).The autopilot has a very good system of automatic approach to landing.In the final version,bugs from the previous edition have been fixed-CG position, textures (even a new painting was added),problems with reaching cruising altitudes (now the plane reaches over 34,000 ft without cargo and over 31,000 ft with full load),and other fixes.
I definitely recommend it to those who like to pilot an airplane and not programming on-board computers...