BURSTIf Comox Valley residents happened to look up on Thanksgiving Day, they may have spotted a giant soaring across the valley’s skies: an Antonov AN-124-100M aircraft.
The AN-124 that touched down on Oct. 12 is perhaps the largest aircraft ever to do so at CFB Comox. With a wingspan of 73 metres (roughly six transit buses end-to-end) and a freight payload of 120,000 kg, this aircraft is designed for hauling the kind of large items that wouldn’t fit in a standard commercial or military cargo plane.
The AN-124 has two massive loading hatches in the fuselage: one in the rear and one in the nose, which lifts up! Both hatches are ramp equipped, and the AN-124 travels with its own loading cranes.
Sporting stripes of yellow and blue, the Antonov was originally manufactured in Kyiv when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. This modern fleet now belongs to Antonov Airlines, a state-owned Ukrainian company, although Russia has older models in their military.
In recent years, the AN-124s have become a symbol of national pride. As part of Antonov Airlines’ “Be Brave Like Ukraine” campaign, each aircraft in their fleet is named after a Ukrainian city that has resisted Russian occupation. The name of the AN-124 at Comox was “Mykolaiv.”
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) may have contracted the Mykolaiv to help transport personnel and large cargo if other aircraft, such as the CC-177 Globemasters, were in use elsewhere.
At 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 13, the AN-124 Mykolaiv departed the 19 Wing Comox airfield, marking the end of its fleeting visit to the valley.