"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors, who, in their weary, trackless journeys in prehistoric times, looked with envy at the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, unimpeded by any obstacle, on the endless highway of the air," Wilbur Wright once said.
Could the Wright brothers have imagined back in 1903 what their idea of controlled flight in the air would turn into? Now no one is surprised by supersonic aircraft and winged colossuses capable of transporting not only people, but also heavy equipment.
Well, we may not be able to fly like birds, but if we want, we can fly on one of the largest aircraft in the world. Choose which of these giants you like the most.
10. ANT-20
Role: multi-purpose aircraft.
Developer: Tupolev Design Bureau, USSR.
This aircraft, created at the Voronezh Aviation Plant in 1934, became the largest aircraft of its time. Its wingspan reached 63 meters, and its maximum takeoff weight was 42,000 kg. The ANT-20 was serviced by a crew of 5 people, and the aircraft could take 48 passengers on board.
When the Little Prince's "father" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry came to the USSR, he flew an ANT-20. But the life of this model was short-lived. In 1935, during a demonstration flight, the plane took off together with an I-5 fighter, which was supposed to demonstrate the difference in size for a newsreel. During the aerobatics, the I-5 entered the "Nesterov loop", lost speed and crashed onto the ANT-20 from above. The ANT-20, in turn, began to fall apart in the sky and fell onto the Sokol dacha village.
The accident killed 49 people. A memorial topped by a huge granite bas-relief of the crashed plane remains at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
9. Boeing 747 LCF (Dreamlifter)
Role: transport aircraft.
Developer: Boeing.
An aircraft with an unrivaled fuselage capacity. Its transport compartment volume is 1,840 cubic meters. It is used exclusively for transporting Boeing 787 aircraft parts that are designed by third-party suppliers. A total of 4 Dreamlifters have been put into operation.
The Boeing 747 LCF looks unsightly, for which it has even been compared to the Wienermobile, a bun-shaped car used to promote and advertise Oscar Mayer products in the United States. And Boeing CEO Scott Carson jokingly apologized to Joe Sutter, the head of the Boeing 747 development team, for what he did to his plane.
8. Boeing 747-8
Role: passenger airliner.
Developer: Boeing.
Boeing knows how to develop record-breaking airplanes. The 747-8 is the longest passenger airplane in the world. Its length is 76.4 meters.
The Boeing 747-8 is a new generation of the Boeing 747 series (number eight on our list). It features a longer fuselage, improved wings, and greater fuel efficiency.
7. Boeing 747
Role: passenger airliner.
Developer: Boeing.
Once, when asked about the largest aircraft in the world in terms of passenger capacity, the designers of the double-deck Boeing 747 proudly answered: "Ours!" Depending on the modification, the aircraft can accommodate up to 624 passengers on board. But then the Airbus A380 appeared and pushed the Boeing 747 off the pedestal of the most spacious aircraft.
If you watched Casino Royale with Daniel Craig as James Bond, you may remember the SkyFleet S570 that terrorists wanted to blow up. The plane in question was a Boeing 747-236B, which was built in 1980 and flew until 2002. A fitting end to a career.
Boeing 747 is also involved in one of the world's largest air disasters. It occurred in 1977 on the island of Tenerife. In fog, two Boeing 747s collided with each other on the runway, killing 583 people.
6. An-22
Role: transport aircraft.
Developer: OKB named after O.K. Antonov.
This winged machine, named "Antaeus" in honor of the invincible giant from ancient Greek myths, remains the largest turboprop aircraft in the world.
The An-22 has been used to transport cargo during the war in Afghanistan and during the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident, to transport refugees and military personnel from Eastern Europe and neighboring countries. And in one of the passenger flights organized during the air bridge between Egypt and the Soviet Union in 1972, the Antey set a record by taking almost 700 people on board. This is a real hard-working aircraft, reliable and easy to operate.
5. An-124
Role: transport aircraft.
Developer: OKB named after O.K. Antonov.
The top five largest aircraft in the world is opened by a Soviet development, which, until the appearance of the Airbus A380 (number four on the list), was considered the largest of the serially produced aircraft.
However, no one has yet taken away the title of “largest military aircraft” from the An-124, nor the title of the world’s heaviest-lifting serial transport aircraft.
And although the production of the Ruslan, as Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov called this aircraft, is currently suspended, the existing fleet of aircraft 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 (of those produced serially) and one of the largest aircraft on Earth. When you watch a video of one of the largest aircraft in the world, it is hard to believe that such a colossus is capable of taking off.
The Airbus A380 can carry up to 853 passengers in an economy class configuration. By comparison, the A380's main competitor, the Boeing 747 passenger airliner, carries only 624 people in a full economy class configuration.
Airlines aren't the only ones to own the luxurious Airbus A380. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal ordered a private jet built for $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). Airbus A340 aircraft were produced until November 2011, but could not withstand competition from the Boeing 777. However, they still carry passengers in various countries around the world.
It is interesting that during the entire period of operation (since 1993) only five A340 aircraft have been lost. Moreover, not a single passenger or crew member has died.
2. An-225 (Mriya)
Role: cargo plane.
Developer: OKB named after O.K. Antonov.
It is the largest transport aircraft ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tons and a payload capacity of 250 tons.
The An-225 is capable of transporting vehicles, construction and military equipment and other large-sized cargo to different points of the world on its fuselage. But this giant was intended for another, much larger purpose. It was created as part of the Buran reusable spacecraft project. It was assumed that the An-225 would transport Buran components and the launch vehicle from the place of creation and assembly to the launch site.
The first flight of the Mriya (meaning "dream" in Ukrainian) took place in December 1988, carrying the sixty-ton Buran. However, after the collapse of the USSR, the "dream" was left without work. It was only in 2000 that it was put into operation again (after appropriate modernization) for commercial transportation.
And just recently, in September 2018, the giant aircraft set a new record by making a thirteen-hour non-stop flight from Ukrainian Gostomel to the American airport in Oakland. It covered a distance of 9,800 km.
1. Stratolaunch
Role: carrier aircraft.
Developer: Scaled Composites.
This huge plane will not carry conventional cargo. Rather, it will serve as another way to deliver objects, namely satellites, into the stratosphere before launching them into space orbit. This type of transport will be more reliable and less expensive than traditional rockets.
Unlike the world's largest aircraft, the Ukrainian Mriya, the American Stratolaunch is not yet flying. Its first demonstration took place in May 2017. In terms of wingspan, 117.3 meters, it is much larger than the An-225 (88.4 meters, respectively). At the moment, Stratolaunch is the plane with the largest wingspan in the world.
However, the American is inferior to its Ukrainian “colleague” in terms of maximum takeoff weight (589,670 kg and 640,000 kg, respectively) and length (73 meters for the Stratolaunch versus 84 meters for the An-225).
There is no exact date yet for when Stratolaunch will be tested again. Engineers hope to have the aircraft in service within the next 10 years.
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