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A size comparison of five of the largest aircraft:
  Airbus A380
  Antonov An-225 Mriya
  Boeing 747-8
  Hughes H-4 Hercules
  Stratolaunch

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

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 254 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

Aeroflot Mil V-12 at Groningen Airport in May 1971
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

Lighter than air

Large balloons
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
Large airships
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

  1. ^ Schoolcraft, Don, FAA Definitions begining [sic] with the letter L., Aviation Safety Bureau
  2. ^ EASA Regulation – Amendment of Implementing Rule 2042/2003, Version 1 (PDF). 13 January 2012. p. 4. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  3. ^ Gunston, Bill, 1991. Giants of the Sky: The Largest Aeroplanes of All Time. Sparkford, UK: Patrick Stephens Limited.
  4. ^ Buttler, Tony. Secret Projects: British Fighters and Bombers 1935 -1950 Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-85780-179-2.
  5. ^ ""404" Tupolev". testpilot.ru. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  6. ^ "A380-900 and freighter both on 'back-burner': Enders". Flight International. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  7. ^ a b Ege, L,; "Balloons and Airships", Blandford (1973).
  8. ^ "R38/ZR2". The Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  9. ^ 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

External links

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