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List of large aircraft

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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 12,566.35 pounds (5,700.00 kilograms) 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+ 19.13 yards (17.49 meters) 32.58 yards (29.79 meters) 4.527 tons Pax: 16 First multi-engine aircraft in serial production, Russky Vityaz development
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI 1916 Bomber 56 24.168 yards (22.099 meters) 46.15 yards (42.20 meters) 11.613 tons Largest WWI aircraft in regular service
Tarrant Tabor 1919 Bomber 1 24.38 yards (22.29 meters) 43.74 yards (40.00 meters) 19.97 tons 4.1 t Crashed on first flight
Dornier Do X 12 Jul 1929 Flying boat 3 43.74 yards (40.00 meters) 52.27 yards (47.80 meters) 51.1787 tons Pax: 100 Then longest, widest and heaviest
Kalinin K-7 11 Aug 1933 Transport 1 30.62 yards (28.00 meters) 57.96 yards (53.00 meters) 45.77 tons Pax: 120 Widest aircraft until the Tupolev ANT-20
Tupolev ANT-20 19 May 1934 Transport 2 35.979 yards (32.899 meters) 68.8976 yards (63.0000 meters) 52.16 tons Pax: 72 Widest and heaviest until the Douglas XB-19
Douglas XB-19 27 Jun 1941 Bomber 1 44.07 yards (40.30 meters) 70.65 yards (64.60 meters) 72.34 tons Longest until the Laté. 631, widest until the B-36, heaviest until the Martin Mars
Messerschmitt Me 323 20 Jan 1942 Transport 198 70.65 yards (64.60 meters) 60.37 yards (55.20 meters) 42.32 tons 11.81 tons Highest cargo capacity land-based World War II transport
Martin JRM Mars 23 Jun 1942 Flying boat 7 39.04 yards (35.70 meters) 66.71 yards (61.00 meters) 73.62 tons 14.76 tons Heaviest until the Junkers 390, Largest serial production flying boat
Latécoère 631 4 Nov 1942 Flying boat 11 47.57 yards (43.50 meters) 62.77 yards (57.40 meters) 70.27 tons Pax: 46 Longest until the Convair B-36
Junkers Ju 390 20 Oct 1943 Bomber 2 37.40 yards (34.20 meters) 55.01 yards (50.30 meters) 74.31 tons 9.84 tons Heaviest until the BV 238, Junkers entry for the Amerika Bomber project
Blohm & Voss BV 238 Apr 1944 Flying boat 1 47.35 yards (43.30 meters) 65.84 yards (60.20 meters) 98.42 tons Heaviest built during WWII, destroyed in 1945
Convair B-36 8 Aug 1946 Bomber 384 54.02 yards (49.40 meters) 76.66 yards (70.10 meters) 183.06 tons 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 72.94 yards (66.70 meters) 106.95 yards (97.80 meters) 177.15 tons Longest until the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and widest until the Stratolaunch
Convair XC-99 23 Nov 1947 Transport 1 60.80 yards (55.60 meters) 76.66 yards (70.10 meters) 142.71 tons 44.28 tons B-36 development, most capable transport aircraft until the An-22
Boeing B-52 15 Apr 1952 Bomber 744 53.04 yards (48.50 meters) 61.68 yards (56.40 meters) 216.525 tons Heaviest until the XB-70, still in service
XB-70 21 Sep 1964 Bomber 2 61.68 yards (56.40 meters) 34.99 yards (31.99 meters) 242.115 tons Heaviest until the An-22, Mach 3 prototype bomber
Antonov An-22 27 Feb 1965 Transport 68 63.32 yards (57.90 meters) 70.43 yards (64.40 meters) 246.05 tons 80 t Heaviest until the C-5, Heaviest turboprop aircraft
Caspian Sea Monster 16 Oct 1966 Ekranoplan 1 100.61 yards (92.00 meters) 41.12 yards (37.60 meters)37.6 m 535.41 tons Heaviest and longest flying vehicle until the An-225, 1980 crash
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy 30 Jun 1968 Transport 131 82.34 yards (75.29 meters) 74.26 yards (67.90 meters) 410.41 tons 125.49 tons Largest payload capacity until the An-124
Boeing 747 9 Feb 1969 Airliner 1557 77.32 yards (70.70 meters) 65.18 yards (59.60 meters) 406.86 tons Pax: 550/660 Highest passenger capacity airliner until the Airbus A380
Antonov An-124 26 Dec 1982 Transport 55 75.57 yards (69.10 meters) 80.16 yards (73.30 meters) 395.65 tons 147.63 tons Most capable transport until the An-225
Antonov An-225 Mriya 21 Dec 1988 Transport 1 91.86 yards (84.00 meters) 96.68 yards (88.40 meters) 629.89 tons 246.05 tons Heaviest aircraft and most capable transport, destroyed in 2022
Airbus Beluga 13 Sep 1994 Outsize cargo 5 61.46 yards (56.20 meters) 48.99 yards (44.80 meters) 152.55 t 1,961.93 cubic yards (1,500.00 cubic meters) Airbus A300 derivative, largest volume until the Dreamlifter
Airbus A380 27 Apr 2005 Airliner 254 79.51 yards (72.70 meters) 87.27 yards (79.80 meters) 565.92 tons Pax: 850 Highest passenger capacity airliner
Boeing Dreamlifter 9 Sep 2006 Outsize cargo 4 78.41 yards (71.70 meters) 70.43 yards (64.40 meters) 358.25 tons 2,406.63 cubic yards (1,840.00 cubic meters) Boeing 747-400 derivative, largest volume until the BelugaXL
Airbus BelugaXL 19 Jul 2018 Outsize cargo 6 69.01 yards (63.10 meters) 65.945 yards (60.300 meters) 223.41 tons 2,889.26 cubic yards (2,209.00 cubic meters) Airbus A330 derivative, largest volume
Stratolaunch 13 Apr 2019 Air launch 1 79.83 yards (73.00 meters) 127.95 yards (117.00 meters) 580.68 t 246.052 t Current heaviest and widest, prototype air-launch-to-orbit carrier

Projects

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Type Proposed MTOW Notes
Poll Triplane 1917 (circa) 50 m wingspan[3]
Victory Bomber 1940/1941 47.2 tons 52 m wingspan, to carry a ten-ton earthquake bomb, rejected by the RAF[4]
Boeing 2707 SST 1960s 301.17 tons A 93 m long Concorde answer, canceled in 1971
Lockheed CL-1201 1960s 6318.61 tons Nuclear-powered, 1,120 feet (340 m) wing span, airborne aircraft carrier
Boeing RC-1 1970s 1584.57 tons "flying pipeline", proposed before the 1973 oil crisis
Conroy Virtus 1974 379.90 tons 140 m wingspan, to carry Space Shuttle parts
Beriev Be-2500 1980s 2460.57 tons Super heavy amphibious transport aircraft
Beriev Be-5000 1980s 4921.03 tons Twin fuselage Be-2500
McDonnell Douglas MD-12 1990 423.21 tons Proposed double deck airliner, canceled in mid-1990s
Boeing New Large Airplane 1990s 523.6 tons 747 replacement powered by 777 engines, canceled in the 1990s
Aerocon Dash 1.6 wingship 1990s 4921.03 tpms US ground effect aircraft, developed with Russian consultation
Tupolev Tu-404 1990s 595.45 tons Blended wing body airliner for 1,214 passenger, 110 m wingspan[5]
Sukhoi KR-860 1990s 639.73 tons Transport for 300 t payload or 860-1,000 passengers Double deck airliner
Boeing 747X 1996 465.53 tons 747-400 stretch, Airbus A3XX competitor
Boeing Pelican 2002 2657.36 tons Ground effect and medium altitude transport
Airbus A380-900 2006 580.68 tons Airbus A380-800 stretch, postponed in May 2010[6]
TsAGI HCA-LB 2010s 984.21 tons Ground effect aircraft powered by LNG
Skylon current 339.55 tons Reusable spaceplane
WindRunner current Outsize cargo freight aircraft: 108 m long, 80 m wingspan.[7][8]

Rotary-wing

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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

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Lighter than air

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Large balloons
Type Date Volume Description
Preusen ("Prussia") 1901 8,400 m3[9] 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[9] 128 m German experimental prototype
R38 (US: ZR-2) 1921 77,100 m3[10] 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

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See also

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References

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  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. ^ "World's largest aircraft delivers colossal cargo to makeshift airstrips". 18 March 2024.
  8. ^ "WSJ News Exclusive | How the World's Biggest Plane Would Supersize Wind Energy". 13 March 2024.
  9. ^ a b Ege, L,; "Balloons and Airships", Blandford (1973).
  10. ^ "R38/ZR2". The Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  11. ^ 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, Bibcode:2019ECMX....300016H, doi:10.1016/j.ecmx.2019.100016, S2CID 201317285
  12. ^ MACCORMACK, JOHN. "Artist wants to float 1,000-foot balloon over Texas". Chron. Retrieved 28 March 2024.

Further reading

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