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The largest plane. Three of the world's largest aircraft

The largest plane. Three of the world's largest aircraft

11.01.2024

The list of maximum size aircraft includes both military cargo transport and aircraft capable of carrying more than five hundred passengers. The leaders among them are the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747.

What models are on the list of the largest aircraft?

The list of the world's largest aircraft includes such giants as the An-225 and Airbus A380, Boeing 747 and An-22, ANT-20 and Airbus A340-600. All of them at one time became leaders in length or passenger capacity.

The listed aircraft were created in different countries of the world, some of them are transport and cargo, some are created only for transporting passengers. The need for high-capacity aircraft is growing from year to year, which is associated with people’s desire to travel, get to know new countries, and discover new continents.

Hughes H-4 Hercules

Today, the aircraft with the largest wingspan is the Hughes H-4 Hercules. It was built in 1947 from wood. It was assumed that it would be capable of transporting at least seven hundred and fifty troops with full equipment.

The height of this wooden giant is twenty-four meters, length is sixty-six meters and forty-five centimeters, with a wingspan of ninety-eight meters. Today the Hughes H-4 Hercules is located in Oregon and is a museum exhibit.

An-225

There is only one An-225 aircraft in the world. Its second name is “Mriya”. In the eighties, it was created in Ukraine for air transportation and is a cargo aircraft. Its maximum take-off weight is six hundred and forty tons.

The dimensions of the Mriya are also striking. With a height of twenty-four meters, ten centimeters and a length of seventy-three meters, its wingspan is almost eighty-eight and a half meters. It is known that construction of a second such aircraft is underway.

Airbus A380

The leader among passenger aircraft in terms of capacity is the airliner called Airbus A380. Its creator is Airbus S.A.S. Passengers on this plane are accommodated on two decks.

Being the largest among commercially produced airliners, this one is also the most economical in terms of fuel combustion. For a hundred kilometers of travel, fuel consumption for each passenger is only three liters.

An-124

The An-124 aircraft, also called “Ruslan”, is one of the largest cargo-lifting aircraft in the world. This giant is used as a military aircraft. The length of "Ruslan" is sixty-nine meters ten centimeters, the height is slightly more than twenty-one meters with a wingspan of seventy-three meters thirty centimeters.

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy

Until 1982, the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy was considered the largest among mass-produced transport and cargo aircraft. It is used today by the US Army and is capable of transporting at least two hundred and seventy soldiers.

This aircraft gains altitude up to ten kilometers and can cover a distance of five thousand six hundred kilometers without refueling. The maximum speed that the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy can reach is nine hundred and twenty kilometers.

Boeing 777-300ER

The record holder for the ability to fly without refueling is the Boeing 777-300ER, which can fly a distance of twenty-one thousand six hundred one kilometers. This passenger airliner was developed in 1990, and four years later it made its first test flight, and operation began in 1995.

Among twin-engine jet passenger aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER remains the largest. It can accommodate from three hundred five to five hundred fifty people on board.

Airbus A340-600

A large four-engine passenger aircraft is called the Airbus A340-600. It was created for intercontinental flights and could fly without additional refueling over a distance of fourteen thousand six hundred kilometers.

The height of the liner is seventeen meters and thirty centimeters, the length is seventy-five meters and thirty centimeters, and the wingspan is sixty-three and a half meters.

Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 was considered the largest, most spacious and heaviest passenger airliner at the time of its creation. It held this record for thirty-seven years until it was overtaken by the Airbus A380.

The Boeing 747 is also the record holder for the most common aircraft in the world. It is known that more than one and a half thousand such airliners were produced.

The largest passenger plane in the world

As you know, the most comfortable and fastest way to travel is by plane. For this reason, many modifications of passenger aircraft have been created. The largest among them for a long time remained the passenger Boeing 747, released in 1969. Initially, its capacity was four hundred and fifty-two passengers, and after modification it increased to five hundred and sixty-eight.

In 2005, a new super-capacious large aircraft appeared - the Airbus A380. Surprisingly, its capacity is eight hundred and fifty-two passengers. They are located on two decks. The wingspan of this four-engine airliner is nearly eighty meters, height is twenty-four meters, and length is seventy-three meters. The weight of this “giant” is also surprising - without passengers it weighs almost two hundred and seventy-seven tons and is capable of flying fifteen thousand two hundred kilometers without stopping to refuel.

And the largest cargo plane is called An-225 Mriya. It was made in the USSR. .
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Ever since people learned to design flying vehicles, they began to be used to transport heavy and bulky cargo. Over the history of aeronautics, many transport aircraft have been created that impress with their enormous size.

1. Antonov An-225 “Mriya”.

The An-225 is currently the largest aircraft in the world; it has an extremely large payload and can lift about 250 tons into the air. The An-225 was originally designed and built to transport components of the Energia launch vehicle and the Buran reusable spacecraft.

2. Boeing 747 Dreamlifter.

This transport aircraft is a modified version of the Boeing 747, it was built and used exclusively to transport parts of the Boeing 787 aircraft. What makes the Dreamlifter special is its unusual appearance.

3. Aero Spacelines Super Guppy.

The Super Guppy cargo plane was produced in five copies and today only one of them is in use. It is owned by NASA and is used to deliver large cargo and spacecraft parts.

4. Antonov An-124 “Ruslan”.

5. Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.

American military transport aircraft, second in terms of payload capacity after the An-124. The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is capable of carrying six helicopters or two large tanks in its cargo bay. The total weight that the aircraft can transport is more than 118 tons.

6. Airbus A300-600ST Beluga.

A jet cargo aircraft for transporting large cargo, which was developed on the basis of the Airbus A300 series. The main purpose of the A300-600ST is to replace the Super Guppy transport aircraft. Beluga owes its name to its body shape, which resembles a beluga whale. The Beluga's carrying capacity is 47 tons.

7. Antonov An-22 “Antey”.

Soviet-made heavy transport aircraft, the largest turboprop aircraft in the world. Currently, the aircraft is used by the Russian Air Force and the Ukrainian cargo airline Antonov Airlines. The carrying capacity of the An-22 is 60 tons.

8. Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.

The C-17 Globemaster III is one of the most common military transport aircraft of the US Air Force and is still in use today. The aircraft is designed to transport military equipment and troops, as well as perform tactical missions. The C-17's carrying capacity is more than 76 tons.

9. Airbus A400M Atlas.

The A400M Atlas was designed and built as an international project for the air forces of France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and several other countries. It is a four-engine turboprop aircraft with a payload capacity of up to 37 tons.

11 PHOTOS

The Super Guppy cargo plane was produced in five copies and today only one of them is in use. It is owned by NASA and is used to deliver large cargo and spacecraft parts.

The An-124 is a heavy military transport aircraft for long-distance transport, the largest of all serial commercial cargo aircraft in the world. It was designed primarily for air transport of intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, as well as for transporting heavy military equipment. The carrying capacity of the An-124 is 120 tons. Aircraft maintenance can only be carried out in a special hangar built for the company that owns the An-124 from metal structures (a similar principle http://ctcholding.kz/uslugi/bystrovozvodimye-zdaniya/iz-metallokonstruktsij/promyshlennye-zdaniya).

A twin-engine military transport aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, created as a replacement for the Kawasaki C-1 and Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. The C-1's lifting capacity is 37 and a half tons.

Surprisingly, these huge monsters are flying in the sky. They weigh hundreds of tons, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and are almost as long as a football stadium.

The An-225 Mriya (translated from Ukrainian as “dream”) is the heaviest cargo-lifting aircraft ever taken into the air. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 640 tons. The reason for the construction of the An-225 was the need to create an aviation transport system for the Soviet reusable spacecraft Buran project. The plane exists in a single copy.

The aircraft was designed in the USSR and built in 1988 at the Kiev Mechanical Plant. "Mriya" set a world record for take-off weight and carrying capacity. On March 22, 1989, the An-225 flew with a load of 156.3 tons, thereby simultaneously breaking 110 world aviation records, which is a record in itself.

"Mriya" and small cars.

Dornier Do X is a German passenger flying boat manufactured by Dornier. Intended for operation on long-distance passenger airlines. The first flight took place in 1929. On October 20, the aircraft took off from Lake Constance with 169 passengers on board during a 40-minute demonstration flight. This record remained unsurpassed in the first half of the 20th century.

Length - 40.05 m, wingspan - 48.0 m, number of passengers - 160.

The Dornier Do X's cockpit had no engine controls. Instead, as on large seagoing vessels of the time, the pilot transmitted (by telephone) the command to increase or decrease power to the flight engineer located in a separate cabin.

The flight engineer controls twelve aircraft engines:

This is the largest aircraft with a single propeller, the largest propeller in history. Four connected 260-horsepower Mercedes D.IVa engines drove a huge propeller mounted in the nose.

Looking only at photographs, it is completely impossible to understand the gigantic dimensions of the R.II 55/17 (For some reason, there are no photographs of people standing near the aircraft that give a sense of scale.

The R.II could carry a maximum payload of 7000 kg with a total flight weight of 15000 kg... The upper wing span was 42.16 m, the length was 20.32 m. It made its first flight in January 1919.

Soviet propaganda, multi-seat passenger, 8-engine aircraft, the largest aircraft of its time with a land landing gear. Built at the aviation plant in Voronezh. It made its first flight on June 17, 1934. Length - 33 meters.

In 1934, the plane set two world records, lifting loads weighing 10,000 kg and 15,000 kg to a height of 5,000 m. In 1935, during a demonstration flight, the plane crashed into the holiday village of Sokol. 49 people died

After the crash of the ANT-20, it was decided to build an improved backup, the ANT-20 bis, but neither it nor the ANT-20 were ever put into production.

This is a transport wooden flying boat, which received the unofficial nickname Spruce Goose (“Goldfinch, Dude,” literally “Spruce Goose”).

Weight is 130 tons, and its wingspan still remains a record - 98 meters (Mriya's is 88.4 m). It was designed to transport 750 soldiers when fully equipped.

It is currently on display at the Evergreen International Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it was moved in 1993. The plane is visited by about 300,000 tourists annually.

The Bristol Brabazon is an experimental British passenger aircraft built in 1949. The largest aircraft ever built in the UK.

Length - 54m, wingspan - 70m.

By 1952, it became clear that the upper end of the air travel market would never pay for an aircraft built only for first class service. Even in “general” class, each Brabazon passenger had 6 cubic meters of internal volume, in first class - 8 cubic meters; the plane literally “carried” these cubic meters of fuselage. In March 1952, the government refused to support the completion of the second, turboprop model, and in 1953 both vehicles were sent for scrap.

The world's first long-range, double-deck, wide-body passenger aircraft. The first flight took place on February 9, 1969. At the time of its inception, the Boeing 747 was the largest, heaviest and most spacious passenger airliner, remaining so for 36 years until the introduction of the A380, which first flew in 2005.

The Boeing 747-400 consists of 6 million parts (half of which are fasteners) manufactured in 33 different countries. During Operation Solomon (Israel's military operation to transport Ethiopian Jews to Israel), a world record was set for the number of passengers transported in one flight by one aircraft - on May 24, 1991, a Boeing 747 of El Al airlines transported 1,122 passengers to Israel. Moreover, two babies were born during the flight.

The new Boeing 747-8 is a new generation of the famous Boeing 747 series with a stretched fuselage, redesigned wing and improved economic efficiency. The 747-8 is the largest commercial aircraft built in the United States, as well as the longest passenger aircraft in the world.

Length - 76.3 m, wingspan - 68.5 m.

This is a heavy long-range transport aircraft developed by the Design Bureau named after. O. K. Antonova. It was created primarily for air transportation of mobile launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The prototype aircraft made its first flight on December 24, 1982 in Kyiv. The aircraft entered service with the USSR military transport aviation in January 1987; a total of 56 aircraft were built.

Load capacity - 120 tons, length - 69.1 m, wingspan - 73.3 m. In October 1997, a record was set for the weight of transported commercial cargo. A chemical reactor weighing 125 tons was delivered from Paris to Doha, and the total weight of the cargo with special equipment was 140 tons.

Repair and modernization of An-124 Ruslan aircraft is now carried out at the aircraft manufacturing plant in Ulyanovsk.

It was built in 1966. It was the largest aircraft in the world before the An-225, which received the name “Caspian monster” from foreign intelligence services. Length - 92 m, wingspan - 37.6 m, maximum take-off weight - 544,000 kg.

The largest production passenger airliner in the world, surpassing the capacity of the Boeing 747, which can only carry up to 525 passengers (the Boeing 747 was the largest passenger airliner for 36 years). Its length is 73 meters, wingspan is 79.75 meters, maximum take-off weight is 560 tons (the weight of the aircraft itself is 280 tons).

Start of production - 2004. The first aircraft sold was delivered to the customer on October 15, 2007.

Beriev Be-2500 “Neptune” is an ambitious project of a super-heavy amphibious transport aircraft, developed at the Taganrog TANTK named after. G. M. Berieva. Is the largest aircraft ever conceived. Length - 115.5 m, wingspan - 125.5 m, take-off weight - 2.5 million kg, maximum payload - up to 1 million kg.

The project remained a project, and in the state program “Development of the Aviation Industry for 2013-2025” adopted at the end of 2012, there is no mention of the aircraft.

LZ 129 "Hindenburg" is a rigid airship built in 1936 in Germany. It was the largest airship in the world created up to that time.

The Hindenburg first flew at Friedrichafen on March 4, 1936. On May 6, 1937, while completing another transatlantic flight, the Hindenburg, filled with flammable hydrogen, caught fire and crashed, killing 35 of the 97 people on board, as well as one member of the ground crew. The crash of the Hindenburg effectively marked the end of the commercial use of airships for transport purposes.

The history of aviation in its modern sense goes back more than 100 years, if you do not take into account the attempts of man to fly into the air since ancient times. During this time, aircraft manufacturing has evolved from the first prototypes of the Wright brothers and other enthusiastic inventors to heavy-duty, multi-ton giants capable of carrying tons of cargo and hundreds of passengers. This article is about the 10 largest aircraft in the world.

The largest passenger plane in the world

The Airbus A380 holds the lead among the largest civil aircraft for transporting passengers. This is the brainchild of the European company Airbus. It first flew into the air with passengers in 2005 after 10 years of development and experimentation by designers.

Fact. The cost of creating the giant was almost 12 billion euros.

This expensive, but the largest passenger aircraft has the following dimensions:

height – 24.08 m;
length – 72.75 m;
wingspan - 79.75 m;
weight – 280 t.

Additional Information. Despite its impressive dimensions, the Airbus A380 is very economical and even environmentally friendly in operation - only three liters of fuel are consumed to transport one passenger over a distance of 100 kilometers. It can cover a distance of more than 15,400 meters without refueling. And the less fuel is spent, the less emissions into the atmosphere. This result was achieved thanks to the ideal design of the wing and fuselage, as well as the special material from which they are made. These engineering solutions significantly reduced the overall weight of the vessel and improved its aerodynamics.

Today, double-decker Airbus A380s accommodate 525 passengers when divided into three classes and up to 853 people with a single-class cabin configuration. However, development and testing of improved versions of the aircraft are already underway, the capacity of which should exceed 1000 people.

The Airbus A380 unseated the Boeing 747, which had held its position as the largest aircraft since the 1970s. The A380 developers have found a way to reduce production costs by 15% compared to Boeing and increase capacity by 7%.

Second largest aircraft in the world

The already mentioned Boeing 747 (Jumbo Jet) ranks honorably second in size among passenger airliners. At the time of its creation in 1969, it was the largest, heaviest and most spacious aircraft, 70.6 m long.

For 36 years it was produced in various modifications, however, maintaining their main characteristics: a wide fuselage and two floors for passengers. This design gives the Jumbo Jet a recognizable hump-like silhouette, as the upper deck is significantly shorter than the lower deck.

Interesting. In the late 1960s, it was believed that the future of passenger aviation belonged to supersonic light aircraft that would displace the clumsy heavyweights. Therefore, the 747 was designed with the ability to be converted into a freighter. Experts estimated the capacity of the market for spacious aircraft at no more than 400 units, but these forecasts did not come true, and in 1993 the company sold its thousandth Boeing 747. Only in our century, with the advent of the Airbus A380, demand began to fall.

In the 1970s There was a fuel crisis in the world; prices for jet fuel skyrocketed, as did ticket prices. Companies that have a Boeing 747 in their fleet are faced with its unprofitability; the plane often flies empty. However, on particularly busy routes and on intercontinental flights, the Jumbo Jet has been and remains a popular model.

The longest passenger plane in the world

This is a record holder from the latest history of aviation - the Boeing 747-8, which began production in 2008. It is a modification of the legendary Boeing 747, with significant modifications. The designers extended the fuselage as much as possible, redesigned the wing and worked on efficiency in operation.

The length of the Boeing 747-8 is 76.25 m, making it the longest passenger airliner in the world. However, it is also the heaviest US aircraft, its take-off weight is 447 tons, which is still considered a record in the entire history of aircraft manufacturing in America.

Characteristics:

length – 76.25 m;
height – 19.35 m;
wingspan - 68.45 m.

In addition to cargo, this aircraft can accommodate up to 581 passengers.

The most "hardy" aircraft

For the successful operation of aircraft, in addition to capacity and payload capacity, it is important how far they can travel without refueling. Today, the record holder for long-distance flights is the Boeing 777, which is capable of flying half the circumference of the Earth at a time - 20,000 km. However, this is the maximum value of the flight length; in normal practice, the distance covered is 9000-17000 km.

Interesting. The Boeing 777E is the first modern airliner to be created using computer modeling instead of paper drawings. In the early 1990s. Such technologies have become a breakthrough in the aircraft industry, since 3D modeling makes it possible to eliminate errors in the joining of parts even at the design stage.

The Boeing 777 has different modifications depending on the fuselage length and range. 777-300ER is one of the most “hardy” and popular modifications. It is a large airliner with two turbofan engines. Maximum capacity – 550 people.

As a long-haul aircraft, the Boeing 777 can stay in the air for up to 18 hours without a break. However, there is a limitation on the duration of the crew’s work shift, so there are special places in the cabin for pilots and flight attendants to sleep and rest.

Leader in wing length

The Hughes H-4 Hercules entered the TOP 10 largest aircraft in the world due to its wing size. Despite the fact that this is the oldest aircraft described here, no one has yet been able to break its record: the span reaches 98 meters.

The plane took off for the first and last time in 1947; it has a sad history of creation. At the beginning of World War II, the American government commissioned the development of a military aircraft from Hughes Aircraft under the management of Howard Hughes. However, the search for a perfect solution took a long time. Hughes could not be satisfied with the result. In addition, there was a shortage of aluminum in the world. As a result, the war ended, but there was still no plane. Only two years after the end of hostilities, the Hughes H-4 Hercules made its first flight. Surprisingly, this device was made entirely of plywood and, in fact, was a flying boat.

Specifications:

length – 66.45 m;
height – 24.08 m;
wingspan - 97.54 m;
maximum take-off weight – 180 tons.

Interesting. This “boat” could transport 750 soldiers in full uniform to the battlefield. However, in reality, her flight was limited to two kilometers above Los Angeles. After which the plane remained in the personal property of G. Hughes, who until his death annually spent a lot of money on maintaining it in working condition. After the death of the designer, the giant was sent to a museum in California to attract tourists. The film The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is based on the life of engineer Howard Hughes.

Not long ago (May 31, 2017), the Hughes H-4 Hercules record for wingspan was surpassed: the Stratolaunch aircraft with a wingspan of 117 meters was presented to the world. However, it has not yet made a single flight, so Hughes’ brainchild is still the leader among the models in use.

The largest cargo plane in the world

This title belongs to the An-225, designed in the USSR at the Kiev Mechanical Development Plant, at the Design Bureau named after. O. K. Antonova. The Ukrainian name for the heavy-duty truck is “Mriya” (translated as “dream”). The first flight took place in 1988.

The impetus for the creation of Mriya was the Soviet space program Buran to develop a reusable transport spacecraft. To implement ambitious plans, an aircraft with an ultra-high payload capacity was required to participate in the cargo transportation of ship components. The designed aircraft had to lift at least 250 tons at a time and have attachments for transporting external cargo.

The designers took the An-124-100 (“Ruslan”) as a basis and changed some components and parts to obtain the necessary technical characteristics. This is how the largest transport aircraft An-225 appeared. Despite the fact that Mriya was created for very specific tasks, it has become a universal vessel in cargo aviation.

The cargo compartment is sealed and has the following dimensions:

length – 43 m;
height – 18.2 m;
width – 6.4 m;
wingspan - 88.4 m;
weight – 250 tons.

The plane has space for 6 crew members and 88 people accompanying the cargo. The likelihood that the plane will fail during flight is extremely low - all important systems are duplicated 4 times.

While the Mriya has been created in a single copy, the winding down of the Buran program has also suspended the production of the heavyweight aircraft. It is known that the design bureau named after. Antonova continues to develop the second modification of the giant.

The largest military aircraft

The An-124 Ruslan, the prototype of the An-225, was at one time considered the largest aircraft in the world. It is now the largest military aircraft with a huge payload capacity. It has four turbojet engines, a wide fuselage and two decks. The lower one is for cargo, the upper one is for the crew (8 people) and accompanying people (up to 21 people). The volume of the cargo compartment is 1000 cubic meters. An-124 lifts 120 tons into the air.

Characteristics:

length – 69.1 m;
height – 21.08 m;
wingspan - 73.3 m;
weight – 178.4 tons;
take-off weight - 392 tons.

"Ruslan" was also developed at the Design Bureau named after. O.K. Antonova, like “Mriya”. The purpose of its creation is to transport transcontinental ballistic missiles. However, the result of the work of Soviet designers exceeded expectations - the An-124 turned out to be a universal military aircraft that can transport large military equipment. “Ruslan” was mass-produced; a total of 56 copies were produced. In the early 2000s. There were attempts to resume its production by Ukraine and Russia, but due to the worsening political relations between the two countries, the project was curtailed.

The largest turboprop aircraft in the world

The An-22 was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War. It was codenamed “product 100”. As a result, five years later the world saw this gigantic “product” called AN-22 “Antey”. This is the first Soviet and Russian aircraft with a wide fuselage. It is still considered the largest aircraft with a turboprop engine. The diameter of the propellers is 62 cm, and the power of each of the four engines is 11227 kW.

Characteristics:

length – 57.31 m;
height – 12.53 m;
wingspan – 64.40 m;
weight – 119 kg;
load capacity – 60 tons.

"Antey" is capable of transporting heavy and large military equipment over long distances and is used for airborne landings.

The heaviest combat aircraft in history

The Tu-160 is a representative of a completely different generation of military aircraft. It flies at supersonic speed and is a strategic bomber. So far this is the largest and most powerful aircraft in Russia and the world in the history of military aviation.

The Tu-160 concept was born in the 1970-1980s. as a response of Russian strategists to the military developments of the United States and NATO. The future aircraft was supposed to fly to the neighboring continent and overcome enemy air defenses at supersonic speed.

Characteristics:

length – 54.1 m;
the wing is variable sweep, so the span is different: 55.7/50.7/35.6 m;
height – 13.1 m;
weight – 110 t.
maximum take-off weight – 275 tons.

Most Tu-160 missile carriers are named after prominent figures in Russian aviation. As of 2017, our country Russia has 16 aircraft in service. There are plans to completely modernize them.

The largest mass-produced cargo aircraft

The “Largest Aircraft” selection is completed by the American cargo aircraft Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. Today it is the largest model among mass-produced cargo carriers. Since 1968, the aircraft has been successfully operated by the US Army, and regular upgrades allow it to be considered modern and promising.

Characteristics:

aircraft length - 75.54 m;
aircraft height – 19.85 m;
wingspan - 67.88 m;
weight – 169.6 tons.
maximum take-off weight – 379.6 tons.

The aircraft can fly over 4 thousand kilometers at an altitude of 10 km without refueling. The maximum developed speed is 920 km.

The largest aircraft are milestones in the history of aviation. They demonstrate how engineering thought developed, what path the designers saw before them. As history shows, the most outstanding achievements in aircraft manufacturing are associated with military operations.