Russian Heavy comes to Cleveland!

On Sunday 8/23/2009, Cleveland spotters were abuzz over the arrival of one of the second largest planes in the world - an Antonov An-124 Ruslan (UR-82027). Physically, the An-124 is similar to the U.S.'s C-5A Galaxy. However, the 124 has a 25% larger payload and unlike the C-5's T-tail, the 124 has a tail similar to that of the Boeing 747.

The craft that arrived at Hopkins is owned by the Antonov Design Bureau and was allegedly bringing equipment for delivery to Rolls Royce. You'll notice in the photo that the plane is capable of "kneeling" to assist in unloading its cargo.

Crews worked through the night unloading the plane's cargo. Originally, the plane was scheduled to depart at 08:00 8/24/2009, but rumor has it that the crew wanted to do some shopping before leaving. So at 14:05, the 124 finally took off for it's next destination, Newark, NJ.

More photos of the 124 can be seen on the AoA Photo main site here.