Video here of Antonov landing at Woodford with a Nimrod aboard.
That thing’s huge!
Must be a pig in the air, but damn! Things that big shouldn’t fly!
I was expecting the back to open up…
That main landing gear looks like it should have caterpillar tracks around it. 
It’s astonishing to note that its big brother is almost 50% larger (by max takeoff weight).
When it’s landing it looks incredibly slow, and then the sideways landing, wow!
BTW, the wings are pointing downward, like in the Harrier…what’s it for? Most planes have them upward.
A better picture of the An-124.
Warning: this image may constitute transport porn.
Anhedral (downswept) wings reduce lateral stability, which makes it easier to bank the aircraft. Something as heavy as the Antonov needs a lot of help.
Upswept (dihedral) wings, by contrast, make the aircraft more stable; anytime the aircraft is tilted, the lower wing is “more level” than the raised one, and so produces extra lift, leveling the whole thing out.
It’s so ugly it repels the ground.
It seems strange that the the operator’s phone number and e-mail address are written on the side of the plane. I wonder if anyone sees the plane and thinks, “I’d better write down that number in case I need to hire one of those”…
I’ve jotted down the number in case anyone ever successfully sells me a bridge and I need it moved.
Well, it’s not like you could just flag down the pilot…
We use these babies to haul our Geo-Sats down to Kourou, French Guiana or Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The spacecraft is placed in a environmental container, and rolled on-board the aircraft.
I’ve yet to fly on it, but those that have say that the coolest thing is watching the back door open after landing from the inside. Always dramatic. The down side? No windows for those who sit in the back to maintain ITAR compliance; and hence no sense of reference when taking off and landing, or hitting turbulence. (Having flown on a C-141 Starlifter in the 80’s, the claustrophobia that results when you can’t see out of a window magnifies your anxiety considerably during turbulence or landing).
I’ve also been told that the crew seems to think that the stronger the B.O. the more manly they are; this usually results in the Americans deciding it’s better to hang out in the cargo area, than around the cockpit. :dubious:.