# AN-124 disgorges a Nimrod **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894 "2008-01-25T00:29:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/1 "2008-01-25T00:29:10Z")
Video [here](http://www.flightlevel350.com/Aircraft_Antonov_An-124-Airline_Antonov_Aviation_Video-9755.html) of Antonov landing at Woodford with a Nimrod aboard. That thing’s huge! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/2 "2008-01-25T00:56:07Z")
Must be a pig in the air, but damn! Things that big shouldn’t fly! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/3 "2008-01-25T01:28:06Z")
I was expecting the _back_ to open up… That main landing gear looks like it should have caterpillar tracks around it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/4 "2008-01-25T02:26:41Z")
It’s astonishing to note that its [big brother](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225) is almost 50% larger (by max takeoff weight). ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/5 "2008-01-25T02:54:10Z")
## 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. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/6 "2008-01-25T02:56:57Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] It’s astonishing to note that its [big brother](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225) is almost 50% larger (by max takeoff weight). [/QUOTE] [A better picture of the An-124.](http://blog.pcicp.com/attachment/Day_060313/0_14_a2ff6b21caf752f.jpg) Warning: this image may constitute transport porn. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/7 "2008-01-25T03:06:44Z")
[QUOTE=Ají de Gallina] BTW, the wings are pointing downward, like in the Harrier…what’s it for? Most planes have them upward. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/8 "2008-01-25T21:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Must be a pig in the air, but damn! Things that big shouldn’t fly! [/QUOTE] It’s so ugly it repels the ground. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/9 "2008-01-25T22:01:44Z")
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”… ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/10 "2008-01-25T22:06:48Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] 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”… [/QUOTE] I’ve jotted down the number in case anyone ever successfully sells me a bridge and I need it moved. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/11 "2008-01-25T22:09:22Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] 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”… [/QUOTE] Well, it’s not like you could just flag down the pilot… ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-124-disgorges-a-nimrod/434894/12 "2008-01-25T23:39:52Z")
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:.