<strong>Half-built Antonov AN-225: </strong>A gigantic hangar outside the Ukrainian capital Kiev contains the unfinished pieces of one of the most spectacular legacies of Soviet aircraft engineering, an Antonov AN-225. Click through the gallery for more photos:
Half-built Antonov AN-225: A gigantic hangar outside the Ukrainian capital Kiev contains the unfinished pieces of one of the most spectacular legacies of Soviet aircraft engineering, an Antonov AN-225. Click through the gallery for more photos:
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>One of a kind:</strong> Only one AN-225 was finished. It first took flight in 1988 and has been in service ever since. It's the largest successful airplane to take to the skies. Known as Mriya, it attracts crowds of fans wherever it flies.
One of a kind: Only one AN-225 was finished. It first took flight in 1988 and has been in service ever since. It's the largest successful airplane to take to the skies. Known as Mriya, it attracts crowds of fans wherever it flies.
Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images
<strong>Unfinished business: </strong>What's less known about the AN-225 is that production was begun on a second aircraft in 1989, but following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was never completed.
Unfinished business: What's less known about the AN-225 is that production was begun on a second aircraft in 1989, but following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was never completed.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Ukraine airplane factory:</strong> The AN-225 program was devised to create an airplane capable of carrying Russia's answer to the US Space Shuttle. Aircraft manufacturer Antonov, in Ukraine, was assigned the mission.
Ukraine airplane factory: The AN-225 program was devised to create an airplane capable of carrying Russia's answer to the US Space Shuttle. Aircraft manufacturer Antonov, in Ukraine, was assigned the mission.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Space race: </strong>The AN-225 made its maiden flight in 1988 and successfully carried the Soviet Buran spacecraft to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Space race: The AN-225 made its maiden flight in 1988 and successfully carried the Soviet Buran spacecraft to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
SVF2/Universal Images Group Editorial/UIG via Getty Images
<strong>Victim of history:</strong> The Soviet space program fell apart after 1991. Work on the second AN-225 halted in 1994. With no spacecraft to carry, there was little demand for another huge airplane, let alone the two others that were planned.
Victim of history: The Soviet space program fell apart after 1991. Work on the second AN-225 halted in 1994. With no spacecraft to carry, there was little demand for another huge airplane, let alone the two others that were planned.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Giant hangar:</strong> And so the second AN-225 is languishing in a huge workshop west of Kiev, awaiting the investment needed to complete the project.
Giant hangar: And so the second AN-225 is languishing in a huge workshop west of Kiev, awaiting the investment needed to complete the project.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Big plane, big price tag: </strong>Gennadiy Silchenko, Antonov's AN-225 program director, says the plane requires investment of $250 million to $350 million to be completed. He says it's 70% finished.
Big plane, big price tag: Gennadiy Silchenko, Antonov's AN-225 program director, says the plane requires investment of $250 million to $350 million to be completed. He says it's 70% finished.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Chinese interest: </strong>China expressed an interest in taking on the project in 2016, but difficulties transporting the pieces of the AN-225 to Chinese soil thwarted the deal. Antonov now insists it must be completed in the Ukraine.
Chinese interest: China expressed an interest in taking on the project in 2016, but difficulties transporting the pieces of the AN-225 to Chinese soil thwarted the deal. Antonov now insists it must be completed in the Ukraine.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Good as new:</strong> Despite being mothballed for decades, it would be like new when fully built, Antonov's Silchenko insists. He's confident it will one day take to the skies.
Good as new: Despite being mothballed for decades, it would be like new when fully built, Antonov's Silchenko insists. He's confident it will one day take to the skies.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Giant jigsaw:</strong> When attached, the AN-225's wings have a span of 88.4 meters (290 feet) -- the largest of any airplane currently in service.
Giant jigsaw: When attached, the AN-225's wings have a span of 88.4 meters (290 feet) -- the largest of any airplane currently in service.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Record breaker:</strong> The AN-225's operational sister holds a mind-blowing 240 aviation records, including transportation of the heaviest commercial cargo and carrying the largest single piece of cargo. Here the airplane can be seen dwarfing a smaller aircraft behind it.
Record breaker: The AN-225's operational sister holds a mind-blowing 240 aviation records, including transportation of the heaviest commercial cargo and carrying the largest single piece of cargo. Here the airplane can be seen dwarfing a smaller aircraft behind it.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Big lift: </strong>Powered by six turbofan engines, the completed version has a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. Its payload can be carried inside or outside the fuselage.
Big lift: Powered by six turbofan engines, the completed version has a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. Its payload can be carried inside or outside the fuselage.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Ready to roll: </strong>All the essential components of the second AN-225's superstructure have been manufactured, including the fuselage, wings, nose gear and tail.
Ready to roll: All the essential components of the second AN-225's superstructure have been manufactured, including the fuselage, wings, nose gear and tail.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Looking to the future: </strong>Once the investment is in, Silchenko says the existing parts will be connected, the control panel developed and the horizontal stabilizer finished. Then a second AN-225 will be ready for conquering the skies.
Looking to the future: Once the investment is in, Silchenko says the existing parts will be connected, the control panel developed and the horizontal stabilizer finished. Then a second AN-225 will be ready for conquering the skies.
Pavlo Fedykovych
<strong>Build it and they will come (eventually):</strong> Recent interest in space exploration, particularly from the private sector, could generate a market for the second AN-225. "When there is a need to solve such a problem, there will be a demand for the completion of the second aircraft and the investors will appear," says Silchenko.
Build it and they will come (eventually): Recent interest in space exploration, particularly from the private sector, could generate a market for the second AN-225. "When there is a need to solve such a problem, there will be a demand for the completion of the second aircraft and the investors will appear," says Silchenko.
Pavlo Fedykovych