“The desire to fly is an idea conveyed to us by our ancestors, who, in their grueling off-road travels in prehistoric times, looked enviously at birds freely floating in space, at full speed, without any obstacles on the endless road of air,” - once said Wilbur Wright.
Could the Wright brothers, back in 1903, imagine what their idea of controlled flight in the air would turn into? Now you will not surprise anyone with supersonic planes and winged colossus, capable of transporting not only people, but also heavy equipment.
Well, even though we cannot fly like birds, we can fly on one of the largest aircraft in the world. Choose which of these giants you like best.
10. ANT-20
Role: multipurpose aircraft.
Developer: Design Bureau Tupolev, USSR.
This aircraft, created at the Voronezh Aviation Plant in 1934, became the largest aircraft of its time. Its wingspan reached 63 meters, and the maximum take-off weight - 42,000 kg. The personnel of 5 people served the ANT-20, and 48 passengers could take on board the aircraft.
When the "dad" of Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery arrived in the USSR, he flew on the ANT-20. But the life of this model was short-lived. In 1935, during a demonstration flight, the plane took off with the I-5 fighter, which was supposed to demonstrate a difference in size for the newsreel. During the performance of aerobatics, the I-5 entered the “Nesterov loop”, lost speed and crashed from above onto the ANT-20. He, in turn, began to fall apart in the sky and fell on the holiday village Sokol.
As a result of this accident, 49 people died. At the Novodevichy cemetery, a memorial topped with a huge granite bas-relief of the crashed plane has been preserved.
9. Boeing 747 LCF (Dreamlifter)
Role: transport plane.
Developer: Boeing.
Unmatched in fuselage capacity aircraft. The volume of its transport compartment is 1840 cubic meters. It is used solely to transport parts of the Boeing 787, which are designed by third-party suppliers. A total of 4 Dreamlifters were commissioned.
The Boeing 747 LCF looks ugly, for which it was even compared to the Wienermobile, a bun-shaped car used to promote and advertise Oscar Mayer products in the United States. And the head of Boeing, Scott Carson, jokingly apologized to Joe Sutter, the head of the Boeing 747 development team, for what he had done with his plane.
8. Boeing 747-8
Role: passenger airliner.
Developer: Boeing.
They know how to develop records at Boeing. The 747-8 became the longest passenger plane in the world. Its length is 76.4 meters.
The Boeing 747-8 is a representative of the new generation of the Boeing 747 series (eighth in our list). It features an elongated fuselage, improved wing and greater economic efficiency.
7. Boeing 747
Role: passenger airliner.
Developer: Boeing.
Once upon a question about what is the largest aircraft in the world in terms of passenger capacity, the designers of the two-deck Boeing 747 proudly answered: "Our"! Depending on the modification, the aircraft can accommodate up to 624 passengers on board. But then the Airbus A380 appeared and replaced the Boeing 747 from the pedestal of the most spacious aircraft.
If you watched Casino Royale with Daniel Craig as James Bond, then perhaps you remember the SkyFleet S570 airliner that the terrorists wanted to detonate. The role of this airliner was made by the Boeing 747-236B, which was built in 1980 and flew until 2002. A worthy career ending.
And one of the largest air crashes in the world is associated with the Boeing 747. It occurred in 1977 on the island of Tenerife. In the fog, two Boeing 747s collided with each other on the runway, killing 583 people.
6. An-22
Role: transport plane.
Developer: OKB them. O.K. Antonova.
This winged car, named "Antey" in honor of the invincible giant from ancient Greek myths, is still the world's largest turboprop aircraft.
Transportation of goods during the war in Afghanistan and during the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident, the transportation of refugees and military personnel from countries of Eastern Europe and neighboring countries - this is far from a complete track record of the An-22. And in one of the passenger flights organized during the air bridge between Egypt and the Soviet Union in 1972, Antei set a record by taking on board almost 700 people. This is a real airplane worker, reliable and unpretentious in operation.
5. An-124
Role: transport plane.
Developer: OKB them. O.K. Antonova.
The five largest aircraft in the world are opened by Soviet development, which until the appearance of the Airbus A380 (the fourth number on the list) was considered the largest of the mass-produced aircraft.
However, no one has yet taken away the title of "largest military aircraft" from the An-124, as well as the title of the world's largest cargo transport serial aircraft.
And although now the production of Ruslan, as Oleg Antonov called this plane, has been suspended, the existing fleet will be modernized. This was announced in July 2018 by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov.
4. Airbus A380
Role: passenger liner.
Developer: Airbus
The largest passenger aircraft in the world (from mass-produced) and one of the largest aircraft on Earth. When you watch a video with one of the largest aircraft in the world, it is hard to believe that such a colossus is able to take off.
Airbus A380 is capable of carrying up to 853 passengers in an economy class configuration. For comparison: the main competitor of the A380, the Boeing 747 passenger airliner, carries only 624 people in the full economy class configuration.
Not only airlines own the luxurious Airbus A380. By order of the Saudi prince Al-Waleed ibn Talal, a private plane was built, which cost the owner $ 488 million.
3. Airbus A340-600
Role: passenger liner.
Developer: Airbus
It is the largest member of the Airbus A340 family and the third longest aircraft in the world (75.36 meters). Aircraft of the type Airbus A340 were produced before November 2011, but could not stand the competition with the Boeing 777. However, they still carry out passenger transportation in various countries of the world.
It is curious that for the entire period of operation (since 1993), only five A340 aircraft were lost. Moreover, not a single passenger or crew member was killed.
2. An-225 (Mriya)
Role: cargo airplane.
Developer: OKB them. O.K. Antonova.
It is the largest transport aircraft ever built. Its maximum take-off weight is 640 tons, and its carrying capacity is 250 tons.
An-225 is capable of transporting vehicles, construction and military equipment, and other bulky goods on its fuselage to different parts of the world. But this giant was intended for a different, much more ambitious goal. It was created as part of the Buran reusable spacecraft project. It was assumed that the An-225 will transport the components of the Buran and the launch vehicle from the place of creation and assembly to the launch site.
The first flight of the Mriya (a dream translated from Ukrainian) took place in December 1988, carrying a Buran weighing sixty tons. However, after the collapse of the USSR, the “dream” was left without work. Re-exploit it (after appropriate modernization) began only in 2000, for commercial transportation.
And just recently, in September 2018, the giant plane set a new record by making a thirteen-hour non-stop flight from the Ukrainian Gostomel to the Auckland American Airport. He covered a distance of 9800 km.
1. Stratolaunch
Role: carrier aircraft.
Developer: Scaled Composites.
This huge aircraft will not carry ordinary cargo. Rather, it will serve as yet another way to deliver objects, namely satellites, to the stratosphere before putting them into space orbit. This mode of transport will be more reliable and less expensive than traditional missiles.
Unlike the largest aircraft in the world - the Ukrainian "Mriya" - the American Stratolaunch does not fly yet. His first demonstration took place in May 2017. In terms of wing span - 117.3 meters, it is much superior to An-225 (88.4 meters, respectively). At the moment Stratolaunch - the world's largest wingspan.
However, the American is inferior to the Ukrainian "colleague" in maximum take-off weight (589,670 kg and 640,000 kg, respectively) and length (73 meters with Stratolaunch versus 84 meters with An-225).
The exact dates of the new Stratolaunch trials are still unknown. Engineers hope that this aircraft will go into operation over the next 10 years.
