At its heart, the An-990 is an exercise in superlatives. Everything about it is designed to be bigger, heavier, and more powerful than anything that has come before.
While details remain scarce and often shrouded in the secrecy of the Cold War’s twilight years, the An-990 is generally understood to have been a design study for a next-generation, ultra-heavy cargo transport, intended to succeed or supplement the An-124.
Not a fixed-wing aircraft, but a modern airship capable of lifting 50 tonnes. Many futurists predict that the era of the 1,000-tonne fixed-wing jet is over; heavy lift will revert to hybrid airships (which would dwarf any "An-990").
Note: The An-218 is numerically closer to "220" than "990," but it shows Antonov’s numbering pattern stopped in the 200-300 range for jets. antonov an 990
The recommended approach profile is a long, stabilized line at 165 KIAS using Flaps 3.
Despite its size, it is designed to operate out of regular 10,000-foot runways like KBFI (Boeing Field), though it requires massive side clearances of 500 feet. VR Support: Recent versions of the mod include FMOD sound and VR compatibility download links for this mod, or would you like to know more about the real-world Antonov aircraft it was inspired by?
600,000 gallons of water or fire retardant. This is more than 30 times the capacity of a converted Boeing 747 Supertanker. 🛠️ The Legacy Behind the Name: Why Antonov? At its heart, the An-990 is an exercise in superlatives
Features a "water-scooping" mechanism to refill its 600,000-gallon tanks during flight. Theoretical Performance Specifications
The Antonov An-990: Exploring the "Juggernaut" of the Virtual Skies
In a world of "just-in-time" delivery, the An-990 would have occupied a unique niche. Its primary applications would have included: Not a fixed-wing aircraft, but a modern airship
Because the An-990 is an community-built modification, specific details vary slightly across packages. However, the most popular iteration—the —features numbers that completely dwarf any aircraft built by human hands. Fictional Specification Real-World Comparison ( An-225 Mriya ) Maximum Takeoff Weight 6,000 tonnes (13.2 million lbs) ~600 tonnes (1.32 million lbs) Powerplant Custom GE-990-480 Turbofans Progress D-18T Turbofans Thrust Per Engine 480,000 lbf (2,135 kN) ~51,600 lbf (229.5 kN) Payload Capacity ~2,250 tonnes 250 tonnes Flight Dynamics and Pilot Guidelines in X-Plane
A heavy military transport that revolutionized commercial outsized cargo.
With the flaps set to 3 or 4, pilots must patiently wait for the airspeed indicator to cross 145 KIAS before gently pulling back on the yoke to lift the nose. 2. The Vertical Takeoff (VTOL) Phenomenon