Antonov 225 Mriya Takeoff at Minneapolis: Largest cargo plane

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Soviet Union's Antonov Design Bureau in the 1980s.

The An-225's name, Mriya (Мрiя) means "Dream" (Inspiration) in Ukrainian. It is powered by six turbofan engines and is the longest and heaviest airplane ever built with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes.

It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. The single example built has the Ukrainian civil registration UR-82060.

A second airframe was partially built; its completion was halted because of lack of funding and interest.

This image shows A Volga-Dnepr Airlines Antonov An-124

Credit: Wiki

The Antonov An-225, initially developed for the task of transporting the Buran spaceplane, was an enlargement of the successful Antonov An-124.

The first and only An-225 was completed in 1988. After successfully fulfilling its Soviet military missions, it was mothballed for eight years.

It was then refurbished and re-introduced, and is in commercial operation with Antonov Airlines carrying oversized payloads.

The airlifter holds the absolute world records for an airlifted single item payload of 189,980 kilograms (418,834 pounds), and an airlifted total payload of 253,820 kilograms (559,577 pounds).

It has also transported a payload of 247,000 kilograms (545,000 pounds) on a commercial flight.

Boeing makes Breakthrough in Aeroplane WiFi Connectivity

Boeing has developed an advanced method to test wireless signals in airplane cabins, making it possible for passengers to enjoy more reliable connectivity when using networked personal electronic devices in the air.

Boeing engineers created a new process for measuring radio signal quality using proprietary measurement technology and analysis tools. 

This enables engineers to more efficiently measure how strong a signal is and how far it spreads, ensuring safe yet powerful signal penetration throughout an airplane cabin.

Once the new method was established, testing that previously took more than two weeks to conduct was reduced to 10 hours.

"Every day we work to ensure that Boeing passengers are travelling on the safest and most advanced airplanes in the world," said Dennis O'Donoghue, vice president of Boeing Test and Evaluation. 

"This is a perfect example of how our innovations in safety can make the entire flying experience better."

This technology was first developed to more thoroughly and efficiently ensure that signal propagation met the regulatory safety standards that protect against interference with an aircraft's critical electrical systems.

Initially using a de-commissioned airplane, the team from Boeing Test and Evaluation laboratories conducted a series of such tests.

The team determined that potatoes were ideal stand-ins for passengers, given their similar physical interactions with electronic signal properties.

Much of the testing was conducted on the grounded airplane with the seats filled with 20,000 pounds of potato sacks. The test data was then validated on the ground with human stand-ins for passengers.

A wireless signal inside an airplane can deviate randomly when people move around. Boeing's new test process takes advantage of state-of-the-art technology and ground-breaking statistical analysis to identify strong and weak signal areas and balance them by adjusting the connectivity system accordingly.

The result is increased safety and reliability.