at BWI yesterday there was a weird Russian aircraft next to the runway 22 (I think) ...with engines under the high-up wings and all. Couldn't catch the registration...is this an unusual occurence for a Russian plane to be in the US or is this a normal visitor/permanent rez?

One of these?

See them around here all the time.

thanks for the link.

incidentally, for some videos of your favorite a/c, go to http://www.flightlevel350.com/ - they even have an in-cabin video of the concorde landing at jfk using the canarsie approach.

Not wishing to be too pedantic but the Antonovs are actually Ukrainian rather than Russian - both the design bureau and the factory are in Kiev, Ukraine.

Having said that the design is from the old Soviet Union days. The An124 described here, like it's huge An22 propeller-driven predecessor, was designed to cart Soviet ICBMs around the country. Strange how the new world leads to it ending up as the best hauler of outsize cargoes now available, they roam the world with their Ukrainian crews. The Formula One motor racing teams move on from country to country each week with their cars and all associated logistics using them, and they also get used as noted above bringing British-made Rolls-Royce aircraft engines to the Boeing plant at Seattle.