All language subtitles for Superstructures Engineering Marvels Series 1 3of6 Monster Plane 1080p

(radio chatter).

Narrator: This is the
largest plane in the world.

Amos: The antonov is unmatched
as far as how extraordinary
of a flying machine it is.

Mykhailo: I thought
how is that possible?

A wing as long as
a football field.

No way this thing can fly.

Narrator: The antonov
an225 is unique.

It's set over 200
world records and has a
huge global following.

Ken: It's sort of a
spectator sport when
people come out to

watch the antonov
take off and land.

Danielle: This
aircraft is huge.

It even dwarfs a boeing 747.

Narrator: With a maximum
take-off weight of close to
800 tons, it's so incredibly

heavy it appears
to defy science.

So what extraordinary feats of
engineering enable it to fly?

The only way to find out
is to look inside it.

The giant antonov an225 is
a cargo plane like no other.

Its role, transporting the
heaviest air freight on earth.

In may 2016, it undertook
an epic journey,

transporting a huge
industrial generator

from prague to perth, australia.

Public interest was so high
that a german news crew filmed
it every step of the way.

Dmytro antonov is in charge.

He's not related to the
company founders, but he
is one of a select group of

pilots qualified to
captain the plane.

Stephan: This antonov
is the only plane that
can load over 100 tons.

The generator weighs 117 tons.

Narrator: That's the weight
of 18 african elephants,

and transporting it by
air is super expensive.

Hiring the an225 costs
about $30,000 an hour.

For that you get the
largest plane in the world.

If you were to park it
in a soccer stadium,

its 290 foot wing span would
reach over both touchlines

and its 275 foot fuselage
would stretch from box to box.

Narrator: The first
challenge is how to get the
generator into the fuselage.

Remarkably, the front
of the plane is hinged.

Amos: The antonov
an225 is so cool.

Cause the nose lifts up,

it gives you quite open
access to the entire cargo bay

so you can easily
load things in.

Narrator: Precision hydraulics
lift the normally sealed nose
and open the fuselage like a

giant mouth, but it's
too far off the ground
to load into directly.

Amos: It kind of bows down in
order to swallow the cargo.

It's almost like a big snake
that like unlatches its jaw
and then comes down to the

ground to like eat its prey.

Narrator: The
leading undercarriage
pylons are jointed.

And as the fuselage
lowers, a ramp unfolds,

allowing an 11
strong team to crane the
generator into position.

The an225 has a maximum
take-off weight of 800 tons.

With cargo and fuel on board,
it's not far off that now

and will be heading down the
runway in less than an hour.

The 225 wasn't originally
a commercial plane.

It was designed in the 1980s
at the height of the cold war.

The soviet union's military
had begun a clandestine
program to develop a space

shuttle to rival america's
and they needed an enormous
place to transport it.

Oleg: At the time it
was not public at all.

It was all top secret.

No one knew about it.

Narrator: The soviet shuttle,
known as the buran,

was far too big to fit
inside any existing fuselage.

So the ussr invited ukraine's
finest designers and engineers
to take up the challenge.

Oleg: We were all so excited.

We had sparkles in our eyes
filled with a desire to put
in as much of our knowledge

and abilities as possible
to find the best solution
for this aircraft.

Narrator: They knew they
had to design a plane,

the likes of which had
never been seen before.

Oleg: I can only say that
obviously the most complicated
part was to design this wing.

Narrator: The wings needed
to be vast, but where they're
positioned is also critical.

Civilian planes have wings
mounted as low as possible.

Stuart: They're attached
to the bottom of the airplane
and you'll see that the wings

slope upwards from what
we call the wing root,
and the reason for this is

dynamic stability and control
of the aircraft and we call
that up-sloping wing dihedral.

Ben: This means that if, for
example, a gust of wind pushes
the aircraft and it rolls in

one way, the aircraft
naturally wants
to stabilize itself.

Stuart: In the case
of the an225, another similar
military cargo type aircraft,

the designers use an anhedral
wing shape, which is the wing
sloping down from the center

of the airplane out
to the wing tips.

Narrator: The reason is that
carrying heavy loads negates
the need for the extra

stability that an upwards
dihedral angle would give.

Amos: But also the wings look
more anhedral than they're
going to be in practice when

the plane is flying because
the wings are flexible and
when the wings get loaded by

generating lift, they actually
will rise up a little bit.

So the anhedral angle
is to kind of balance out the
natural deflection you get of

the wings under lift
so it kinda evens
out to about level.

Narrator: When the an225
took its maiden flight in
1988, it was a tense moment.

Stuart: This is so much bigger
than anything that had flown
and was flying at the time.

The engineers who'd created it
must have had some trepidation
about whether or not their

creation was actually
going to get airborne.

Oleg: It's very difficult to
express your feelings, you
know, this feeling if your

heart stops and knots build
up in your stomach,

but I can tell you,
the delight from

seeing how the aircraft
smoothly, beautifully,

slowly, literally
graciously takes off.

Narrator: The an225 soared
into the sky triumphantly

and took even its
engineers by surprise.

Mykhailo: I thought
how is that possible?

A wing as long as
a football field.

No way this thing can fly.

Narrator: The plane went on
to prove it could also fly
with the shuttle on board

and was nicknamed maria,
ukrainian for dream.

Stuart: The plane was
unveiled to the public in
the paris airshow, 1989,

and it really stole the show.

Oleksandr: I remember looking
around and seeing that the
queues of people to see maria

was larger than the
rest of the audience
combined together.

Mykhailo: I was walking around
all puffed up with pride and

I let everyone I met know
that I'm a test pilot.

Narrator: For ukraine it
was a historic moment.

Like never before, the then
soviet country led the world.

Oleksandr: I always talk
about our constructors
with such pride.

Those people are outstanding.

They're the gold
of our nation.

Narrator: But the halcyon
days were short lived.

When the cold war suddenly
came to an end and the
soviet union collapsed,

it was curtains for the
soviet space program too.

Stuart: Sadly, the an225
became surplus to requirements
and was moth-balled.

There was a distinct possibility
that this amazing machine,

of which there was only one,

was going to be allowed to
rot and become dismantled,

fall apart and never
take to the air again.

Narrator: After being
left to rot for years,

the largest plane in the world
comes out of retirement.

In 2001, the antonov company
spots a gap in the market.

About $20 million is spent
on a refit and the an225

becomes the most spectacular
civilian cargo plane.

Yuri: The floor is
strengthened for

transportation of
heavy cargoes.

We have lightened devices
like chains which are

nowhere near as heavy
as in previous aircraft.

The locks are screwed down
into these holes and we fix
the cargo so that during the

flight it doesn't move
anywhere and is safely
fixed inside the aircraft.

With the help of
the winch, we can drag
any cargo inside here.

The winch can be positioned
anywhere on the floor.

Narrator: The cargo hold
is enormous, 20 feet
wide and 141 feet long.

That's longer than
the distance the
wright brothers flew

on their famous first
powered flight,

and just enough room
for the an225 to set
the world record

for the longest cargo
ever carried by air.

Yuri: Every loading is
a challenge I would say.

This plane is not ordinary and
its cargo are not ordinary.

So it's always
tricky to load it.

Narrator: The conversion is
a triumph, enabling the plane
to swallow up all kinds of

giant cargo and even the
heaviest air freight ever.

Narrator: In September 2001,

the an225 carried not
one, but five battle tanks.

Serious heavy lifting
and a world record
load of over 300 tons.

Somehow they all fitted
into the fuselage.

Yuri: I remember I was
there helping to drag in,
adjust and secure the tanks.

Mykhailo: Their total
weight was around 250 tons.

Actually, I think they
weighed a bit more and
we lifted this weight

to an altitude of 10,250 meters.

Narrator: These record
loads are far heavier than
the 128 ton space shuttle.

Stuart: In its new role,
the structural stresses

on the aircraft would
be really significant.

Narrator: Luckily the
225's original designers

had cleverly over
engineered the wings.

Ben: It's hard to
believe that something
that large and that heavy

can ever lift up into
the sky on its own.

Narrator: The designers
knew that their plane
should generate more lift

than any other in existence.

It was completely
unchartered territory.

Ben: There are two
ways you can get a wing
to generate more lift.

One is you make it move
through the air faster,
or you make it bigger.

They realized that they
would have to have wings
that were bigger than

anything that had gone before.

Ken: The broader a
wing is, that is the
more area it covers,

the more total upward
lift you can get.

The antonov's wings are
actually wider than the
length of the plane.

Every piece of that wing
is now adding to the
lift that it can supply

to lift the whole plane
off the ground.

Narrator: Enormous wings
though add even more weight

and create a potentially
disastrous weakness.

Amos: As you make a
longer and longer wing
that is experiencing lift,

you're putting more and
more load on the wing.

Ben: The largest loads
in any wing are typically
around about the wing root,

so where the wing
joins in with the main
fuselage of the aircraft.

Narrator: Dmytro gets
the go ahead to begin
his four day mission

to fly this huge
generator to australia.

The an225 thunders
away from prague.

Narrator: With his super heavy
cargo and wings this long,

it's a mystery the
wings don't shear off

at the stress points where
they join the fuselage.

The answer is hidden
inside the wings.

Underneath the aluminum
skin is a regular
arrangement of ribs,

but in the central section
there are four large
reinforcement beams.

These prevent the colossal
lift force acting on the
joints by fixing the wings

together and
spreading the load.

Inside the antonov hangar in
kiev, ukraine, a second an225

lies half built with
the inner structure
of its wings exposed.

Dveyryn: You can see how one
of the beams of the fuselage
reaches the center section

and is attached to the
girders of the wing.

You can see the attachment.

This is what guarantees
safety from the load the
wings put on the fuselage.

Narrator: After flying
roughly a third of the
journey to perth, australia,

dmytro brings the
an225 and its huge
generator cargo,

down to fill up
in turkmenistan,

where jet fuel is
known to be cheap.

Stuart: Well the
an225 is burning 15
tons of fuel per hour.

So fuel cost is
quite significant.

Narrator: Refueled and back
in the air, the next stop
will be hyderabad, india,

but a hydraulics problem is
about to threaten the mission.

Stuart: Getting spares for
a true one off aircraft such
as an225 whether you're in

hyderabad or wherever
in the world, is always
going to be a challenge.

Narrator: The largest plane in
the skies, the unique an225 is
en route to perth, australia,

where it's due to deliver
this massive 144 ton generator
in just three days' time.

Next fuel stop,
hyderabad, india.

The news crew filming the
journey capture a crowd of
fans flooding the runway to

witness the event.

Rishabh: It's an honor to have
it over here and coming in

the south asia pacific
region for the first time.

So it's really a
matter of pride for us.

Narrator: Dmytro
is fast becoming an
international celebrity.

Dmytro: I remember one
more time in honolulu when
I first come into hawaii,

it's approximately the same.

We have flowers but
without this stick on head.

Narrator: The crew
suddenly discover all is
not well beneath the wings.

There's a problem
with the hydraulics,

a major concern
for flight manager,
vitaliy shost.

Vitaliy: It's not broken.

As I said, it doesn't
work properly in this
case, but it's not broken.

Narrator: Flight plans are
hastily rearranged and the
crew rush to make repairs.

If they're unsuccessful, the
delivery will be abandoned.

Vitaliy: We are trying
to solve this issue.

Narrator: The crew are forced
to disembark and burning
through $30,000 per hour

rental fee, the client
is getting anxious.

Vitaliy: It makes my job
more difficult you know,

because I need to drop my
things, my hotel and things

and pay attention to
all of them, but uh,

but still nobody rejected
me to do my official duties.

Narrator: Hydraulics play
a vital role in the an225.

One of their functions
is at the heart of how the
plane maneuvers in the air.

On small planes,
control surfaces like
the ailerons on wings,

are physically linked
to the cockpit.

Levers mechanically transmit
the pilot's commands to the
control surfaces,

but on the an225 that
would be impossible

because those control
surfaces are so large.

Ben: If you imagine the forces
involved in opening a door
into a hurricane force wind,

you get an idea of the kind
of forces you're gonna need
to push on these surfaces.

Narrator: The solution is
known as a fly by wire system.

The genius of this is
it eradicates the need
for the pilot to have

any mechanical
links to the flaps.

Amos: A fly by wire
system enables you to
have the cockpit and

have the controls of
the cockpit connected

electronically back to
the actuators that turn
the control surfaces.

Narrator: Behind the cockpit
is an array of computers.

When the pilot operates the
controls, the instructions
are processed electronically

and then sent down
hydraulic lines.

These fluid filled pipes
are connected to powerful
hydraulic pistons called

actuators which deliver
the force needed to move
the huge control surfaces.

Ben: The hydraulic system
takes advantage of pascal's
principle where the pilot can

put in a relatively
small force, but pushed over a
large distance and through the

hydraulic system that gets
translated to a large force
but over a smaller distance,

a little bit like the
way a lever works.

Narrator: Hydraulics also
play a crucial role inside
the plane's unusual tail

configuration, a consequence
of being designed to carry
the soviet space shuttle.

Mykhailo: The buran
is attached to the 225
here on these humps.

Narrator: Carrying the
buran outside the fuselage

threw up a significant
aerodynamics problem.

Ken: Well trying to fly a plane
with as something as enormous
as a buran space shuttle on

top of the fuselage was
of course very challenging and
one of the major challenges is

the fact that it disrupts the
air flow that would take place
as you move down the plane and

that's normally where the
vertical and horizontal
stabilizers would be.

Mykhailo: When a model plane
was tested in a wind tunnel
with the buran on top,

there was too much
buffeting on the tail.

Amos: So if you arrange the
space shuttle right in front
of the vertical stabilizer,

the rudder of the
plane, the rudder may
not be as effective.

Narrator: The turbulence
would make the plane virtually
impossible to maneuver.

For the ukrainian
designers, a single tail
fin had to be rejected.

Amos: So what they did is
they actually used two rudders
outset from the fuselage in

order to get outside of that
disrupted air flow, so it
could still fly effectively

even with the space
shuttle on its back.

Mykhailo: Now the trail
line from the buran will

pass between them without
causing buffeting.

Narrator: The twin tail
solves one problem,
but it creates another.

Stuart: Now you've got to have
two separate rudder systems
which you've got to work in a

coordinated sense and move
together in order to control
the aircraft correctly.

Narrator: Engineers avoided
a major design fault
by installing two sets of

powerful hydraulic
actuators that are linked
together electronically.

Sensors monitor their
relative positions,

guaranteeing that the
actuators move both rudders

or both elevators in unison.

Narrator: But that's
only when the hydraulics
are working properly.

If they're not, the pilot
risks losing control.

Oleksandr: We took off once
and were passing europe when
we lost hydraulic liquid

from the second system.

We carried on flying.

When liquid left the second
system, it started leaking
from the third system.

That became dangerous.

Narrator: Often planes
have three parallel hydraulic
systems so that if one leaks,

others can take over
and maintain control.

Oleksandr: So I made
a decision to land at
the closest airport.

When we landed we were down to
the last few liters of liquid.

Narrator: This remarkable
escape was down to the
antonov's extra redundancy

and additional back
up hydraulic line.

Oleksandr: We have four
hydraulic systems, so if one
fails it's not a big deal.

Narrator: In hyderabad
the an225's hydraulics
have been fixed,

but local air traffic control

can do nothing to
speed up its departure.

Vitaliy: We will
be late with departure
because of all of this.

Maybe I will have problems
with my management

because our policy is just
to keep the schedule and,

it's my fault. I
should have known.

I should have known.

Narrator: Dmytro and his
crew have no choice but to
wait for a take-off slot,

but what they're unaware of
now is that at their next
stop off in kuala lumpur,

they will encounter
every crew's nightmare.

Mechanic: We have
to remove the part.

Narrator: Engine trouble.

Narrator: May 13th, 2016,

the enormous antonov an225
is on a $3 million contract

to deliver this 144 ton
generator to perth, australia.

Time is critical but the plane
has been held up in hyderabad.

Vitaliy: We will
be late with departure
because of all of this.

It's my fault.
I should have known.

I should have known.

Narrator: After a long wait,
dmytro gets a green light

to fly on to the next fuel
stop in kuala lumpur.

(cheering).

When the an225, aka
maria, touches down in
the malaysian capital,

engineers unfortunately
discover a serious problem
with one of its engines.

Mechanic: We have to remove
the part or it'll overheat.

Narrator: The mission
is in trouble.

This could be a disaster.

The antonov won't be
allowed to fly unless all
its engines are working.

Mechanic: We can't connect it.

Narrator: But exactly
what does it take to get a
plane this heavy to move

fast enough down the runway
to get off the ground?

Ben: An aircraft that weights
705 tons at take-off requires

an enormous amount of
thrust to accelerate it.

Narrator: Antonov designers
knew a regular set of
engines would be inadequate

and they didn't have the
money to invent a new engine.

So they looked to the turbo
fan jets on an earlier cargo
plane called the ruslan.

Mykhailo: The first engines
were installed on ruslan

and the same engines
were installed to maria.

It was the first time in
the soviet union that such
an engine was developed,

an engine of such size and
dimensions and such capacity.

The d18t engine's thrust
on take-off is 24 tons.

Narrator: These d18t
engines are high bypass
turbo fan jets designed to

produce more thrust
than a standard jet.

Ken: Turbo fan engines produce
thrust through basically a
combination of two mechanisms.

So first of all it is a gas
turbine engine combined with
essentially a fan, turbo fan.

Danielle: So there
are two ways you can
increase the thrust.

You can increase the speed of
the air that goes through your
engine, or you can put more

air through that engine.

Narrator: These put more
air through the engine.

As with a standard jet,
there's a combustion chamber
that delivers thrust by

expelling exhaust out over
the turbine at the rear.

Danielle: That turbine
also drives a fan which

is housed at the very
front of the engine.

Narrator: This is the
clever part, the turbo fan.

As the turbine spins,
it spins the huge fan at
the front of the engine.

This sucks in a massive volume
of air and sends some outside
the combustion chamber to

these bypass channels.

This air is then
accelerated out of the back.

Incredibly, 80% of
the engine's thrust is
produced by this bypass.

Amos: By having that
big area of the fan
putting out the air,

even if it's at a
lower velocity,

it's such a big area
it's still moving a
lot of mass and it's

more efficient than just
using a pure jet engine.

Danielle: These engines are
really big and very powerful.

They have around
70,000 horsepower.

Now that's equivalent to
over 400 average cars each.

Narrator: The ruslan has
four of these engines, but
for the an225, the maria,

four would fail to produce
sufficient thrust.

Mykhailo: They made an extra
sensor section of the wing so
they could fit more engines.

So instead of four,
there are six.

That means their total thrust
on take-off is over 100 tons.

Can you imagine?

That's the capacity
of these six engines.

Narrator: Dmytro and his
crew are still stuck in kuala
lumpur waiting for one of his

six engines to be fixed.

They need to take off soon
or they stand no chance of
arriving in perth on time.

Both money and
reputation are at stake.

Narrator: For 30 years,
the an225 has had a
devoted cult following.

While crowds start to assemble
in perth for the rare chance
to witness the an225 landing

in australia, the plane
is still stuck on the
tarmac in kuala lumpur.

They've had engine trouble.

But after a lengthy hiatus,

it's fixed and dmytro
gets ready to take off

on the last leg of the journey.

Dmytro: Is vitaliy in here?

Narrator: But there's
another hitch.

Dmytro: Looks like there's
no flight plan in the system
in the kuala lumpur tower.

We're waiting vitaliy
calling to office about this.

(speaking russian).

Vitaliy: It's not our fault.

This flight plan was
filed five hours ago.

It is the fault of malaysian
air traffic controllers.

Narrator: Eventually the crew
negotiate a new flight plan

and clearance to
take off at last.

Another 2600 miles and the
an225 will reach its final
destination in perth.

Landing this sky
monster loaded up with
144 tons of cargo is

the most critical part
of the mission.

How on earth can the plane
land with all that weight

without smashing into pieces?

Ben: Typically the landing
part of any flight and
certainly for an aircraft

as large as the antonov,
landing is gonna be the
most dangerous part.

Stuart: It's going to
need a significant amount
of runway in order to

come to a stop,
up to 11,000 foot.

Narrator: But touching down
safely anywhere for this super
heavy behemoth of the skies

is a procedure
fraught with risk.

Amos: If you ever look at a
commercial aircraft, you know
the wings deploy down and it

basically makes this huge sail
in order to redirect the air
in a different direction and

catch that air and
slow the plane down.

Narrator: Fine control of the
approach speed is critical.

If it's not perfect the
landing must be aborted
and reattempted.

It's known as a go around and
can add thousands to the bill.

Narrator: After flying more
than 8000 miles the an225
has to make just one more

landing at its
final destination,
perth, australia.

Its colossal weight
presents a particular
engineering nightmare

at the moment of touchdown.

A regular under carriage
could buckle on impact.

Amos: And that's all about
distributing the weight of
the plane over many tires

instead of like one tire
that could easily blow out.

Narrator: Dmytro knows that
to bring the plane down safely
there's little room for error.

Narrator: The an225
approaches the final
destination of its

long journey,
perth, australia.

It's the plane's first visit
here and as with any landing,

the moment of
touchdown is critical.

Ben: The antonov
undercarriage is amazing
because of its sheer scale,

it's made up of 32 wheels.

Narrator: The unique
undercarriage arrangement is
normally hidden during flight

inside the massive fuselage.

Eight rows of struts hold the
incredible total of 32 wheels

to spread the force
of the impact,

but the real secret for
softening the landing

is the state of the art
suspension system.

Each wheel is mounted on
what's called an oleo strut,

a high performance
oil and gas combination
shock absorber.

Ken: That is like a piston
inside of a tube and inside
the tube is a combination of

nitrogen gas and oil which
together allows some sort
of elastic effect but also

a viscus damping
effect when combined.

Narrator: Landing also puts
huge stress on the tires.

The 225's experience so
much friction, they heat up
to 250 degrees fahrenheit.

What's to stop them
from exploding?

Ben: So these wheels are made
of rubber reinforced with
a steel mesh which makes them

really, really strong and even
if one of them were to fail,

they're filled with
nitrogen so it wouldn't

be a catastrophic
explosion if it did fail.

Narrator: But they do
lose a lot of rubber every
time they hit the tarmac.

Ben: These tires need to
be replaced every 90 landings

and every time you do that
it costs $1000 per tire.

Narrator: News of the giant
antonov's imminent arrival
in perth has now brought

traffic jams and a 30,000
strong crowd to the airport.

Oleksandr: It hadn't
been there before.

It caused such a furor.

People knew maria was
going to arrive so they were
waiting there for a few days.

There were
thousands of people.

Narrator: To the delight
of the spectators, dmytro
pulls off a perfect landing.

(tires screeching, cheering).

Man (over radio): Alpha delta
bravo three six one zero.

Welcome to perth.

Man: Massive, it was
well worth coming down.

Man: That's pretty
impressive hey?

Man: It's good fun to see
something a bit different.

Man: To see it in real
life is just mind blowing.

You have to be here to see it.

Man: It was really,
really exciting.

Probably about the best
thing and most awesome
thing I've ever seen.

Narrator: The huge
generator can now be
offloaded just a day late.

And a group of ukrainian
ex pats celebrate
with the exhausted crew.

(singing).

Narrator: Whatever the future
holds, the antonov 225 is a

unique plane that soared
into the air from behind

the iron curtain and shocked
the world with its huge size

and unrivalled
capabilities.

By taking it apart,
we've discovered how

it defies gravity and
takes to the skies

and how it carries cargoes
no other plane can lift.

Narrator: The antonov an225 is
probably adored the world over

because in terms of sheer
size it may never be beaten.

Captioned by cotter
captioning services.