The largest passenger and cargo aircraft in the world. Rating of the fastest aircraft in the world. The largest passenger aircraft in the world

The list of aircraft of the maximum size includes both military cargo transporters and aircraft capable of carrying more than five hundred passengers. The leaders among them are Airbus A380 and Boeing 747.

What models are included in the list of the largest aircraft?

The listed aircraft were created in different countries world, some of them are transport and cargo, some are created only for the transport of passengers. The need for high-capacity aircraft is growing from year to year, which is associated with the desire of people to travel, explore new countries, and discover new continents.

Hughes H-4 Hercules

The height of this wooden giant is twenty-four meters, the length is sixty-six meters and forty-five centimeters, with a wingspan of ninety-eight meters. Today Hughes H-4 Hercules is located in Oregon and is a museum exhibit.

An-225

The dimensions of the Mriya are also striking. With a height of twenty-four meters ten centimeters and a length of seventy-three meters, its wingspan is almost eighty-eight and a half meters. It is known that the construction of the second such aircraft is underway.

Airbus A380

Being the largest among the mass-produced airliners, this one is also the most economical in terms of fuel consumption. For a hundred kilometers, fuel consumption per passenger is only three liters.

An-124

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy

This aircraft gains altitude up to ten kilometers and can cover a distance of five thousand six hundred kilometers without refueling. The maximum speed that the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy can develop is nine hundred and twenty kilometers.

Boeing 777-300ER

Among the twin-engine jet passenger aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER remains the largest. On board, he can take from three hundred five to five hundred and fifty people.

Airbus A340-600

The height of the liner is seventeen meters thirty centimeters, the length is seventy-five meters thirty centimeters, and the wingspan is sixty-three and a half meters.

Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 is also the world's most common aircraft. It is known that more than one and a half thousand such airliners were produced.

The largest passenger aircraft in the world

In 2005, a new super-capacious large aircraft appeared - this is the Airbus A380. Surprisingly, its capacity is equal to eight hundred and fifty-two passengers. They are located on two decks. This four-engine aircraft has a wingspan of nearly eighty meters, a height of twenty-four meters, and a length of seventy-three meters. The weight of this “giant” is also surprising - without passengers it weighs almost two hundred and seventy-seven tons and is able to fly fifteen thousand two hundred kilometers without stopping for refueling.

And the largest cargo aircraft is called the An-225 Mriya. It was made in the USSR. .
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There was a time when man only dreamed of flying in the sky, people did not imagine that they could soar in the sky like a bird. But with the advent of airplanes, flying among the clouds became a reality. Colossal work was done by scientists and designers around the world before the world saw the first samples of flying "machines". So, among them there are leaders, models that surpass their competitors in the transportation of people or equipment. Let's talk about what are the largest planes in the world flying in our time.

It is hard to believe that these multi-ton machines are flying, also at such a great speed.
Now the largest aircraft in the world in passenger traffic called Airbus A380-800. It appeared in 2005, displacing the Boeing 747, which had been in the lead for a long 36 years. The length of the Airbus A380-800 is 73 meters, the wingspan is almost 80 meters, the height of the giant is 24 meters, and the weight of the car is 280 tons. Maximum amount passengers carried in the Airbus A380-800 can reach 853 people on a charter flight!

Before Airbus "came out" in the light, about 12 billion euros and 10 years of painstaking work of designers were spent on its development. Without refueling, this aircraft can fly a distance of 15,400 kilometers. Airbus A380-800 is a very economical aircraft in terms of fuel consumption among liners of this class. To ensure low fuel consumption, it is required to make a very precise shape of the wing and hull. To achieve this precision, the most accurate milling machines in the world from Japan are used, which were developed specifically for the production of this aircraft. Fuel consumption per 100 km for 3 passengers is only three liters.

It should be noted that the capacity of Airbus compared to the Boeing 747 is greater, while its production costs 15% less. The first airline to operate the largest passenger aircraft in the world was Singapore Airlines. The airline operated the Singapore-Sydney flight with this aircraft.
Below you can see in the photo Airbus cabin A380-800 economy class

Record holder for flights without refueling

The Boeing 777-300ER, developed in 1990 and made its first test flight in 1994, can fly over distances of over twenty thousand kilometers without refueling. This is the first airliner in the world, during the design of which not a single drawing was drawn on paper. For the first time, a virtual computer assembly was used, which made it possible to avoid typical docking errors at the design stage. With the old technology using drawings, these errors were detected at the stage of pilot production, and full-scale modeling is very expensive for aviation. The program used was CATIA, one of the first 3D modeling programs.

The liner has the most powerful GE90-115B turbofan engines known to date, this model has an increased maximum takeoff weight and there are additional fuel tanks. The introduction of such a modification made it possible to reduce fuel consumption by 1.4%, which was especially important at the height of the fuel crisis.
It also holds the record for the largest twin-engine jet liners for the transport of passengers, which it can accommodate 305-550 people.

The aircraft with the largest wingspan

The aircraft with the largest wingspan - Hughes H-4 was built of wood in 1947 for military purposes. The plane is built entirely from birch plywood. Structural elements were cut out and bent according to templates. The capacity of the aircraft is 750 people, not counting equipment. The wooden giant is now on display at the Oregon Museum, its parameters are:

• Aircraft height - 24 meters;
• The length of the aircraft is over 66 meters;
• Wingspan - 98 meters.

largest cargo plane

The An-225 Mriya has been the largest cargo aircraft in the world for many years. This huge machine was designed in Ukraine back in 1988, and is still used in military transport cargo transportation. The first flight of the Mriya took place on December 21, 1988.

Characteristics this aircraft the following:

• the length of this giant is 73 meters;
• a height of just over 24 meters (the height of an eight-story building);
• weight is 250 thousand kilograms;
• the total load capacity is 600 thousand kg.

The largest cargo plane in the world

The aircraft has six engines. On this moment only one copy of the An-225 has been built in the world; it is at the disposal of Antonov Airlines. It was originally planned that the An-225 would help deliver rocket parts to the cosmodrome, because. At that time, the Buran space program was actively developing. They are building another one right now. aircraft, but its construction has not yet been completed.

On board the An-225 can easily accommodate up to 88 people who accompany the cargo. The cockpit can accommodate 6 people. As they say, what is the largest aircraft in the world in size will not be as cool in terms of performance. In Mriya, absolutely all control systems are repeated (duplicated) four times.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of production of some elements, after 25 years it is impossible to produce another such aircraft. But even one copy allows you to constantly earn money on the transportation of goods that could previously be delivered only by land or by sea. In addition to commercial transportation, the aircraft is used in the delivery of goods for emergency situations, disasters, earthquakes, etc.

The largest mass-produced cargo aircraft

Military transport aircraft C-5 Galaxy

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy - was considered the largest transport and cargo aircraft until 1982. now operated by the US Army, it can accommodate up to 270 soldiers. The aircraft was taken into service in the already distant 1968. Over the years, it has proven its effectiveness and excellent performance properties. A lot of improvements were made in the design, the most important change was the development of a completely new wing, because the old design showed rapid wear.

The aircraft will continue to be produced, a full transition to digital modern technologies control systems and all avionics. An aircraft without refueling can fly over five thousand kilometers, and rise to a height of 10 km, maximum speed developed by the machine - 920 km.

In contact with

This is the longest civilian aircraft (76.3m), but you will not be sold a ticket for it. It has no flight attendants or passenger seats. Its cargo deck can hold 19 million table tennis balls, but it usually carries more serious cargo. The letter "F" in the model index means Freighter, that is, cargo. Passengers (especially with cameras) are not allowed on board, but since you are reading my blog, you again have the opportunity to look behind the prohibition signs).

The 747-8 series aircraft are brand new, commercial exploitation since 2011. There is also a passenger version with the index I (Intercontinental). In Russia, so far only the Volga-Dnepr group of companies (operated under the AirBridge Cargo brand), engaged in cargo transportation around the world, has it, in particular, one of their cargo terminals is located at Domodedovo Airport, where these photos were taken.

01. Very large aircraft: it can carry up to 140 tons of cargo over a distance of up to 14815 km, with cruising speed 908 km/h

02. Loading conveyor.

03. The wingspan of the 747-8 is equal to the length of two 737-700s (68.45m).

04. Loading on the main deck is carried out through a reclining bow. And there is also a lower cargo deck (almost like in a regular passenger plane) and an upper one, where the cockpit and cabin for the crew are located (more on that below).

05. The energy of the onboard generators would be enough for the simultaneous operation of 480,000 flat-screen TVs with a diagonal of 32 inches!

06. “Rails up” is signaled by a board on the cargo deck. I didn’t quite understand what kind of rails were raised there, but the new avatar was a success, I think))!

07. Passenger version This salon can accommodate up to 600 seats! But there are not even portholes here, and there are a lot of all sorts of rollers in the floor, which allow you to move large boxes of cargo during loading and unloading operations.

08. One of the rollers on the floor of the cargo compartment.

09. And now let's go up to the topmost deck. A spartan staircase leads here.

10. There is a small cabin for the crew with seats like in business class.

11. And this is the sleeping compartment: there are two of them, one bed in each.

12. And here's the on-board kitchen.

13. But I know that, would you like to visit the cockpit of this giant? That's what I looked at too.

14. In general, the cabin of any big plane, especially when you find yourself in it for the first time, it makes an indelible impression with the abundance of all sorts of buttons, toggle switches, display meters: how can you keep all this in your head and be able to use it, especially in critical situations? The double airplane from which I was taught to manage is just a bicycle compared to this seven hundred-forty-seven!

15. A lot of all sorts of devices familiar from the game Flight Simulator). And I even know what some of them are for!

16. You have not yet seen the An-124 and Il-76, the other two aircraft of the Volga-Dnepr company, which were shown to us that day. I will write about them separately.

17. User guide. I didn’t find a version from the “for dummies” series)).

18. …

19. Did you know that this plane flies in a second a distance equal to three football fields?

20. And the diameter of its engines is almost equal to the diameter of the B-29 fuselage. There was such an American aircraft during World War II.

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 most large aircraft in the world.

The largest passenger aircraft in the world

The palm among the largest civil aircraft for the transport of passengers holds the Airbus A380. 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 upper deck much shorter than the bottom.

Interesting. In the late 1960s, it was believed that the future passenger aviation belongs to supersonic light aircraft that will replace the clumsy 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 the record holder recent history 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 liner 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. Represents 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 restriction on the duration of the work shift for the crew, so the cabin is allocated special places for sleep and rest of 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.

Aircraft first and last time flew into the air in 1947, he 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 t.

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 specifications. 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 design bureau them. 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

An-22 was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, at the height of 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. He flies from supersonic speed 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 Tu-160 missile carriers are named after prominent figures domestic 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

Completes the collection "Most big planes» American cargo plane Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. 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.

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is the most popular military transport aircraft on the planet. Since 1954, the American company Lockheed Martin has produced and sold about 2,500 Hercules. Today, 951 representatives of this family plow the sky, occupying 22% of the world military transport market.

Turboprop American aircraft Beechcraft King Air general purpose is in the service in the armies of many countries of the world. It is used for training pilots, patrolling maritime territories, reconnaissance, communications and other purposes. Although most of the 295 currently functioning "kings of the air" are involved in business transportation.

The military "transporter" Boeing C-17 Globemaster III made its first flight in 1991. "Heavyweight" is able to transfer to long distance bulky cargo and military units, as well as to land on small, poorly prepared airfields.

Airbus CN-235 is the main European competitor of the American "non-combat" wings. Aircraft giant Airbus refers to its offspring as "the cheapest tactical military transport aircraft." And this fact attracted a clientele from the armies of two dozen countries, including the United States, to the CN-235.

The military transport AN-26 (according to NATO codification - Curl, "Whirlwind"), developed at the Antonov Design Bureau, was discontinued back in 1986. However, more than 200 AN-26s and its AN-24 predecessors are still in service. What puts the "veterans" on a par with the most popular aircraft of this class.

The heavy military transport aircraft IL-76 (NATO codification - Сandid, direct) first took to the air in 1971 and still remains the main "workhorse" of Russia's military transport aviation. True, from the moment of birth, the carrying capacity of the brainchild of the Ilyushin Design Bureau has increased from 30 to 60 tons.

The AN-32 military transport aircraft, created on the basis of the AN-26, is adapted for conditions of elevated temperatures (up to +50 degrees) and take-offs from high-altitude airfields (up to 4500 meters). Now it is successfully operating in the air forces of hot countries - such as India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Mexico, African states.

The light American transport Cessna 208 Caravan was designed as an aircraft for hard-to-reach areas. Its military version of the U-27A guards the peace of Brazil, Colombia, Liberia, Thailand and other countries. In total, 125 "army" Cessnas are in service.

Like the AN-26, the Transall Allianz C-160 medium military transport aircraft has not been produced for 30 years, since the mid-1980s. But the machine, developed by the German-French consortium for the needs of the air forces of their countries, is still in service. 120 winged C-160s are still taking to the skies.

CASA C212 Aviocar -- development Spanish company EADS CASA. This military transport aircraft can take off and land on dirt strips 400 meters long. Various modifications are used for photo reconnaissance, maritime patrols and transportation of military VIPs.

Workhorses remain in the shadow of the "stars" - the military transport aircraft and general purpose aircraft. Perhaps, in showiness, they are inferior to high-speed fighters and stuffed with modern technology. But hard workers are reliable and are in stable demand, and not only among the military. Introducing the ten most popular aircraft designed for the daily needs of the Air Force.