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Ever since people learned how to design flying machines, they have been used to transport heavy and oversized cargo. In the history of aeronautics, many transport aircraft have been created, which impress with their huge size.

1. Antonov An-225 "Mriya".

An-225 is currently the largest aircraft in the world, it has an extra large payload and can lift about 250 tons into the air. Initially, the An-225 was designed and built to carry components of the Energia launch vehicle and the Buran reusable spacecraft.

2. Boeing 747 Dreamlifter.

This transport aircraft is a modified version of the Boeing 747, it was built and used exclusively to transport parts of the Boeing 787 aircraft. The Dreamlifter's special feature is its unusual appearance.

3. Aero Spacelines Super Guppy.

The Super Guppy cargo plane was produced in five copies and today only one of them is used. It is owned by NASA and is operated to deliver bulky cargo and parts of spacecraft.

4. Antonov An-124 "Ruslan".

The An-124 is a long-haul heavy military transport aircraft, the world's largest commercial cargo aircraft. It was designed primarily for the air transport of ICBM launchers, as well as for the transport of heavy military equipment. The carrying capacity of the An-124 is 120 tons. .

5. Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.

American military transport aircraft, the second in terms of carrying capacity after the An-124. The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is capable of carrying six helicopters or two large tanks in its cargo hold. The total weight that the aircraft can carry is over 118 tons.

6. Airbus A300-600ST Beluga.

A jet cargo aircraft for the transport of bulky cargo, which was developed on the basis of the Airbus A300 series. The main purpose of creating the A300-600ST is to replace the Super Guppy transport aircraft. The name Beluga is due to the shape of the body, which resembles a beluga whale. The carrying capacity of the Beluga is 47 tons.

7. Antonov An-22 "Antey".

Soviet-made heavy transport aircraft, the largest turboprop aircraft in the world. Currently, the aircraft is used by the Russian Air Force and the Ukrainian cargo airline Antonov Airlines. The carrying capacity of the An-22 is 60 tons.

8. Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.

The C-17 Globemaster III is one of the US Air Force's most widely used military transport aircraft and is still in use today. The aircraft is designed to transport military equipment and troops, as well as to carry out tactical missions. The carrying capacity of the C-17 is more than 76 tons.

9 Airbus A400M Atlas.

The A400M Atlas was designed and built as an international project for the air forces of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and several other countries. It is a four-engine turboprop aircraft with a carrying capacity of up to 37 tons.

Surprisingly, these huge monsters are flying in the sky. They weigh hundreds of tons, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and are almost as long as a football stadium.

An-225 "Mriya" (translated from Ukrainian - "dream") is the heaviest cargo-lifting aircraft ever taken into the air. The maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft is 640 tons. The reason for the construction of the An-225 was the need to create an aviation transport system for the project of the Soviet reusable spacecraft "Buran". The plane exists in a single copy.

The aircraft was designed in the USSR and built in 1988 at the Kiev Mechanical Plant. "Mriya" set a world record for take-off weight and payload. On March 22, 1989, the An-225 flew with a load of 156.3 tons, thereby simultaneously breaking 110 world aviation records, which is a record in itself.

"Mriya" and small cars.

The Dornier Do X is a German passenger flying boat manufactured by Dornier. It was intended for operation on long-distance passenger airlines. The first flight took place in 1929. On October 20, during a 40-minute demonstration flight, this aircraft took off from Lake Constance with 169 passengers on board. This record remained unsurpassed in the first half of the 20th century.

Length - 40.05 m, wingspan - 48.0 m, number of passengers - 160.

The pilot's cockpit of the Dornier Do X did not have engine control levers. Instead, as on the large marine vessels of the time, the pilot transmitted (by telephone) the command to increase or decrease power to a flight engineer located in a separate cockpit.

The flight engineer operates twelve aircraft engines:

This is the largest aircraft with one propeller, the largest propeller in history. Four linked 260-horsepower Mercedes D.IVa engines drove a huge propeller mounted in the nose.

Looking only at the photographs, it is completely impossible to understand the gigantic dimensions of the R.II 55/17 (For some reason, there are no photographs with people standing near the aircraft that give a sense of scale.

R.II could carry a maximum payload of 7,000 kg with a total flight weight of 15,000 kg ... The wingspan of the upper wing was 42.16 m, the length was 20.32 m. It made its first flight in January 1919.

Soviet propaganda, passenger multi-seat, 8-engine aircraft, the largest aircraft of its time with a land chassis. Built at the aircraft factory in the city of Voronezh. He made his first flight on June 17, 1934. Length - 33 meters.

In 1934, two world records were set on the plane, lifting loads of 10,000 kg and 15,000 kg to a height of 5,000 m. In 1935, during a demonstration flight, the plane crashed into the holiday village of Sokol. 49 people died

After the crash of the ANT-20, it was decided to build an improved backup ANT-20 bis, but neither he nor the ANT-20 were put into production.

This is a transport wooden flying boat, which received the unofficial nickname Spruce Goose (“Goldfinch, Dude”, literally “Spruce Goose”).

Weight - 130 tons, and its wingspan to this day remains a record - 98 meters (for Mriya - 88.4 m). It was designed to transport 750 soldiers fully equipped.

It is currently on display at the Evergreen International Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it was moved in 1993. The aircraft is visited annually by about 300,000 tourists.

The Bristol Brabazon is an experimental British passenger aircraft built in 1949. The largest aircraft ever built in the UK.

Length - 54m, wingspan - 70m.

By 1952, it became clear that the upper end of the transportation market would never pay for an aircraft built solely for first class transportation. Even in the "general" class, each passenger of the "Brabazon" had 6 cubic meters of internal volume, in the first class - 8 cubic meters; the plane literally "carried" these cubic meters of the fuselage. In March 1952, the government refused to support the completion of the second, turboprop, model, and in 1953 both cars went for scrap.

The world's first long-haul double-deck wide-body passenger aircraft. The first flight was made on February 9, 1969. At the time of its inception, the Boeing 747 was the largest, heaviest and most spacious passenger airliner, remaining so for 36 years, until the introduction of the A380, which first flew in 2005.

The Boeing 747-400 consists of 6 million parts (half of which are fasteners) manufactured in 33 different countries. During Operation Solomon (Israel's military operation to evacuate Ethiopian Jews to Israel), a world record was set for the number of passengers transported in one flight by one aircraft - on May 24, 1991, El Al's Boeing-747 transported 1122 passengers to Israel. Moreover, two babies were born in flight.

The new Boeing 747-8 is a new generation of the famous Boeing 747 series with a stretched fuselage, redesigned wing and improved cost efficiency. The 747-8 is the largest commercial aircraft built in the US and also the longest passenger aircraft in the world.

Length - 76.3 m, wingspan - 68.5 m.

This is a heavy long-range transport aircraft developed by OKB im. O. K. Antonova. It was created primarily for the air transportation of mobile launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The prototype aircraft made its first flight on December 24, 1982 in Kyiv. The aircraft entered service with the military transport aviation of the USSR in January 1987, a total of 56 aircraft were built.

Carrying capacity - 120 tons, length - 69.1 m, wingspan - 73.3 m. In October 1997, a record was set for the mass of transported commercial cargo. A chemical reactor weighing 125 tons was delivered from Paris to Doha, and the total weight of the cargo with special equipment was 140 tons.

Repair and modernization of the An-124 Ruslan aircraft is now carried out at the aircraft building plant in Ulyanovsk.

It was built in 1966. It was the largest aircraft in the world before the An-225, which received the name "Caspian monster" from foreign intelligence agencies. Length - 92 m, wingspan - 37.6 m, maximum takeoff weight - 544,000 kg.

The largest production passenger airliner in the world, surpassing the Boeing 747 in capacity, which can only carry up to 525 passengers (the Boeing 747 was the largest passenger airliner for 36 years). Its length is 73 meters, the wingspan is 79.75 meters, the maximum takeoff weight is 560 tons (the weight of the aircraft itself is 280 tons).

Start of production - 2004. The first aircraft sold was handed over to the customer on October 15, 2007.

Beriev Be-2500 "Neptune" is an ambitious project of a super-heavy amphibious transport aircraft, developed at the Taganrog TANTK them. G. M. Berieva. It is the largest aircraft ever conceived in history. Length - 115.5 m, wingspan - 125.5 m, take-off weight - 2.5 million kg, maximum payload - up to 1 million kg.

The project remained a project, and there is no mention of the aircraft in the state program “Development of the Aviation Industry for 2013-2025” adopted at the end of 2012.

LZ 129 Hindenburg is a rigid airship built in 1936 in Germany. It was the largest airship in the world created up to that time.

The Hindenburg first took to the air in Friedrichshafen on March 4, 1936. On May 6, 1937, while completing another transatlantic flight, the Hindenburg, filled with flammable hydrogen, caught fire and crashed, killing 35 of the 97 people on board, as well as one member of the ground crew. The collapse of the Hindenburg effectively marked the end of the commercial use of airships for transport purposes.

The history of aviation in its modern sense is more than 100 years old, if we do not take into account the attempts of man to take off into the air since ancient times. During this time, aircraft construction has gone from the first prototypes of the Wright brothers and other enthusiastic inventors to heavy-duty multi-ton giants capable of carrying tons of cargo and hundreds of passengers. This article is about the 10 largest aircraft in the world.

The largest passenger aircraft in the world

The Airbus A380 holds the palm among the largest civil aircraft for the transport of passengers. This is the brainchild of the European company Airbus. It first flew into the air with passengers in 2005 after 10 years of development and experimentation by designers.

Fact. The cost of creating a giant amounted to almost 12 billion euros.

This expensive, but the largest passenger aircraft has the following dimensions:

• height - 24.08 m;
• length - 72.75 m;
• wingspan - 79.75 m;
• weight - 280 tons.

Additional Information. Despite its impressive dimensions, the Airbus A380 is very economical and even environmentally friendly in operation - only three liters of fuel are consumed to transport one passenger over a distance of 100 kilometers. It can cover a distance of more than 15,400 meters without refueling. And the less fuel is spent, the less emissions into the atmosphere. This result was achieved thanks to the perfect design of the wing and fuselage, as well as the special material from which they are made. These engineering solutions significantly reduced the overall weight of the vessel and improved its aerodynamics.

Today, the double-decker Airbus A380s can accommodate 525 passengers when divided into three classes and up to 853 people in a single-class cabin configuration. However, development and testing of improved versions of the aircraft is already underway, the capacity of which should exceed 1000 people.

The Airbus A380 removed the Boeing 747, which had held the position of the largest aircraft since the 1970s, from its pedestal. The developers of the A380 found a way to reduce the cost of producing the vessel by 15% compared to the Boeing and increase the capacity by 7%.

The second largest aircraft in the world

The already mentioned Boeing 747 (Jumbo Jet) occupies an honorable second place in terms of size among passenger liners. At the time of its creation in 1969, it was the largest, heaviest and most spacious aircraft, 70.6 m long.

For 36 years, it was produced in various modifications, however, retaining the main characteristics in them: a wide fuselage and two floors for passengers. This design gives the Jumbo Jet a recognizable hump-like silhouette, as the upper deck is significantly shorter than the lower deck.

Interesting. In the late 1960s, it was believed that the future of passenger aviation lay with supersonic light aircraft that would replace the hulking heavyweights. Therefore, "747" was developed with the possibility of conversion into a cargo. Experts estimated the capacity of the market for roomy aircraft at no more than 400 units, but these forecasts did not come true, and in 1993 the company sold its thousandth Boeing-747. Only in our century, with the advent of the Airbus A380, demand began to fall.

In the 1970s there was a fuel crisis in the world, jet fuel prices skyrocketed, as did ticket prices. Companies that have a Boeing 747 in their fleet faced with its unprofitability, the aircraft often flew empty. However, on especially busy routes and on intercontinental flights, the Jumbo Jet has been and remains a popular model.

The longest passenger plane in the world

This is a record holder from the latest history of aviation - Boeing 747-8, began to be produced in 2008. It is a modification of the legendary Boeing 747, with significant modifications. The designers lengthened the fuselage as much as possible, redesigned the wing and worked on efficiency in operation.

The Boeing 747-8 is 76.25 meters long, making it the longest passenger airliner in the world. However, it is also the heaviest US aircraft, its take-off weight is 447 tons, which is still considered a record in the history of the aircraft industry in America.

Characteristics:

• length - 76.25 m;
• height - 19.35 m;
• wingspan - 68.45 m.

In addition to cargo, this aircraft can accommodate up to 581 passengers.

The most "hardy" aircraft

For the successful operation of aircraft, in addition to capacity and carrying capacity, it is important how far they can cover without refueling. Today, the long-range flight record holder is the Boeing 777, which at one time is able to fly half the circumference of the Earth - 20,000 km. However, this is the limit value of the flight length; in normal practice, the distance covered is 9000-17000 km.

Interesting. The Boeing 777E is the first modern airliner to use computer modeling instead of paper drawings. In the early 1990s such technologies have become a breakthrough in the aircraft industry, since 3D modeling makes it possible to eliminate errors in the joining of parts at the design stage.

Boeing 777 has different modifications depending on the length of the fuselage and range. 777-300ER is one of the most "hardy" and popular modifications. It is a large liner with two turbofan engines. Maximum capacity - 550 people.

As a long-haul aircraft, the Boeing 777 can stay in the air for up to 18 hours without a break. However, there is a limitation on the duration of the work shift for the crew, so special places are allocated in the cabin for sleeping and resting pilots and flight attendants.

Leader in wing length

The Hughes H-4 Hercules entered the TOP 10 largest aircraft in the world due to its wing size. Despite the fact that this is the oldest of the aircraft described here, no one has yet been able to beat its record: the span reaches 98 meters.

The plane took off for the first and last time in the air in 1947, it has a sad history of creation. At the beginning of World War II, the American government ordered the development of a military aircraft by Hughes Aircraft, under the control of Howard Hughes. However, the search for a perfect solution dragged on. Hughes could not be satisfied with the result. In addition, there was a shortage of aluminum in the world. As a result, the war ended, but there was still no plane. Only two years after the end of hostilities, the Hughes H-4 Hercules made its first flight. Surprisingly, this device was completely made of plywood and, in fact, was a flying boat.

Specifications:

• length - 66.45 m;
• height - 24.08 m;
• wingspan - 97.54 m;
• maximum takeoff weight - 180 tons.

Interesting. This "boat" could transport 750 soldiers in full uniform to the place of hostilities. However, in reality, her flight was limited to two kilometers over Los Angeles. After that, the aircraft remained in the personal property of G. Hughes, who annually spent a lot of money to keep it in working order until his death. After the death of the designer, the giant was sent to a museum in California to attract tourists. Based on the life of engineer Howard Hughes, the film "The Aviator" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed.

Not so long ago (May 31, 2017), the Hughes H-4 Hercules record for wingspan was surpassed: the Stratolaunch aircraft with a wingspan of 117 meters was presented to the world. However, he has not yet made a single flight, so the brainchild of Hughes is still the leader among the operated models.

The largest cargo plane in the world

This title belongs to the An-225, designed in the USSR at the Kiev Mechanical Development Plant, in the OKB. O. K. Antonova. The Ukrainian name for the heavy truck is "Mriya" (translated as "dream"). The first flight was made in 1988.

The impetus for the creation of "Mriya" was the Soviet space program "Buran" to develop a reusable transport spacecraft. To implement the ambitious plans, an aircraft with an extra large payload was required to participate in the cargo transportation of the ship's components. The designed aircraft had to lift at least 250 tons at a time and have attachments for transporting external cargo.

The designers took the An-124-100 (Ruslan) as a basis and changed some components and details in order to obtain the necessary technical characteristics. This is how the largest An-225 transport aircraft appeared. Despite the fact that the Mriya was created for very specific tasks, it has become a versatile vessel in cargo aviation.

The cargo compartment is sealed and has the following dimensions:

• length - 43 m;
• height - 18.2 m;
• width - 6.4 m;
• wingspan - 88.4 m;
• weight - 250 tons.

The aircraft provides space for 6 crew members and 88 people accompanying the cargo. The probability that the aircraft will fail in flight is extremely small - all important systems are duplicated 4 times.

So far, the Mriya has been created in a single copy - the curtailment of the Buran program has also suspended the production of a heavyweight aircraft. It is known that the design bureau. Antonova continues to develop the second modification of the giant.

largest military aircraft

An-124 "Ruslan", the prototype of the An-225, was at one time considered the largest aircraft in the world. Now it is the largest military aircraft with a huge payload. It has four turbojet engines, a wide fuselage and two decks. The lower one is for cargo, the upper one is for the crew (8 people) and accompanying persons (up to 21 people). The volume of the cargo compartment is 1000 cubic meters. An-124 lifts 120 tons into the air.

Characteristics:

• length - 69.1 m;
• height - 21.08 m;
• wingspan - 73.3 m;
• weight - 178.4 tons;
• takeoff weight - 392 tons.

"Ruslan" was also developed in the OKB. O. K. Antonova, as well as "Mriya". The purpose of its creation is the transportation of transcontinental ballistic missiles. However, the result of the work of Soviet designers exceeded expectations - the An-124 turned out to be a universal military aircraft that can carry large military equipment. "Ruslan" was mass-produced, a total of 56 copies were produced. In the early 2000s there were attempts to resume its production by the forces of Ukraine and Russia, however, due to the aggravation of political relations between the two countries, the project was curtailed.

The largest turboprop aircraft in the world

The An-22 was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War. Had the code name "product 100". As a result, five years later, the world saw this giant "product" called the AN-22 "Antey". This is the first Soviet and Russian aircraft with a wide fuselage. It is still considered the largest aircraft with a turboprop engine. The diameter of the screws is 62 cm, and the power of each of the four engines is 11227 kW.

Characteristics:

• length - 57.31 m;
• height - 12.53 m;
• wingspan - 64.40 m;
• weight - 119 kg;
• load capacity - 60 tons.

"Antey" is capable of transporting heavy and large military equipment over long distances, and is used for airborne landings.

The heaviest combat aircraft in history

Tu-160 is a representative of a completely different generation of military aircraft. It flies at supersonic speeds and is a strategic bomber. So far, this is the largest and most powerful aircraft in Russia and the world in the history of military aviation.

The Tu-160 concept was born in the 1970s and 1980s. as a response of Russian strategists to the military developments of the United States and NATO. The future aircraft was supposed to fly to the neighboring continent and overcome enemy air defenses at supersonic speed.

Characteristics:

• length - 54.1 m;
• variable sweep wing, so the span is different: 55.7 / 50.7 / 35.6 m;
• height - 13.1 m;
• weight - 110 tons.
• maximum takeoff weight - 275 tons.

Most of the Tu-160 missile carriers are named after prominent figures in Russian aviation. For 2017, our country of Russia is armed with 16 aircraft. The plans are to completely modernize them.

The largest mass-produced cargo aircraft

The American cargo plane Lockheed C-5 Galaxy completes the selection of "Largest Aircraft". Today it is the largest model among mass-produced cargo carriers. Since 1968, the aircraft has been successfully operated by the US Army, and regular upgrades allow it to be considered modern and promising.

Characteristics:

• aircraft length - 75.54 m;
• aircraft height - 19.85 m;
• wingspan - 67.88 m;
• weight - 169.6 tons.
• maximum takeoff weight - 379, 6 tons.

An aircraft without refueling can fly over 4 thousand kilometers at an altitude of 10 km. The maximum developed speed is 920 km.

The largest aircraft are milestones in the history of aviation. They demonstrate how engineering thought developed, what path the designers saw before them. As history shows, the most outstanding achievements in the aircraft industry are associated with military operations.

These giants plow the sky with ease and grace, and, looking at them from the ground, no one thinks that these steel birds are such a huge structure that the height of the tail of one of these liners - A-380 - is five giraffes, set Each other. The Airbus A-380 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world, but this article will not only be about it.

"Boeing 747"

Among passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 have the largest size. These are liners that can simultaneously carry more than five hundred passengers. In particular, the A380 is capable of lifting 853 passengers into the air. Before the advent of this giant, the Boeing 747 with a length of 70.6 meters and the Boeing 747-8 with a length of 76.25 meters (the longest passenger aircraft) were the most spacious airliners in the world (the maximum number of simultaneously transported passengers reached 600 people). The Boeing 747-8 is more economical in terms of fuel consumption than the Boeing 747, which first flew on February 9, 1969. The designers originally planned a two-deck aircraft design, but the upper deck was shortened due to technical problems. The Boeing 747 was the first airliner in the world to have two aisles between seats. This aircraft is certified to fly on three engines, and if one of the four fails, the vessel will fully take off, fly and land on the remaining three engines. At the same time, the cruising speed of a Boeing 747 passenger aircraft is 913 km/h.

Giant A-380

The giant double-deck "Frenchman" - the A380 liner, the first copy of which rolled off the assembly line in 2005 - is the largest passenger aircraft in the history of world aviation. Indeed, its creators have something to be proud of - the cabin of the Airbus A380 accommodates 853 passengers. To date, more than 110 machines have already been built and put into operation. The monthly production of these liners is 2.5 cars. Today, these giants are used by 20 airlines, the Emirates airline has the largest fleet.

The cruising speed of the passenger aircraft A380 reaches 1020 km/h. Each airliner consists of about four million individual parts and components, which are manufactured in thirty countries around the world by one and a half thousand manufacturing companies and delivered using a unique logistics system developed by Airbus, which includes a route by water, as well as by air and by road. Each landing gear can withstand a load of about 260 tons (200 cars). For comparison with its predecessor, the wing area of ​​the A380 aircraft is equal to one and a half wing areas of the Boeing 747-400 and is 845 square meters.

The largest passenger aircraft in the world can be equipped with two types of quiet engines: either the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or the Engine Alliance GP7000. At the same time, the A380 is the most economical airliner in its segment - fuel consumption for passenger transportation per 100 km with a cabin layout of 525 seats does not exceed three liters.

The dimensions of passenger aircraft are impressive, the cabin area of ​​the A380 is 554 square meters. The liner has two decks - the main one, the width of which is a record high - 6.5 meters, and the upper one with a width of 5.8 meters.

An air volume of 1,500 cubic meters is replaced by an air conditioning system every three minutes; during the flight, there is pleasant silence in the cabin of the liner, the hum of turbines is almost inaudible.

Russia is proud of them

And what does the domestic aviation industry offer us? The largest turboprop aircraft in the world is the Antonov An-22. Its length is about 60 meters, the flight speed is 580 km/h. The first liner was launched in 1965.

"That"

The legendary Tu-134 is a passenger airliner for flights over medium distances, up to 2800 meters. It is designed for a maximum of 96 seats, its cruising speed is 850 km / h at an altitude of 11000 m. The Tu-154 is a larger aircraft, 158 people are accommodated in the cabin of three classes, 180 in the economy class. The maximum flight speed of this liner is 950 km / h, and the Tu-154M modification is capable of covering distances up to 5200 km.

Tu-204 accommodates 214 passengers, and the cruising speed is slightly less than the previous "brother" - 850 km / h.

"su"

The Sukhoi Superjet-100 is not the largest passenger aircraft in the world, but it is famous for being the first Russian airliner designed using digital technologies. It is designed for flights up to 3,000 kilometers on lightly loaded airlines. The maximum number of passengers is 98 people.

"Il"

Speaking of domestic aircraft, one cannot fail to mention the Ilyushins. Russian passenger aircraft represented by this design bureau have several basic types that are well known to us. Let's talk about each of them in more detail.

Let's start with the simplest - the Il-62, an airliner that has been produced since 1971 and is designed for flights over medium distances - up to 10,000 kilometers. This aircraft can accommodate 198 passengers and five crew members. Its top speed at cruising altitude is 850 km/h.

As for the Il-86 aircraft, it is also designed for flights over medium distances, a cabin containing two classes can accommodate 234 passengers, if a three-class aircraft, then 314 people. At the same time, 11 flight attendants serve customers. The aircraft are equipped with twelve emergency ladders and all the necessary modern rescue systems. The cruising speed of the Il-86 is 950 km/h, the distances it flies do not exceed 5,000 kilometers, with a maximum flight duration of eight hours.

IL-96

Now about the largest representative of the Ilyushin family - the Il-96 airbus. It is designed for long distance flights. Three hundred people in economy class and 262 passengers in the cabin of three classes - this figure is practically the same as the previous described model of this family. The liner flies with a maximum cruising speed of 900 km/h and is capable of covering a distance of up to 12,100 km. Its improved "model" - Il-96M - accommodates a larger number of passengers - up to 435 people in a charter version.

Immediate perspective, or Domestic developments

To date, the largest Russian aircraft project is the Irkut MS-21. Within its framework, it is planned to produce short-medium-haul passenger liners. Now Irkut is developing and building, the first copies of the aircraft according to the plan will be certified in 2016, at the same time flight tests will begin. The start of mass-scale production of MS-21 is expected from 2017-2018. In the Russian passenger aircraft market, these liners should replace the Tu-154 and Tu-204 and will be operated on domestic and international airlines.

The project is not developing the largest passenger aircraft in the world, but the family of airliners being created will include various aircraft of three types in terms of length and passenger capacity - 150, 180 and 210 seats. The lineup will include aircraft with extended range. The cruising altitude of the ship will be 11,600 kilometers, the speed that the liner will develop will be 870 km/h, the maximum fuselage length is 39.5 meters. The crew will consist of two people.

As for the progress of work, the base of the project is the Yak-242. The development of the new wing belongs to the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company, the fuselage work is carried out directly by the Irkut Corporation and the Yakovlev Design Bureau.

It is assumed that the new liners will be more economical due to the use of modern composite materials, as well as new generation engines. The aircraft will be equipped with Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines; in the future, it is possible to install domestic Perm PD-14 engines.

The three largest aircraft in the world and their history

People are always attracted by some kind of record - record planes always get a lot of attention

Airbus A380 is a wide-body double-deck jet passenger aircraft, created by Airbus S.A.S. (formerly Airbus Industrie) is the largest production airliner in the world.

The height of the aircraft is 24.08 meters, the length is 72.75 (80.65) meters, the wingspan is 79.75 meters. The A380 can fly non-stop for distances up to 15,400 km. Capacity - 525 passengers in the cabin of three classes; 853 passengers in single class configuration.

A cargo modification of the A380F is also provided with the ability to carry cargo up to 150 tons over a distance of up to 10,370 km.

The development of the Airbus A380 took about 10 years, the cost of the entire program amounted to about 12 billion euros. Airbus says it needs to sell 420 aircraft to recoup its costs, although some analysts estimate the figure should be much higher.

According to the developers, the most difficult part in the creation of the A380 was the problem of reducing its mass. It was possible to solve it through the widespread use of composite materials both in load-bearing structural elements and in auxiliary units, interiors, etc.

Advanced technologies and improved aluminum alloys were also used to reduce the weight of the aircraft. So, 11-ton center section for 40% of its mass consists of carbon fiber. The top and side panels of the fuselage are made from Glare hybrid material. On the lower fuselage panels, laser welding of stringers and skin was used, which significantly reduced the number of fasteners.

According to Airbus, per passenger, the Airbus A380 burns 17% less fuel than the "largest aircraft today" (apparently referring to the Boeing 747). The less fuel burned, the less carbon dioxide emissions. For an aircraft, CO2 emissions per passenger are only 75 grams per kilometer. This is almost half the CO2 emission limit set by the European Union for cars manufactured in 2008.

The first A320 aircraft sold was handed over to the customer on October 15, 2007 after a lengthy acceptance testing phase and entered service on October 25, 2007 on a commercial flight between Singapore and Sydney. Two months later, Singapore Airlines President Chu Chong Seng said the Airbus A380 was performing better than expected and consuming 20% ​​less fuel per passenger than the company's existing Boeing 747-400s.

The upper and lower decks of the aircraft are connected by two ladders, at the fore and aft of the aircraft, wide enough to accommodate two passengers shoulder to shoulder. In a 555-passenger configuration, the A380 has 33% more passenger space than a Boeing 747-400 in standard three-class configuration, but has 50% more space and volume, resulting in more space per passenger.

The maximum certified capacity of the aircraft is 853 passengers when configured with a single economy class. The announced configurations range from 450 seats (for Qantas Airways) to 644 (for Emirates Airline, with two comfort classes).

Hughes H-4 Hercules (eng. Hughes H-4 Hercules) is a transport wooden flying boat developed by the American company Hughes Aircraft under the direction of Howard Hughes. This 136-ton aircraft, originally designated as NK-1 and given the unofficial nickname Spruce Goose ("Goldfinch, Dude", literally "Spruce Goose"), was the largest flying boat ever built, and its wingspan still remains a record - 98 meters. It was designed to transport 750 soldiers fully equipped.

At the start of World War II, the U.S. government gave Hughes $13 million to build a prototype flying craft, but the aircraft was not ready by the end of hostilities, due to aluminum shortages and Hughes' stubbornness in trying to build the perfect machine.

Specifications

• Crew: 3 people
• Length: 66.45 m
• Wingspan: 97.54 m
• Height: 24.08 m
• Fuselage height: 9.1 m
• Wing area: 1061.88 m²
• Maximum takeoff weight: 180 tons
• Payload weight: up to 59,000 kg
• Fuel capacity: 52,996 l
• Engines: 8× air-cooled Pratt&Whitney R-4360-4A, 3000 hp each With. (2240 ​​kW) each
• Propellers: 8 × four-bladed Hamilton Standard, 5.23 m diameter

Flight characteristics

• Top speed: 351 mph (565.11 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 250 mph (407.98 km/h)
• Flight range: 5634 km
• Practical ceiling: 7165 m.

Despite its nickname, the aircraft is built almost entirely from birch, more precisely from birch plywood glued to a pattern.

The Hercules aircraft, piloted by Howard Hughes himself, made its first and only flight only on November 2, 1947, when it took off to a height of 21 meters and covered approximately two kilometers in a straight line over Los Angeles Harbor.

After a long period of storage (Hughes kept the aircraft in working order until his death in 1976, spending up to $ 1 million a year on this), the aircraft was sent to the Long Beach Museum, California.

The aircraft is visited annually by about 300,000 tourists. The biography of the creator of the aircraft Howard Hughes and the testing of the aircraft are shown in Martin Scorsese's film The Aviator.

It is currently on display at the Evergreen International Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it was moved in 1993.

This machine was designed and built in a very short time: the first drawings began to be created in 1985, and in 1988 the transport aircraft was already built. The reason for such a short time can be quite easily explained: the fact is that the Mriya was created on the basis of well-developed components and assemblies of the An-124 Ruslan. So, for example, the fuselage of the Mriya has the same transverse dimensions as the An-124, but longer than it, the wingspan and area have increased. The same structure as that of Ruslan has a wing, but additional sections have been added to it. The An-225 has two additional engines. The landing gear of the aircraft is similar to the chassis of the Ruslan, but it has seven instead of five racks. The cargo compartment has been changed quite seriously. Initially, two aircraft were laid down, but only one An-225 was completed. The second copy of the unique aircraft is about 70% ready and can be completed at any time, subject to proper funding. For its completion, an amount of 100-120 million dollars is needed.

On February 1, 1989, the aircraft was shown to the general public, and in May of the same year, the An-225 made a non-stop flight from Baikonur to Kiev, carrying a Buran weighing sixty tons on its back. In the same month, the An-225 delivered the Buran spacecraft to the Paris air show and made a splash there. In total, the aircraft has 240 world records, including the transport of the heaviest cargo (253 tons), the heaviest monolithic cargo (188 tons) and the longest cargo.

The An-225 Mriya aircraft was originally designed for the needs of the Soviet space industry. In those years, the Soviet Union was building the Buran, its first reusable ship, an analogue of the American shuttle. To implement this project, a transport system was needed, with which it was possible to transport large loads. It was for these purposes that Mriya was conceived. In addition to the components and assemblies of the spacecraft itself, it was necessary to deliver parts of the Energia rocket, which also had colossal dimensions. All this was delivered from the place of production to the points of final assembly. The units and components of Energia and Buran were manufactured in the central regions of the USSR, and the final assembly took place in Kazakhstan, at the Baikonur cosmodrome. In addition, the An-225 was originally designed so that in the future it could carry the completed Buran spacecraft. Also, the An-225 could carry bulky cargo for the needs of the national economy, for example, equipment for the mining, oil and gas industries.

In addition to participating in the Soviet space program, the aircraft was to be used to transport oversized cargo over long distances. This work An-225 "Mriya" will perform today.

The general functions and tasks of the machine can be described as follows:

• transportation of general-purpose cargo (oversized, heavy) with a total weight of up to 250 tons;
• intracontinental non-stop transportation of goods weighing 180−200 tons;
• intercontinental transportation of goods weighing up to 150 tons;
• transportation of heavy oversized cargo on an external sling with a total weight of up to 200 tons;
• use of aircraft for air launch of spacecraft.

Other, even more ambitious tasks were set before the unique aircraft, and they were also associated with space. The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft was supposed to become a kind of flying cosmodrome, a platform from which spaceships and rockets would be launched into orbit. "Mriya", as conceived by the designers, was to become the first step for the launch of reusable spacecraft of the "Buran" type. Therefore, initially the designers were faced with the task of making an aircraft with a carrying capacity of at least 250 tons.

The Soviet shuttle was supposed to start from the "back" of the aircraft. This method of launching vehicles into near-Earth orbit has many serious advantages. Firstly, there is no need to build very expensive ground-based launch complexes, and secondly, launching a rocket or spacecraft from an aircraft saves fuel significantly and allows increasing the payload of a spacecraft. In some cases, this may allow you to completely abandon the first stage of the rocket.

Various air launch options are being developed at the present time. The United States is especially active in this direction; there are also Russian developments.

Alas, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the "air launch" project, with the participation of the An-225, was practically buried. This aircraft was an active participant in the Energia-Buran program. An-225 carried out fourteen flights with Buran on the top of the fuselage, hundreds of tons of various cargoes were transported under this program.

After 1991, funding for the Energia-Buran program ceased, and the An-225 was left without work. Only in 2000 did the modernization of the machine begin for commercial use. The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft has unique technical characteristics, a huge carrying capacity and can carry bulky cargo on its fuselage - all this makes the aircraft very popular for commercial transportation.

Since that time, the An-225 has performed many flights and transported hundreds of tons of various cargoes. Some transport operations can be safely called unique and unparalleled in the history of aviation. The plane took part in humanitarian operations several times. After the devastating tsunami, he delivered power generators to Samoa, transported construction equipment to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and helped clean up the aftermath of an earthquake in Japan.

In 2009, the An-225 aircraft was upgraded and its service life was extended.

The An-225 "Mriya" aircraft is made according to the classical scheme, with high-raised wings of small sweep. The cabin is located in front of the aircraft, the cargo hatch is also located in the nose of the machine. The aircraft is made according to the two-keel scheme. Such a decision is associated with the need to transport goods on the fuselage of the aircraft. The glider of the An-225 aircraft has very high aerodynamic properties, the value of the aerodynamic quality of this machine is 19, which is an excellent indicator not only for transport, but also for passenger aircraft. This, in turn, greatly improved the performance of the aircraft and reduced fuel consumption.

Almost the entire internal space of the fuselage is occupied by the cargo compartment. Compared to the An-124, it has grown by 10% (by seven meters). At the same time, the wingspan increased by only 20%, two more engines were added, and the aircraft's carrying capacity increased by one and a half times. During the construction of the An-225, drawings, components and assemblies of the An-124 were actively used, thanks to which the aircraft was able to be created in such a short time. Here are the main differences between the An-225 and the An-124 Ruslan:

• new center section;
• increased fuselage length;
• single-keel tail unit was replaced with a two-keel one;
• lack of a tail cargo hatch;
• the number of main landing gear racks has been increased from five to seven;
• system of fastening and pressurization of external loads;
• two additional D-18T engines were installed.

Unlike Ruslan, Mriya has only one cargo hatch, which is located in the nose of the aircraft. Like its predecessor, "Mriya" can change the clearance and angle of the fuselage, which is extremely convenient for loading and unloading. The chassis has three supports: a front two-column and two main ones, each of which consists of seven pillars. At the same time, all racks are independent of each other and are produced separately.

To take off without a load, the aircraft needs a runway 2400 meters long, with a load - 3500 meters.

An-225 has six D-18T engines suspended under the wings, as well as two auxiliary power units located inside the fuselage.

The cargo compartment is sealed and equipped with all the necessary equipment for loading operations. Inside the fuselage, the An-225 can carry up to sixteen standard air containers (each weighing ten tons), fifty cars or any cargo weighing up to two hundred tons (turbines, extra large trucks, generators). On top of the fuselage, special fastenings are provided for the transportation of bulky cargo.D

Specifications An-225 "Mriya"

Wingspan, m 88.4

Length, m 84.0

Height, m ​​18.2

Weight, kg

Empty 250000

Maximum takeoff 600000

Fuel mass 300000

Engine 6*TRDD D-18T

Specific fuel consumption, kg/kgf 0.57-0.63

Cruising speed, km/h 850

Practical range, km 15600

Range, km 4500

Practical ceiling, m 11000

Crew of six people