One of the largest cargo planes in the world made a stop at the special airport Oberpfaffenhofen on Christmas Eve.
The Antonow An-124 delivered two Dornier Do 228 machines.
More than a hundred onlookers did not want to miss the spectacle at the start.
Oberpfaffenhofen
- The four turbines howl, the machine lifts off after a short sprint over the runway, then the colossus leans once to the left and once to the right - and shortly afterwards disappears behind the clouds.
With this greeting, known as the "Wing Wave", the crew of the Antonow An-124 said goodbye on Christmas Eve at 10:20 am from the special airport Oberpfaffenhofen, its employees and more than a hundred onlookers who did not want to miss this event.
Thomas Girstenbrei from Augsburg is one of them.
"This is unique for this airfield," he says in an interview with Starnberg Mercury, after the aircraft can no longer be seen.
“You normally don't get that close to a machine like this,” explains the 31-year-old truck driver, who has been enthusiastic about airplanes for many years.
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Unloading at dawn: there were two Dornier aircraft in the fuselage of the Antonov.
© Tobias Grünholz
For those who are not really into the matter: The Antonov An-124 is one of the largest transport aircraft in the world.
Built for the Soviet Army at the time, it completed its maiden flight on Christmas Eve 1982.
It is 69.10 meters long, has a wingspan of 73.30 meters and an empty weight of 173 tons.
When fully loaded, it brings around 390 tons into the air.
Until 2004 only 56 copies were built.
“There are currently around 45 airworthy An-124s, but only about half are actually still flying,” says Tobias Grünholz.
The 36-year-old undertaker from Gilching, like Thomas Girstenbrei, is a “planespotter”, ie someone who photographs special aircraft and airports.
"I am an aircraft enthusiast," says Grünholz to the Starnberg Merkur.
“I'm fascinated by the fact that tons of this kind can take off and fly through the air.” One of the special features of the Antonov, in addition to its sheer size, is that there aren't many of them left and that they are relatively old, he explains.
The machine that landed in Oberpfaffenhofen was built 30 years ago and put into service in January 1991
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Ready to take off: At the very beginning of the runway, the aircraft was waiting for the signal from the tower.
© Thomas Girstenbrei
But why was the plane of the Ukrainian airline Antonov Airlines with the registration number UB-82029 in Oberpfaffenhofen at all?
Tobias Grünholz found that out too.
“She brought two Dornier Do 228 machines from Thailand to Oberpfaffenhofen.” Thomas Girstenbrei knows what is planned there: “The two Dornier machines are being completely overhauled at Ruag.
They are dismantled into all individual parts, checked and replaced if necessary.
Then they will be reassembled and will probably fly back to Thailand on their own with many refueling stops, ”he says.
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Farewell greetings: The crew said goodbye to Oberpfaffenhofen with a “wing wave”.
© Thomas Girstenbrei
However, the transport did not go completely smoothly.
According to data available on the Internet, the plane took off on Monday, December 22, at 9.25 a.m. local time in Rayong, Thailand.
The original destination was Tbilisi, from where it should have continued after a refueling stop to Oberpfaffenhofen.
However, there were apparently technical problems.
In any case, UR-82029 landed unscheduled in the Indian capital New Delhi.
There the Antonow took off again on Tuesday, December 23, at 10:13 p.m. local time and flew exactly eleven hours and 23 minutes non-stop to Oberpfaffenhofen.
At 5:06 a.m. on Christmas morning, the plane touched down on the 2.2-kilometer runway - around twenty hours late due to the unplanned stopover.
For aircraft enthusiasts, that meant getting up early.
Tobias Grünholz was at the airport around 6 a.m. and photographed the Dornier aircraft being unloaded from the giant fuselage of the Antonow.
The front area can even be opened completely for this.
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Enthusiastic audience (from left): Kai-Uwe Thormann, Thomas Girstenbrei, Max, Sebastian and Johannes Trauner.
© Peter Schiebel
Thomas Girstenbrei and his friends Kai-Uwe Thormann (38) with their son Max (7), Sebastian Trauner (23) and Johannes Trauner (26) from Moorenweis in the Fürstenfeldbruck district were also up early.
Since around 7.30 a.m. they have been waiting at the end of the airport runway on the connecting road towards Unterbrunn for the giant bird to take off with its destination Kiev.
“We are all enthusiastic about aircraft,” says Kai-Uwe Thormann.
“We didn't want to miss that” - just like more than a hundred other viewers.
The closing words by Tobias Grünholz: “That was a highlight for Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and not only a blast for us, often referred to as crazy, but also for a lot of people who are simply fascinated by the size of this colossus.
Something like that will probably not happen for the next ten years. "