World's largest aircraft takes rare flight

The world's largest aircraft, Ukrainian cargo jet named "Mriya", is taking flight on a rare delivery mission across three continents.

Officially designated as the Antonov An-225, the plane was developed in the 1980s to carry the Soviet version of the space shuttle on its back. After the shuttle programme ended, the plane transformed into the world's coolest flying moving van.

Lately, Mriya has been making deliveries once, maybe twice, a year.



Huge scores of spectators showed up in Prague as the plane touched down at Vaclav Havel Airport in the Czech Republic. While in Prague, workers will load Mriya with a generator weighing 130 tons for delivery to Australia.

From its pickup location in Prague, Mriya has scheduled stops in Turkmenistan, India and Malaysia before arriving this weekend at its final destination in Perth -- on Australia's west coast.

Here's a little perspective on what makes this thing so special.

Most airliners are powered by two or four jet engines. The Mriya on the other hand has six. Its wingspan measures 290 feet (88 meters), which is longer than five 53-foot semi-truck trailers set end-to-end.

Mriya's cargo hold is actually longer than the Wright Brothers' historic flight in 1903. Its maximum total weight at takeoff: 640 tons. That's more than twice as heavy as the Statue of Liberty. To carry all that weight Mriya has 32 wheels spread across its oversized landing gear.



Mriya also has other nice features, like the way its nose opens to allow cargo loading through the front end.

The An-225 holds world aviation records for flying heavy payloads. It set one in 2004 when it flew a 247-ton piece of oil pipeline machinery to Uzbekistan.

“Thousands of spectators are expected to greet the plane and its six-member crew when it arrives,” according to the Antonov Company.

Aviation enthusiasts took to Twitter after viewing the aircraft's landing.

One for the album, with Abang Kacak, @azuanzahdi ! 😎 #Antonov225 #AN225 #Mriya pic.twitter.com/gla5uoc5T1

— Shahreen Rahim (@ShahreenRahim) May 14, 2016

https://twitter.com/aeropuertoGYE/status/730791264338247681

Caught a quick glimpse of the #WorldsLargest Cargo #Aircraft Antonov An-225 #Mriya in @RGIAHyd today! #hyderabad pic.twitter.com/VlAWQutpSi

— Priya Mathew (@mpriyamathew) May 13, 2016

Feeding the huge #Mriya #Antonov225 #Antonov #Prague @PragueAirport #avgeek pic.twitter.com/XH7X7686YB

— Valda Pouche (@padouche) May 11, 2016

#Cossack World's largest #Aircraft #Antonov225 #Mriya picks #Hyderabad as it prepares for first-ever India arrival pic.twitter.com/jbUXHhLzvQ

— Basani Satish Kumar (@satbasani) May 12, 2016

This article originally appeared on CNN