An-225 landing in Charlotte (KCLT) today?

[Sentinel Chicken]

Got this tip from the guys at HoustonSpotters.net:

22-Jun-2010 A225/Q Anchorage Intl (PANC) Charlotte/Douglas Intl (KCLT) 06:34PM CDT - 01:39AM CDT (+1) Scheduled

What's an An-225 doing in Charlotte? And what's to be picked up there that needs the 225?

[adscram14]

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ADB1356
I could have been there!!!!!!! But I left for New York today. Would have been amazing to see from the observation area.

[good]

I live in Pumpkin Center, NC, just North and West of CLT. We're in the flight path of planes lining up to land. I walked outside tonight at 8:10 or so and saw a guy staring up with his mouth open. I looked up too.

You can imagine what I saw.

Holy crap that thing is big. The freaky thing is that it wasn't making too much noise. You could tell it was at the regular altitude for a flight coming in, but it just took up a lot more sky.

Truly an experience not to be missed.

Any word on when it is leaving CLT? I'd love to go watch it take off.

[Sentinel Chicken]

Heavy load heads to Charlotte for repairs
Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 3:05pm EDT | Modified: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 6:30pm

In a demonstration of the energy expertise Charlotte is building, two 60-plus-ton rotors from a power plant in Thailand will arrive here Tuesday night for emergency repairs.

A crew loads two 60-plus-ton rotors on a Russian-made transport for delivery to Siemens Energy in Charlotte.

The rotors, severely damaged when their lubrication failed, will be brought to the Siemens Energy turbine plant in southwest Charlotte. Mark Pringle, director of operations for the plant, says his operation was the only one able to perform the repairs with the speed the customer needs.

“The Siemens Charlotte plant has developed a worldwide reputation for innovative methods to repair very large rotating equipment with weld processes as well as heat treatment and stress relief methods,” Pringle says “This, combined with our intimate understanding of the design of this machine, makes us the best choice to get this power plant back in operation in the quickest possible time.”

Siemens expects to finish the repairs in October.

Pringle says Siemens routinely works on equipment as large, or larger.* What is unique about this situation is the neeed for speed and, thus, the use of a special plane for transport. The size of the turbines require the world’s largest fixed-wing aircraft — the Russian-made Antonov An-225 — for transportation. The flight will be routed through Japan and Alaska to Charlotte.

"The power company does not have spare equipment, so they are in a dire situation with the plant out of commission," he says. "Speed is critical to them."

Siemens will not disclose the name of the power company because of customer confidentiality. The rotors come from a combined-cycle, gas-powered plant in the Thai province at the north end of the Gulf of Thailand.
'Unique capability'

The rotors are based on a Westinghouse design that Siemens is very familiar with, Pringle says. "We have a unique capability to repair these large rotors."

The rotors are part of the steam turbines that produce electricity from the heat produced by the gas turbines at the plant.

Siemens has 780 employees in Charlotte. During the last year, it has announced two expansions that are expected to add more than 800 jobs.

Read more: Heavy load heads to Charlotte for repairs - Charlotte Business Journal

I'd guess about 24 hours for crew rest and unloading before departs.

[Gerard]

Wow, Thailand-Japan-Alaska-Charlotte. Some trip. How many fuel stops?
And we need a reporter/photog down there!!! :)

[good]

And we need a reporter/photog down there!!! :)

I could kick myself.

I had my iphone in my pocket and could have gotten a great shot. Instead I just stood there slack-jawed as it flew over.

[Sentinel Chicken]

Video from a Charlotte news station: http://www.wsoctv.com/video/23999670/index.html

That's quite a crowd at the spotting overlook at KCLT!

[Matt Molnar]

Wow, Thailand-Japan-Alaska-Charlotte. Some trip. How many fuel stops?
According to Flightaware, it did NGO-ANC without stopping and then ANC-CLT nonstop as well.

[AirtrafficController]

Well it departed CLT. Flying non-stop back to Ukraine. It just flew over Long Island but too bad their was a broken ceiling at 25,000ft to obstruct the view. :cry:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ADB156F

[teshnair]

Yes, our company - KOG Transport - arranged the flight in to Charlotte airport, after a couple of weeks of preparation. It was to flight out back in the early afternoon which was delayed due to the high temperature expected in Charlotte yesterday and postponed to later in the afternoon at 5.30PM on 23rd June. It further got delayed in fueling and ultimately flew at 10.30pm yesterday. It was flying without any cargo back to Kiev for another loading to Yerewan, but went with 200MT of fuel to accommodate the non-stop flight to Kiev.

[coachrowsey]

Darn it. I missed this but I'm pretty sure I saw it once before.