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Maximus An-124 In Helsinki

Bruce — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:46:49 +0000

A nice night shot of Maximus flagship An-124-100 loading three Patria AMV's (Armoured Modular Vehicle) en-route to Abu Dhabi.

Maximus An-124-100 Photo courtesy of Janne Laukkonen

VIH To Transport Helicopters By An-124

Bruce — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:29:27 +0000

VIH S-61 helicopters

Canadian company, VIH Helicopters, has won a six-month contract to provide helicopters in Angola in the run-up to the national elections to be held on September 5th. These will be the first elections in the country for 16 years.

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Lockheed C-5M Making Progress

Bruce — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:28:51 +0000

Lockheed's efforts to bring the C-5 strategic airlifter up to current standards and to improve the reliability of the earlier versions is making progress as reported yesterday from Marietta. The C-5 always struggled with reliability as it was never properly funded for maintainability and reliability as the US procurement system allocated funding to newer, sexier projects. Assuming that all goes well with the testing then this latest effort to recover the situation should give the previously struggling workhorse several decades more useful service.

Ridgbacks Arrive By Antonov 124

Bruce — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:05:39 +0000

Cougar 4x4s for conversion to Ridgback

A Polet Antonov An-124-100 carried the first customised Cougar 4×4 armoured vehicles into RAF Brize Norton this week, a month ahead of schedule. The UK MOD will now begin the task of readying them for service with the British Army.

Antonov Transport For Big Boys' Toys

Bruce — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:27:49 +0000

The Gumball Rally, an annual repeat customer for the An-124 to move it's competitors cars between continents, is now in its 10th year, and lining up again to raise the stress levels of every police officer on it's route, same as usual.

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An225 'Mriya' In The Netherlands

Bruce — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:50:44 +0000

Two flights in a week earlier this month into the Netherlands for the An225. One into Amsterdam, Schipol and one into the Royal Dutch Airforce base at Eindhoven.

(photo reproduced with permission)

An opportunity for the photographers giving this nice shot by Dennis Muller showing the leading edge flaps deployed.

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The Other Side Of The Coin for Volga Dnepr

Bruce — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:51:29 +0000

While the outsize cargo charter business with the An-124 continues to grow and provide great results for the participants including Volga Dnepr, the other side of VDA's business is not fairing so well.

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Volga-Dnepr Carries Submersibles To Baikal

Bruce — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:33:54 +0000

On July 11, Volga-Dnepr Airlines used an An124-100 to deliver two deep-water submersible vehicles designated Mir-1 and Mir-2 and other research equipment from Kaliningrad to Ulan-Ude as part of a new research program at Lake Baikal.

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An124-100 As Strategic Airlifter For Canada?

Bruce — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:46:01 +0000

There is an extensive discussion of the Canadian military procurement of strategic airlift capacity over on the Canadian American Strategic Review Site with Herman Kuparov contributing an extensive summary of the costing of An124-100 aircraftÂ for military use.

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An124 Making The News

Bruce — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:32:32 +0000

The An124 has made the news ever since it started commercial operations in 1989. Back then, still in or immediately after the Soviet era, the arrival of a Ukrainian or Russian airplane to carry commercial loads to or from 'Western' countries was such a cultural shock for the local population that it made the headlines for political reasons.