List of large aircraft

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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 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, the current heaviest aircraft
In bold: largest value then, light background: entered serial production
Aircraft First flight Type Built Length Span MTOW Capacity Note
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI 1916 Bomber 56 22.1 m 42.2 m 11.8 t Largest WWI aircraft in regular service
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 Longest aircraft until the XB-19
Tupolev ANT-20 19 May 1934 Transport 2 32.9 m 63 m 53 t Pax: 72 Widest and heaviest until the XB-19
Douglas XB-19 27 Jun 1941 Bomber 1 40.3 m 64.6 m 73.5 t Longest until the Latécoère 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 Most capable 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 Ju 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 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 H-4
Hughes H-4 Hercules 2 Nov 1947 Flying boat 1 66.7 m 97.8 m 180 t Longest until the C-5 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
North American 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 Longest flying vehicle and heaviest until the An-225, tested for 15 years until 1980 crash
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy 30 Jun 1968 Transport 131 75.3 m 67.9 m 417 t 127.5 t Heaviest and longest aircraft until the An-225, most capable transport until the An-124
Boeing 747 9 Feb 1969 Airliner 1,557 70.7 m 59.6 m 378 t Pax: 550/660 Most capable 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
Airbus Beluga 13 Sep 1994 Outsize cargo 5 56.2 m 44.8 m 155 t 1,500 m³ A300 derivative, largest volume until the Dreamlifter
Airbus A340-600 23 Apr 2001 Airliner 97 75.4 m 63.5 m 380 t Pax: 440 Longest in serial production until the Boeing 747-8
Airbus A380 27 Apr 2005 Airliner 242 72.7 m 79.8 m 575 t Pax: 850 Most capable airliner, heaviest and widest in serial production
Boeing Dreamlifter 9 Sep 2006 Outsize cargo 4 71.7 m 64.4 m 364 t 1,840 m³ 747-400 derivative, largest volume until the Beluga XL
Boeing 747-8 8 Feb 2010 Airliner 137 76.4 m 68.4 m 448 t Pax: 660 Longest in serial production until the Boeing 777-9
Airbus Beluga XL 19 Jul 2018 Outsize cargo 5 63.1 m 60.3 m 227 t 2,209 m³ A330 derivative, largest volume
Stratolaunch 13 Apr 2019 Air launch 1 73 m 117 m 590 t 250 t Widest aircraft, prototype carrier
Boeing 777X-9 25 Jan 2020 Airliner 1 76.7 m 71.8 m 352 t Pax: 550 Boeing 777 development, longest in serial production, heaviest twinjet

Projects[]

Aircraft Proposed MTOW Note
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 fuselages 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.
Aircraft First flight MTOW Number built Note
Hughes XH-17 23 Oct 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
Fairey Rotodyne 6 Nov 1957 15 t 1 Largest gyrodyne prototype for 40 passengers
Boeing CH-47 Chinook 21 Dec 1961 23 t 1,200+ Tandem rotor
Mil V-12 or Mi-12 10 Jul 1968 105 t 2 Largest prototype helicopter, 2 × 35 m rotors
Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion 1 Mar 1974 33 t 234 Largest US helicopter
Mil Mi-26 14 Dec 1977 56 t 316 Heaviest serial production helicopter
V-22 Osprey 19 Mar 1989 21.5 t 400 First operational VTOL tiltrotor
Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion 27 October 2015 38.4 t CH-53E update
Piasecki H-16 Transporter 23 October 1953 23 t 2

Lighter than air[]

Aircraft First flight Volume Length Note
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, 215 t, along its LZ130 Graf Zeppelin II sister ship
U.S. Navy ZPG-3W July 1958 42,450 m3 123 m Largest U.S. Navy non-rigid airship
Airlander 10 17 Aug 2016 38,000 m3 92 m Largest modern non-rigid airship
Hindenburg airship compared with the largest fixed-wing aircraft.
  • The 240,000 m3 R102 was cancelled, like the 270,000 m3

Proposals[]

Hydrogen carrier airship (2.45 km long) and balloon (727 m wide), 28000 tonne MTOW both.[7]

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.
  6. ^ "A380-900 and freighter both on 'back-burner': Enders". Flight International. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  7. ^ Using the jet stream for sustainable airship and balloon transportation of cargo and hydrogen

Further reading[]

External links[]

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