Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov announced on Wednesday the official launch of the first book in a series that will cover 75 years of history, which they defined as «featuring a unique combination of historical and esthetic values».
This first book is called «Antonov Collectibles: Short Stories of the Great Aviation», in which the origins of Oleg Antonov design bureau can be seen through the eyes of his photographers who have been capturing the day-to-day life of the Kiev-based aircraft builders for decades.
The archive of the Antonov Heritage Centre has kept intact for decades hundreds of photos that have now been selected and restored to form this book and be seen for the first time by the public.
«Antonov Collectibles: Short Stories of the Great Aviation» compiles 340 photos accompanied by 19 little-known stories about the generations of employees who cemented the success of the legendary «AN» series of aircraft.
Like the rest of the country, Antonov has been hit hard by the Russian invasion that has been going on for more than a year now. The biggest impact, symbolically, was the destruction of the legendary An-225 «Mriya», the world’s largest aircraft, in the early days of the war.
In November last year, Antonov CEO Eugene Gavrylov had said that plans were still underway to rebuild an An-225 based on the second aircraft of the model that was partially built and is currently stored in a hangar at Zhulyany airport, west of Kiev. The project will also use salvaged parts from the first unit, the only one to have flown, which was destroyed in February at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
See also: Antonov An-225: emerge pictures of the initial fire that caused its destruction
Gavrylov then assured that the plane is 30% ready, detailing that the project would cost at least 500 million euros, which would come in part from the Ukrainian government and also raised through donations and product sales (such as the book launched today).
On the one-year anniversary of the An-225’s destruction, the Microsoft Flight Simulator development team announced the addition of the aircraft to the game’s inventory, stating that all proceeds from the sale of the aircraft will go to support efforts to rebuild the Mriya.
See also: A year after its destruction, the Antonov An-225 is released in Microsoft Flight Simulator
The book «Antonov Collectibles: Short Stories of the Great Aviation» can be purchased on E-bay via this link.
