A size comparison of five of the largest aircraft:
This is a list of large aircraft, including three types: fixed wing, rotary wing, and airships.
The US Federal Aviation Administration defines a large aircraft as any aircraft with a certificated maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of more than 12,500 lb (5,700 kg) [1]
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) defines a large aircraft as either "an aeroplane with a maximum take-off mass of more than 5,700 kilograms (12,600 pounds) or a multi-engined helicopter."[2]
Fixed-wing
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Antonov An-225
| Type | First flight | Role | Built | Length | Span | MTOW | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilya Muromets | 1913 | airliner/bomber | 85+ | 17.5 m | 29.8 m | 4.6 t | Pax: 16 | First multi-engine aircraft in serial production, Russky Vityaz development |
| Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI | 1916 | Bomber | 56 | 22.1 m | 42.2 m | 11.8 t | Largest WWI aircraft in regular service | |
| Tarrant Tabor | 1919 | Bomber | 1 | 22.3 m | 40 m | 20.3 t | 4.1 t | Crashed on first flight |
| Dornier Do X | 12 Jul 1929 | Flying boat | 3 | 40 m | 47.8 m | 52 t | Pax: 100 | Then longest, widest and heaviest |
| Kalinin K-7 | 11 Aug 1933 | Transport | 1 | 28 m | 53 m | 46.5 t | Pax: 120 | Widest aircraft until the Tupolev ANT-20 |
| Tupolev ANT-20 | 19 May 1934 | Transport | 2 | 32.9 m | 63 m | 53 t | Pax: 72 | Widest and heaviest until the Douglas XB-19 |
| Douglas XB-19 | 27 Jun 1941 | Bomber | 1 | 40.3 m | 64.6 m | 73.5 t | Longest until the Laté. 631, widest until the B-36, heaviest until the Martin Mars | |
| Messerschmitt Me 323 | 20 Jan 1942 | Transport | 198 | 28.2 m | 55.2 m | 43 t | 12 t | Highest cargo capacity land-based World War II transport |
| Martin JRM Mars | 23 Jun 1942 | Flying boat | 7 | 35.7 m | 61 m | 74.8 t | 15 t | Heaviest until the Junkers 390, Largest serial production flying boat |
| Latécoère 631 | 4 Nov 1942 | Flying boat | 11 | 43.5 m | 57.4 m | 71.4 t | Pax: 46 | Longest until the Convair B-36 |
| Junkers Ju 390 | 20 Oct 1943 | Bomber | 2 | 34.2 m | 50.3 m | 75.5 t | 10 t | Heaviest until the BV 238, Junkers entry for the Amerika Bomber project |
| Blohm & Voss BV 238 | Apr 1944 | Flying boat | 1 | 43.3 m | 60.2 m | 100 t | Heaviest built during WWII, destroyed in 1945 | |
| Convair B-36 | 8 Aug 1946 | Bomber | 384 | 49.4 m | 70.1 m | 186 t | Heaviest until the B-52, longest and widest until the Hughes H-4 | |
| Hughes H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose) | 2 Nov 1947 | Flying boat | 1 | 66.7 m | 97.8 m | 180 t | Longest until the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and widest until the Stratolaunch | |
| Convair XC-99 | 23 Nov 1947 | Transport | 1 | 55.6 m | 70.1 m | 145 t | 45 t | B-36 development, most capable transport aircraft until the An-22 |
| Boeing B-52 | 15 Apr 1952 | Bomber | 744 | 48.5 m | 56.4 m | 220 t | Heaviest until the XB-70, still in service | |
| XB-70 | 21 Sep 1964 | Bomber | 2 | 56.4 m | 32.0 m | 246 t | Heaviest until the An-22, Mach 3 prototype bomber | |
| Antonov An-22 | 27 Feb 1965 | Transport | 68 | 57.9 m | 64.4 m | 250 t | 80 t | Heaviest until the C-5, Heaviest turboprop aircraft |
| Caspian Sea Monster | 16 Oct 1966 | Ekranoplan | 1 | 92 m | 37.6 m | 544 t | Heaviest and longest flying vehicle until the An-225, 1980 crash | |
| Lockheed C-5 Galaxy | 30 Jun 1968 | Transport | 131 | 75.3 m | 67.9 m | 417 t | 127.5 t | Largest payload capacity until the An-124 |
| Boeing 747 | 9 Feb 1969 | Airliner | 1557 | 70.7 m | 59.6 m | 378 t | Pax: 550/660 | Highest passenger capacity airliner until the Airbus A380 |
| Antonov An-124 | 26 Dec 1982 | Transport | 55 | 69.1 m | 73.3 m | 402 t | 150 t | Most capable transport until the An-225 |
| Antonov An-225 Mriya | 21 Dec 1988 | Transport | 1 | 84 m | 88.4 m | 640 t | 250 t | Heaviest aircraft and most capable transport, destroyed in 2022 |
| Airbus Beluga | 13 Sep 1994 | Outsize cargo | 5 | 56.2 m | 44.8 m | 155 t | 1,500 m³ | Airbus A300 derivative, largest volume until the Dreamlifter |
| Airbus A380 | 27 Apr 2005 | Airliner | 242 | 72.7 m | 79.8 m | 575 t | Pax: 850 | Highest passenger capacity airliner |
| Boeing Dreamlifter | 9 Sep 2006 | Outsize cargo | 4 | 71.7 m | 64.4 m | 364 t | 1,840 m³ | Boeing 747-400 derivative, largest volume until the BelugaXL |
| Airbus BelugaXL | 19 Jul 2018 | Outsize cargo | 5 | 63.1 m | 60.3 m | 227 t | 2,209 m³ | Airbus A330 derivative, largest volume |
| Stratolaunch | 13 Apr 2019 | Air launch | 1 | 73 m | 117 m | 590 t | 250 t | Current heaviest and widest, prototype air-launch-to-orbit carrier |
Projects
| Type | Proposed | MTOW | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poll Triplane | 1917 (circa) | 50 m wingspan[3] | |
| Victory Bomber | 1940/1941 | 47.2 t | 52 m wingspan, to carry a ten-ton earthquake bomb, rejected by the RAF[4] |
| Boeing 2707 SST | 1960s | 306 t | A 93 m long Concorde answer, canceled in 1971 |
| Lockheed CL-1201 | 1960s | 6,420 t | Nuclear-powered, 1,120 feet (340 m) wing span, airborne aircraft carrier |
| Boeing RC-1 | 1970s | 1,610 t | "flying pipeline", proposed before the 1973 oil crisis |
| Conroy Virtus | 1974 | 386 t | 140 m wingspan, to carry Space Shuttle parts |
| Beriev Be-2500 | 1980s | 2,500 t | Super heavy amphibious transport aircraft |
| Beriev Be-5000 | 1980s | 5,000 t | Twin fuselage Be-2500 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-12 | 1990 | 430 t | Proposed double deck airliner, canceled in mid-1990s |
| Boeing New Large Airplane | 1990s | 532 t | 747 replacement powered by 777 engines, canceled in the 1990s |
| Aerocon Dash 1.6 wingship | 1990s | 5,000 t | US ground effect aircraft, developed with Russian consultation |
| Tupolev Tu-404 | 1990s | 605 t | Blended wing body airliner for 1,214 passenger, 110 m wingspan[5] |
| Sukhoi KR-860 | 1990s | 650 t | Transport for 300 t payload or 860-1,000 passengers Double deck airliner |
| Boeing 747X | 1996 | 473 t | 747-400 stretch, Airbus A3XX competitor |
| Boeing Pelican | 2002 | 2,700 t | Ground effect and medium altitude transport |
| Airbus A380-900 | 2006 | 590 t | Airbus A380-800 stretch, postponed in May 2010[6] |
| TsAGI HCA-LB | 2010s | 1,000 t | Ground effect aircraft powered by LNG |
| Skylon | current | 345 t | Reusable spaceplane |
Rotary-wing
_Groningen_Airport.jpg.webp)
| Type | First flight | MTOW | Number built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cierva W.11 Air Horse | 7 December 1948 | 8 t | 1 | three rotor helicopter |
| Hughes XH-17 | 23 October 1952 | 23 t | 1 | Prototype heavy-lift helicopter, largest rotor at 39.6 m |
| Mil Mi-6 | 5 June 1957 | 44 t | 926 | Heavy transport helicopter, 35 m rotor |
| Mil V-12 or Mi-12 | 10 July 1968 | 105 t | 2 | Largest prototype helicopter, 2 × 35 m rotors |
| Mil Mi-26 | 14 December 1977 | 56 t | 316 | Heaviest serial production helicopter |
| Fairey Rotodyne | 6 November 1957 | 15 t | 1 | Largest gyrodyne. Prototype for 40 passengers |
| Kamov Ka-22 | 15 August 1959 | 42.5 t | 4 | composite rotorcraft |
| Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey | 19 March 1989 | 21.5 t | 400 | First operational VTOL tiltrotor |
Proposals
- Yakovlev Yak-60 - Mil V-12 size helicopter design
- Yakovlev VVP-6 - Mil V-12 size helicopter design
Lighter than air
| Type | Date | Volume | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preusen ("Prussia") | 1901 | 8,400 m3[7] | German experimental prototype |
| CL75 AirCrane | 2001 | 110,000 m3 | CargoLifter experimental prototype, approximately 120.6 tonnes with helium fill |
| Type | First flight | Volume | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zeppelin LZ 1 | 1900 | 11,300 m3[7] | 128 m | German experimental prototype |
| R38 (US: ZR-2) | 1921 | 77,100 m3[8] | 212 m | UK military, built for US Navy |
| R100 | 1929 | 193,970 m3 | 216 m | UK experimental passenger transport |
| HM Airship R101 | 14 Oct 1929 | 156,000 m3 | 236 m | Followed by the smaller 146,000 m3 R100 (220 m) on 16 Dec 1929 |
| US Navy USS Akron | 8 Aug 1931 | 180,000 m3 | 239 m | Largest helium-filled airship along its USS Macon sister ship |
| LZ 129 Hindenburg | 4 Apr 1936 | 200,000 m3 | 245 m | Largest volume along with its LZ130 Graf Zeppelin II sister ship, approximately 237.2 tonnes with hydrogen fill |
Hindenburg airship compared with the largest fixed-wing aircraft
Proposals
Hydrogen carrier airship (2.45 km long) and balloon (727 m wide), 28000 tonne MTOW both.[9]
See also
References
- ↑ Schoolcraft, Don, FAA Definitions begining [sic] with the letter L., Aviation Safety Bureau
- ↑ EASA Regulation – Amendment of Implementing Rule 2042/2003, Version 1 (PDF). 13 January 2012. p. 4. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ↑ Gunston, Bill, 1991. Giants of the Sky: The Largest Aeroplanes of All Time. Sparkford, UK: Patrick Stephens Limited.
- ↑ Buttler, Tony. Secret Projects: British Fighters and Bombers 1935 -1950 Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-85780-179-2.
- ↑ ""404" Tupolev". testpilot.ru. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ↑ "A380-900 and freighter both on 'back-burner': Enders". Flight International. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- 1 2 Ege, L,; "Balloons and Airships", Blandford (1973).
- ↑ "R38/ZR2". The Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ↑ Hunt, Julian David; Byers, Edward; Balogun, Abdul-Lateef; Leal Filho, Walter; Colling, Angeli Viviani; Nascimento, Andreas; Wada, Yoshihide (2019), "Using the jet stream for sustainable airship and balloon transportation of cargo and hydrogen", Energy Conversion and Management: X, 3: 100016, doi:10.1016/j.ecmx.2019.100016, S2CID 201317285
Further reading
- Jarrett, Philip (2008), The Colour Encyclopedia of Incredible Aeroplanes, Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 978-1405335980
- Kaplan, Philip (2005), Big Wings, Pen & Sword Aviation, ISBN 978-1844151783
- Layton, Julia (2011), What's the world's largest airplane?, How Stuff Works
- Malone, Robert (2007), "The World's Biggest Planes", Forbes
- Patterson, Thom (2013), Stalking world's biggest planes makes for photos that say 'wow', CNN
- Robinson, Douglas (1973), Giants in the Sky, University of Washington Press, ISBN 978-0295952499
- Ruffin, Steven (2005), "Goliaths of the Air", Aviation's Most Wanted, Potomac, pp. 62–67, ISBN 978-1574886740
External links
- Top 50 Largest Aircraft at Global Aircraft
- Largest Plane in the World at Aerospaceweb
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