The next aircraft in the Famous Flyer series for the Microsoft Flight Simulator video game will be the Ukrainian An-225 Mriya. The world’s largest aircraft will appear in the game on February 27 — the anniversary of the destruction of the real “Mriya” at Gostomel airport near Kyiv during its assault by Russian troops. With the release of a virtual giant aircraft, Microsoft wants to perpetuate the famous An-225.
The iniBuilds studio worked on the creation of a virtual model of the Ukrainian aircraft, in theory, in cooperation with the Antonov State Enterprise. To pilot the legendary giant, you will need to purchase a DLC worth USD 20. It is expected that part of the money from the sales of the virtual aircraft will go to renew the real Mriya (Dream).
????????Mriya came alive in the Microsoft Flight Simulator (@MSFSofficial) game! https://t.co/D7aIljVCSg
— ANTONOV Company ???????? (@AntonovCompany) February 2, 2023
Computer users will be the first to sit in the virtual seat of the An-225 aircraft commander. Sim Update 12 for Xbox Series S|X game consoles will be released only in March.
Of course, there are unofficial modifications created by enthusiasts who add An-225 Mriya to MSFS. But the version from Asobo and iniBuilds will be official and probably more realistic.
In addition, it was reported that in March, with a delay of a year, Microsoft Flight Simulator will finally have another Ukrainian aircraft – An-2 crop duster. Most likely, it will be released in the Local Legends series.
Real “Mriya”
Mriya was designed at the Kyiv Mechanical Plant. The aircraft was created as part of the Buran reusable spacecraft project. This required a heavy transport aircraft capable of transporting various components of the aerospace system from the place of production and assembly to the launch site. Another task was to transport the shuttle itself. In addition, in the future it was supposed to use the An-225 as the first stage of the air launch system.
In total, two planes were planned, but only one was completed. The length of the Mriya was 84 m, height — 18.2 m, wingspan — 88.4 m. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft reached 640 tons. It could carry up to 250 tons of cargo.
Earlier, we reported on how the world’s largest aircraft lifted a hypersonic vehicle into the sky.
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