I had the pleasure of seeing the AN225 up close at Toronto Pearson a few years back on one of the coldest days of the year. You need to see it in person to realise the size of this behemoth. I was clinging on to the fence behind it when thrust was applied to the engines. It makes a lot of smoke as it takes off into the sky! It was empty so was soon in the air. It was heavy on the way in, bringing mining equipment for 'up north' :>)
I saw the takeoff first hand and was behind the engines as it took off on 23. It was an awesome sight. The Antonov is a huge and magnificent aircraft. I got pictures and video :-)
I have always loved this story, but it always makes my eyes leak. Similarly the story of dimming the lights and hoping not to upset the plane, and outrunning a missile lock and covering a lot of miles before he throught to throttle back.
