Volga Dnepr Antonov 124 RA-82074 arrived empty from Brno (in the Czech Republic) in the early afternoon of February 5th. It was parked on stands 17 - 18 -19 (positions usually used by three airplanes !). The aircraft remained parked for the day and the crew went to their hotel for rest. The very special load was to arrive the next night by truck. The highway between the industrial plant and Geneva Airport had to be closed to give way for the wide transport ! |
The Antonov 124 was loaded with two of these giant containers, each weighing around 40 tonnes. Built in Switzerland and bound for Denver, they each contain one half of the satellite cover sitting on the top of the Titan V rocket. The weight is mostly made of the protection device surrounding the very fragile content which, in fact, does not weigh more than 500 kilogrammes each. |
All materials had to be removed from inside the aircraft, including spare tires and the towbar to give room for the load. The russian airline is well organized and carry with the aircraft a lot of items so as to remain autonomous even on less well prepared aiports. |
A metallic ramp was built under the aircraft's nose to let the containers enter properly. |
While the pilots were still sleeping, the airline loaders were at work before sunrise. It took about a full day to enter the two containers inside the aircaft. You can see on this picture how small the margin of error was. The first container was actually loaded with great difficulty and it took a lot of time to position it correctly inside the aircraft afterwards. The aircraft departed with a two hours delay. |
And now a visit in the cockpit of the giant ! The Antonov 124 is flown by a crew of eight people. Apart from the pilots the flightdeck crew also consist of navigators and flight engineers. The panels of those engineers can be seen on this picture. As in any other russian aircraft everything is written in cyrillic. |
Although not a "glass" cockpit, pilots panels look smart and modern. View outside the windows were obstructed during our visit by the open nose ! Behind the flightdeck are located several sleeping rooms (each accomodating three crew). They look like a train compartment, without windows. More are located at the rear of the aircraft. The cockpit and the rooms are located on the second floor, which are accessed from the cargo bay by a steep metallic ladder. |
DPTS Association is grateful to anyone sending contributions to this website We apologize in advance in case of unfortunate mistakes (c) DPTS Association - 1999-2002 |
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Short history of Volga Dnepr Antonov 124 RA-82074 |
Construction Number 977305 1 4 59142 The aircraft was built at Ulyanovsk and first flew in the first quarter of 1994. Trans Charter was the first operator of the aircraft where it flew until 1998. It was then leased to Titan which used it during a few months that year. Volga Dnepr then bought the aircraft in 1999 and it was first noted in its present colorscheme at Shannon on September 5th 1999. It is believed the aircraft may have been flying or had been intended for Aeroflot, hence the blue cheatlines. |
Special Report Geneva Airport: launch base of the Titan V Space Programm |
Satellite covers of Titan rockets are swiss made and transported to the USA in Antonov 124s. |
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