The British Are Restoring The AN-226 Mriya For Ukraine 

This shot at 2:57 of the plane parting the fog like Moses parting the sea is one of the greatest amateur airplane shots I have ever seen.

This is the best news I have heard in a while. Kudos to the Brits!

I have seen the AN 225 in flight over my city in late 2014. Driving on a bridge over the Mississippi River at that time, the sight of it was a stunning experience. Never seen something so big, seemingly just hanging in the air, and lofting with grace. My wife asked me what it was (knowing that aircraft and machines have always been my curiosity and fascination) and was amused that my response was to the effect of "never seen anything like it" or something along those lines. It was a moment of astonishment and a thing of beauty that will never be forgotten. That said, as much as I hope it would happen; I can't believe another Mriya will ever fly again. It was a gift of it's time and the resources required to recreate that dream would be best allocated elsewhere.

I was working at the Farnborough Air show in 1990 and on a non public day I had a never to be forgotten opportunity to walk underneath this magnificent Aeroplane as it sat in the parking area to the eastern side of the airfield. While marvelling at it, one of it's crew asked if a small group of us, if we would like to go up the steps into the fuselage. Unsurprisingly, no-one refused that offer. When we got into this vast cavern, I was stunned just how huge it really was. Talking to the Ukrainian crew, I was invited to climb up onto the flight deck and it was like something from 60s, so old fashioned and no hi-tech at all. Once back outside, I will never forget how worn out the tyres were and there were a lot of them that had 6 or 7 layers of plys showing. Watching it carry out 3 demonstration runs over the 9 days I was there, the sheer scale of the thing on take off and landing was 'awesome', fuelled by the RAF for it's visit and runs. They were so broke at that time, that they told us they were almost of fuel when they arrived and had to put it down the first time. When I saw Mriya broken and murdered by those Russian bast@rds early in 2022, it brought tears to my eyes, but I'll never forget walking around inside her. What an aircraft. RIP Mriya. Slava Ukraini.

As a retired pilot & jet mechanic I hope this wonderful piece of aviation history. I have never seen it in person but she is the one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made.

I would love to see this big bird fly again! It would be so cool 😎 long live the An225!

We have seen this An-225 Mriya in Paris in 1989 with the Buran on top . We were allowed to go inside . She was a beautiful and very big bird . I hope , they will build a new one !

The world needs this darling of a plane for sure !!

Repair Rebuild the Mriya, what a beautiful and working cargo aircraft. Best wishes to the Captain who had to manage the damage of Mriya, awesome worth restoring or build new one

I hope Mriya can Fly again 🤞👍

Hi. Absolutely YES. And this will be a great sign for victory. I would call it "ANTONOV 225 PEREMOHA " (the Ukrainean word for victory). And by the way , please correct the number 226 to 225. Thanks and I wish a great success.

Worked with this plane many times over 13 years at Robin Hood Doncaster, worked on the refuellers, was always going to be a long day when this incredible plane came in.

Yes. This must be rebuilt, even if not practical, just as an eff-you to the Pocckys. All airframers, MROs, aviation engineering companies should pool together to do this

I hope to see this bird flying in our skies again sometime in the future.

Its cargo capacity was nearer 250 tons than 500. It was the AN-225, not 226. I saw it from my house here in England twice - the sextuple contrail was a strange sight.

I knew it was damaged in the war but I was never able to find any images or footage of the damage. Back then they were saying that it was minor damage and still able to fly. I was relieved then it sorta slipped my mind, then this just pops up in my feed. I am truly shocked to see that it was destroyed and not just minor damage like I had last heard. Seeing the images of it totally destroyed are hard to look at. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for the pilot of the Mryia when he first saw her, absolutely gutted! So sad, I really hope that they are able to get the new one built, if anyone can do it, Richard Branson can do it!

It must be rebuilt, as a symbol of all the Ukrainians that have suffered and died for their country. And as a symbol of the new Ukraine emerging after the war. A modern Ukraine is strong and a part of Europe.

With Sir Richard in charge, Mriya will fly again! I love the way her pilot patted her!

This is very interesting, all the other videos of this plane I've seen Igor piloting. Great pilot great plane👍

It would be great if Airbus and Boeing came to help rebuild the 225. If they use the same engines that the Airbus A380 use that would awesome six of them? I would love to see it. I hope the figure that out!!

the saddness of this loss is inconsolable

4:34 The AN-225 was not the flagship of the Ukranian airforce. It was operaqted by Antonov Airlines, a private company.

Would be great to see it in the air again.

If financial backing could be found lm sure a large plane manufacturer could persuaded to come on board and help rebuild this incredible aircraft. Airbus springs to mind. Plus with their expertise with modern avionics the Antinov could be brought bang up to date and fly again. Would be one in the eye for their competitors.

Ukraine needs there dream back they need Mriya back and the dream will never die

I know how all the aerodynamics work on aircraft that enables them to lift off and stay in the air. But even with this knowledge its is just an unbelievable sight to see this enormous beast just casually trundling down the runway and graciously lifting off into the sky. Everything in my gut just says, something this big and heavy shouldn't be able to fly. But yet it does, and it makes it look so effortless whilst doing so. Such a glorious aircraft! And one day, I hope, she'll be soaring high in the sky once more.

I Hope someone will take the job on to restore this beautiful plane. It's ability to transport loads above and beyond anything that has been built was tremendous. I was not aware that there was a 226 model. I hope Branson or someone will take on this challenge

Three most beutiful planes Antanov 225 Boeing 747 and Airbus 380 in no specific order

There is a partially completed airframe stored somewhere, saw a video about two months ago. A starting point.....

The AN-128 and AN-225 often stopped at IAH in Houston, which was kind of ironic since the modified 747-SP for Space Shuttle transport was based here in Houston (at Ellington field), and is now on display at the Johnson Space Center.

Wow, it means she ( An-225 Mriya) was less than 2 years old when I saw her in Oklahoma City! I hope to go back through my negatives. I hope they can restore the An-225 Mriya!

Antonov needs to rebuild the an-225 its one of the biggest pieces of history

yes she need to be rebuild she was so iconic ive seen here fly once from Prague airport and it was site behold

I saw it in a display carrying the Buran shuttle at Paris 1989.

VERY DOABLE GOOD LUCK MR BRANSON

Yeah!!! Absolutely they should rebuild the aircraft again

They had it good and they knew about it. They need to rebuild it. Its their pride ❤❤❤❤

A modernized An-225 powered by four GE GenX or Rolls Royce Trent 1000 turbofans could have 50% more thrust than the 6-engine configuration it had originally. Couple that improvement with a more modern wing design and strengthened (and perhaps enlarged) fuselage, and the Antonov could again be the new king of heavy lift transports.

I work right next to the Bangor international airport and I just watched this plane take off. Super crazy

They should most definitely rebuild the AN-225.

The most beautiful airplane to exist!

Where do I (and others) send a small donation ? Many mickles make a muckle - ie every dollar donated can go towards the great cost of bringing it closer to reality and we can proudly say "We helped with that !"

Well "restoring" implicates that it just needs to be put back together, but unfortunately there isn't much left of it at all. Rebuilding would probably be the better term. But that would also be a perfect chance to make it better (there are always things that can be improved). I see no use in a hasty rebuild attempt.

Such a beautiful bird must not be allowed to perish, but be brought back to life again.

Brilliantly defiant move!

There are just one cargo plane in the world of this size, and when you need it , nothing else will do. There are basically 2 options one which seems to be favored now is to rebuild the flying plane, which was heavily damaged, due to sheer negligence , if only management gave the order to have it flown out of the war zone , even on 4 engines. The other option is to use the one partially built second example.But that will have to wait till this one been finished and booked solid with work to force them to finish the other one. There are little advantage to do this in the original country now even if the war have ended? For most of the skilled personal are now dead. It will be a project equal to the design of the first 747, which nearly bankrupt Boeing. But now they are thinking of bring the jumbo back. The one unique thing about the jumbo, since 69, there been hull losses, and much mishaps, but not once can the losses be traced to a basic design flaw. One thing for sure, they will not be building 1500 Mriya, that is for sure.

minor spelling mistake, its the 225 not 226

Beast of a plane that needs sky again,

Great to hear

Seen this aircraft when it was in Edmonton picking up or dropping off some oilfield equipment ahh i remember them dropping off some kind of coking vessel for the production of hydrocarbons.

Why would they restore this when they have an almost-complete second A225 in storage?

May she take to the skies once again.

why dont they put an RR TRENT 1000 or G.E 9X or PRATT & whitney on that gentle giant of the sky?

Cost of creation new Mriya may stay from $150mln to $300mln. This estimate from different Ukrainian experts.

Wow!

That's great, but I didn't think there was much left to rebuild from. Might take sometime...it won't be finished anytime tomorrow though.

AN-225 but title says AN-226?

5.20 clearly all 6 engines are mounted, the plane was ready for its rescueflight, Leipzig was awaiting it. The only thing missing was one phonecall to start.

Really loved the airplane

VERY SAID GLORY TO UKRAINE

Love to see her back in the skies! IMO - stay away from Chinese partnerships, they will gain your proprietary information, walk away from deals and they will begin production after reverse-engineering. It is just their way.

The Mriiya was ready to takeoff. Not sat without engines!

They have a second incomplete fuselage and the destroyed Mriya has its wings and tail largely intact... Imagine a second aircraft completed with a glass cockpit and six GEnx-67 engines.

Can't wait for the improved AN-225, the AN-226!

it would be nice

Respect to Richard Branson for his support of Ukraine.

Wonder if it would be possible to build an airliner version? That would get some interest from the likes of Airbus etc.

i love the ''226''

It's about making more money with the Antonov, and showing Russia that Ukraine WON'T just go down !

if the image at 38 seconds is real, santa needs a new credit card

This is why I love the British and why I settled into the British

Of how much use was the roof cargo hold. Most transport would have gone into the belly. Thus maybe a new version does not need a split horizontal stabilizer, making it more efficient.

This is how you stick it to the putinists🥰

I can only assume that the word 'chassis' used here actually refers to the mounting structure for the undercarriage. A plane doesn't have a 'chasis'. The fuselage consists of roughly circular frames joined together with various 'stringers' and 'longerons', forming a complete framework upon which is secured the outer stressed skin. Looking at the remains of the destroyed aircraft, as a layman, I would suspect that the only way to see another AN-225 in the air, would be to finish building the unfinished one whilst salvaging as much of the 'written off' one as possible. The extent of damage to the burnt frame has probably compromised the integrity of what's left to such a degree as to render only 50% of what looks good to be actually re-useable.

Rip an-225 gone but not forgotten 😢😢

one can destroy a plane but never the soul of its people

Yes

"Chassis"? I thought it's called a fuselage.

restore it , godspeed

The Brits can't even get one aircraft carrier out of port.

Fix the title. You get it right elsewhere - why is the Title wrong? And it was built to carry the Buran, NOT just components for it.

It should be acknowledged, Ukraine have another part built An-226 in a storage shed. The original is in no condition to be rebuilt. So, building the second from a good condition part constructed new aircraft stopped in production at the fall of the USSR

I hope this is true, that the Mriya will be restored and I hope the Brits are contributing to this. Slava Ukraini.

'Mriya' means "Dream' or 'Inspiration' in ukrainian It is more than just a plane :) Dreams should never die!

It took some very sick minds to destroy a potential for good aircraft.

I wonder how this would look if fitted with Ultrafans. The old engines are fairly hard to maintain and thirsty Imagine her in Yellow, hanging in the sky in exactly the way that bricks don't

Yes rebuild the plane😊

Man when that plane got destroyed i tbh i cried a little bc damm its a icon its a beauty and now she gone

That would be wonderful.... like Phoenix reborn from the ashes

The Mriya was An 225, NOT 226. So even if buiilding a new one identical is not a restauration.

i think the an 226 is a modernize version of original an 225

The an 225 mira is getting built again

Very amusing!!!!!

Branson loves to tell a good yarn. Lets see where this goes.

At the 3:05 mark it literally splits the clouds.

It(She) will fly again.....👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Yes, modernize and rebuild.

I've heard of the an-225, but I havent heard of the an-226. if you don't understand why I'm saying this, check the video's title

Boeing and Airbus would give their parts to Ukrainian and that solved the problems for the next AN-225 mission to be unveiled again after a long time..

Where is the source that Britain is restoring the An-225? I would have heard about it. Considering the other details in the video description are incorrect, I am certain that this is another one of *those* videos. -sigh-