What is the largest plane. The largest passenger planes in the world

An – 225

AN-225 aircraftToday, it is the largest cargo transport aircraft in the world, both in size and in terms of payload capacity.

The history of the creation of the An-225 aircraft

The space program at Baikonur in 1970-1980 required the creation of an air transport vehicle for transporting structures of significant mass and size. Initially, the task of transporting part of the space objects was solved by the VM-T Atlant aircraft, but it could take on board cargo weighing up to 50 tons. Projects for modifications of this aircraft were created, but the maximum payload was 200 tons.
At the end of the 70s, the design bureau named after. Antonov (Ukraine) was tasked with developing a fundamentally new aircraft with the highest possible payload.
The An-124 transport aircraft was taken as the basis. The design bureau managed to create a unique aircraft with a payload capacity of 250 tons.
On December 21, 1988, the AN-225 aircraft made its first flight. It was shown to the world community at the Le Bourget air show in 1989.

In 1980, construction began on the second An-225 aircraft, but was stopped in 1994.
Currently, this is the only vehicle that can carry out transcontinental transportation of large cargo.

Photo of the 2nd unfinished AN-225 aircraft:

According to statements in the press by the head of the Design Bureau named after. Antonov, about $300,000,000 is needed to complete the construction of the second AN-225 aircraft

Purpose of the An-225 aircraft

The main purpose of the aircraft was to deliver space shuttles to altitudes of up to 11,000 meters, thereby replacing the first booster stages. The mass of the shuttle (Buran) was calculated to be up to 60. The shuttle was fixed above the aircraft on the fuselage. It must be said that this is why the plane’s keel is double. For this purpose, the Buran space shuttle and a number of Energia booster components were created. The aircraft is currently used to transport large and bulky cargo by air in various parts of the world.

Aircraft technical characteristics:

Year of manufacture 1988
- load capacity 225 t.
- wingspan 88.4 meters
- aircraft length 84 meters
- height 18.1 meters
- cruising speed 800 km/h
- maximum speed 850 km/h
- flight range 15,400 km.
- flight range with maximum load 4500 km.
- practical ceiling 10,000 m.
- empty weight of the aircraft is 250 tons.
- maximum take-off weight 640 tons.
- fuel tank capacity 300 tons.
- crew 7 people

The cargo compartment has the following dimensions: length 43 meters, width 6.4 meters, height 4.4 meters.
The cargo compartment is sealed.
Above the cargo compartment, there is a passenger cabin that can accommodate 70 people.

In 2000, the An-225 aircraft was modernized and navigation equipment was installed that met international safety standards.

In the old days, a person could only look into the heavenly expanses and dream of rising to them. Nowadays, thanks to modern technologies that have made it possible to invent airplanes, a seemingly impossible dream has become a reality. Since the invention of the first aircraft model, the human mind has been trying to create more advanced and high-tech models, which is why real air giants appear.

The largest aircraft in Russia and the world is the Airbus A380. Its design provides for the presence of two decks, and the dimensions of the liner are as follows:

1. The height reaches 24 m.
2. 80 m – wingspan.
3. 73 m is the length of the air giant.

The aircraft can accommodate 555 people, while the charter model can accommodate up to 853 passengers. Without a forced landing, air transport can cover approximately 15.5 thousand km, while it consumes fuel very economically, 3.5 liters per 100 km. After the creation of the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747 was removed from the podium, which for more than 30 years confidently held its leadership position as the largest type of air transport.

Boeing 747

The largest passenger aircraft in Russia, which has held the championship for more than 30 years, is the Boeing 747, the services of which continue to be used by our compatriots. It is this type of air vehicle was the first to cover a huge distance without a change on the London-Sydney route. The airliner spent 20.5 hours in the sky, during which time it was able to cover a distance of 18.5 thousand km.

An-225 "Mriya"

An-225 or Mriya

The largest Russian aircraft, for transporting large loads, was created in the late 80s of the last century by Ukrainian scientists (as part of the USSR). The design of this giant provides for a turbojet six-engine high-wing aircraft, in a two-keel design. The wings of the air giant resemble the outline of an arrow.

When developing the airliner, a program called “Buran” was involved, according to which the Soviet government needed the strongest air transport capable of transporting the heaviest loads. The main cargo for transporting the new powerful aircraft was launch vehicles. They had to be transported from the Soviet cosmodrome to the places where the rockets were being assembled. To do this, engineers needed to create an aerial giant that could easily transport more than 200 tons of cargo. As a result, the An-225 was created.

Characteristics of the cargo giant:

• 6.6 m – width of air transport;
• 4.6 m – height of the airliner;
• 44 m is the length of the vessel.

For those who accompany cargo on board the An-225 there are 88 seats. The crew cabin is designed for 6 crew members. Each control system is equipped with quadruple redundancy.

The height of the aircraft reaches 18.5 meters, that is, equal to the height of a house of five floors.

The size of air transport is so large that for landing it needs a runway whose length will be at least 2500 meters. The chassis of the famous airliner is the largest in the world, the number of wheels is 32. This number of wheels allows it to easily withstand a significant weight of 650 tons, which is exactly how much a loaded aircraft weighs. To make braking more convenient, pilots can switch the aircraft's engines to reverse thrust.

To facilitate the loading process, it is possible to press the front part of the vessel to the ground using high-power jacks. This process makes it easy to load the heaviest cargo that needs to be transported on board.

Currently, there is only one analogue of such an airliner in the world. According to the engineers' plans, in the near future, the creation of a similar model. According to some reports, the development of the “twin brother” An-25 is progressing successfully, with approximately 75% of the work already completed.

An-124 "Ruslan"

"Ruslan" or An-124

The largest aircraft, Ruslan, was created a little earlier than the An-225. Air transport was created for the purpose of transporting ballistic and intercontinental missiles. But after the transport was created, the result surprised even the creators. The roomy “Ruslan” began to be used for other purposes, for example, for transporting both combat and landing equipment. The cost of one such aircraft is equal to 300 million dollars.

The air giant first saw the sky at the end of 1982, and was put into operation by the end of 1987.

Airliner characteristics:

• 69.5 m – its length;
• 21.5 m – height of the vessel;
• 73.5 m – span of one wing;
• 174 tons – weight of unloaded transport;
• 866 km/h – speed;
• The flight lasts 14,500 km.

The design of the airliner is made as a high-wing aircraft, the wings of the aircraft are swept, with a single-fin tail. The aircraft design has 2 decks. The first has a main and interchangeable cabin for crew members, and a cabin for those accompanying the cargo, designed for 21 people. The cargo is transported on the second deck, the volume of which is 1060 cubic meters. m.

To make the loading or loading process easier and more convenient, the aircraft has a special system that helps tilt the cabin in the desired direction. The presence of 24 wheels allows the air giant to land on a dirt road, if necessary.

On the Ruslan, engineers installed 4 turbojet engines, the thrust of each is equal to 23,450 kg/cm. Such power allows you to lift cargo weighing up to 155 tons into the sky.

The aircraft has:

• automatic EDSU system;
• automated helm control;
• four-channel hydraulic complex;
• a reliable system for life support for crew members and power supply.

To control the air giant, 35 modern computer systems are used. The largest Russian aircraft, the Ruslan, was able to regain the USSR's leading position in the creation of heavy air transport. It set 21 world records in 1985 for transporting heavy loads over long distances.

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Nowadays, there are about a thousand different aircraft models in the world. They differ not only in their optional purpose, but also in size. In addition to light single-engine aircraft that are designed for one pilot, there are also real world record-breaking giants. So check out the list below.

An 225 is the largest cargo aircraft in the world. It is capable of handling such a heavy load that no other aircraft in the world can handle it.

Parameters of the giant aircraft, whose name translates as “dream”:

• length – 84;
• height – 18;
• wingspan - 88.5;
• maximum take-off weight – 640 t;
• flight range with a 200-ton load – 4,000 km;
• cruising speed – 850 km/h;
• empty vehicle weight – 250 tons.

This is a rarity, built by G. Hughes according to the principle “the queen gave birth to either a son or a daughter that night.” This is a large combat boat-plane. And also an airplane museum - today anyone can get acquainted with the aircraft, designed back in the forties.

The 136-ton giant was created to transport more than 700 soldiers - this is a very large military aircraft. The designers limited themselves to just one machine - at that time the production of such a giant was extremely expensive.

Device parameters:

• length – 66.5;
• height – 24;
• wingspan - 97.5;
• wing area – more than 1000 m2.

This is the largest airliner on the planet. It could be put in first place based on a set of characteristics. But, since we took length as a basis, the A380 occupies fourth place.

Aircraft parameters:

• length – 73 m;
• passenger capacity – 853;
• wingspan – 80;
• height – 24.

A characteristic feature of a large, but not very high-speed aircraft is the ability to make a non-stop flight of 15,000 km. The double-deck apparatus is also quite economical. Fuel consumption per hundred kilometers and one passenger is only 1 liter.

The designers spent more than 10 years and $12,000,000,000 developing the model. Before the appearance of the A380, the Boeing 747 was in the lead in terms of overall dimensions. And the French aircraft was developed precisely as an alternative to the leader. Looking ahead, let's say that Boeing is the leader in our rating according to the stated criterion. But it is significantly inferior to the A380 in terms of cost, efficiency and spaciousness. French liners turned out to be almost twice as spacious, 15% cheaper and less voracious.

4. An-124 “Ruslan”

An-124 "Ruslan"
An-124 "Ruslan"

This apparatus became the predecessor of the current leader. Operated mainly in Russia and Ukraine. At one time, the heavy Ruslan was the largest aircraft. The vehicle's primary task was to transport ICBM launchers.

But this is not only almost the largest military aircraft in the world. There are also civilian versions, which are operated mainly by Russian industry. They are designed for transporting large cargo at all latitudes. One Ruslan costs $300,000,000.

An-124 parameters:

• length – 69;
• height – 21;
• wingspan – 73;
• load capacity – 120 t.

The Americans did not develop this machine for military needs yesterday either - the project was launched in 1968. Until 1982, Lockheed was the largest transport flying equipment in the world. In one approach, the aircraft is able to transport 6 Apaches (helicopters), 6 armored personnel carriers, a couple of tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles. Or a whole bunch of trucks.

The once largest transport aircraft has the following parameters:

• length – 75.5;
• height – 20;
• wingspan – 68;
• maximum speed – 920 km/h.

Model from the family of three sevens. The device has been in operation since 1995. It is the largest twin-engine passenger aircraft. It is equipped with the most powerful and largest gas turbine engines from GE.

Boeing parameters:

• length - 74;
• wingspan - 64.8;
• height - 18.7.

Designed for 365 passengers. You can admire these airliners endlessly - photographs and videos demonstrate the impeccability of the lines.

As you can see, the French love big sizes and they know a lot about them. The most large planes in the world - the top 10 - cannot do without the third representative of the family.

Aircraft parameters:

• length – 75;
• height – 17;
• wingspan - 63.5;
• passenger capacity (maximum) – 475;
• maximum speed – 900 km/h.

Before the leader appeared, this device was the longest on the planet. Over the years of production, the company has produced more than 370 cars. The car was discontinued in 2011. During the operational years, 5 aircraft were lost, but not a single person was injured.

This is probably the most famous aircraft. Most of you have seen him in at least a few Hollywood films. Many have flown on this handsome giant. This is the longest passenger aircraft.

Boeing parameters:

• length - 76;
• wingspan - 68.5;
• height – 19;
• passenger capacity – 580;
• top speed – 988 km/h.

Boeing-747-8 is a modification of the 747 model. The dimensions and spaciousness of the cabin have been increased. Here the designers used more advanced technologies. Improved aerodynamics. In addition to the passenger version, there is also a cargo version. He was also included in this rating.

This is a wide-body aircraft developed by one of the largest aircraft manufacturing companies in the world - the French company Airbus. The giant's first flight took place in 1992. The project was developed for 20 years. And it’s not for nothing that it took so long - the car turned out to be successful, from the point of view of the ratio of flight characteristics.

But not everything is so smooth. Getting to the top is good, but the model has rather sad loss statistics. Over the course of a couple of decades, 8 devices crashed. Some of the planes were destroyed by terrorists, which makes the statistics less troubling when viewed from an engineering perspective.

A330 parameters:

• length – 63.7 m;
• passenger capacity – 440;
• wingspan - 60.3.

10.Boeing 777 —200 ER

In all fairness, this aircraft model occupies tenth place in the rating. If we compare it with the base model of the Boeing 777, then in this modification of the design the useful take-off weight was increased.

Boeing 777-200ER parameters:

• Wing span - 60.93 m;
• Aircraft length – 63.73 m;
• Aircraft height - 18.52 m;
• Wing area - 427.80 sq. m;
• Weight of the empty equipped aircraft - 135870 kg;
• Weight, maximum take-off – 262470 kg;
• Maximum speed - 965 km/h Cruising speed - 905 km/h;
• Practical range - 8910 km;
• Engine type - 2 Pratt Whitney PW4073A turbofan engines;
• Thrust - 2 x 33600 kgf.
• Practical ceiling - 13100 m,
• Crew – 2 people,

Payload - 305-328 passengers in a three-class cabin, 375-400 passengers in a two-class cabin or 440 passengers in an economy class.

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.

The An-225 Mriya (translated from Ukrainian as “dream”) is the heaviest cargo-lifting aircraft ever taken into the air. The maximum take-off 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 Soviet reusable project spaceship"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 carrying capacity. On March 22, 1989, the An-225 flew with a load of 156.3 tons, thereby simultaneously beating 110 world aviation records, which is a record in itself.

"Mriya" and small cars.

Dornier Do X is a German passenger flying boat manufactured by Dornier. Intended for operation on long-distance passenger airlines. The first flight took place in 1929. On October 20, the aircraft took off from Lake Constance with 169 passengers on board during a 40-minute demonstration flight. 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 Dornier Do X's cockpit had no engine controls. Instead, as on major sea ​​vessels At that time, the pilot transmitted (by telephone) the command to increase or decrease power to the flight engineer, located in a separate cabin.

The flight engineer controls twelve aircraft engines:

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

It's completely impossible to understand just by looking at photographs. gigantic size R.II 55/17 (For some reason, there are no photographs of people standing near the plane that give a sense of scale.

The R.II could carry a maximum payload of 7000 kg with a total flight weight of 15000 kg... The upper wing span was 42.16 m, the length was 20.32 m. It made its first flight in January 1919.

Soviet propaganda, multi-seat passenger, 8-engine aircraft, the largest aircraft of its time with a land landing gear. Built at the aviation plant in Voronezh. It made its first flight on June 17, 1934. Length - 33 meters.

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

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

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

Weight is 130 tons, and its wingspan still remains a record - 98 meters (Mriya's is 88.4 m). It was designed to transport 750 soldiers when fully equipped.

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

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 air travel market would never pay for an aircraft built only for first class service. Even in “general” class, each Brabazon passenger had 6 cubic meters of internal volume, in first class - 8 cubic meters; the plane literally “carried” these cubic meters of fuselage. In March 1952, the government refused to support the completion of the second, turboprop model, and in 1953 both vehicles were sent for scrap.

The world's first long-range, double-deck, wide-body passenger aircraft. The first flight took place 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), produced in 33 different countries. During Operation Solomon (Israel's military operation to transport 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, a Boeing 747 of El Al airlines transported 1,122 passengers to Israel. Moreover, two babies were born during the flight.

The new Boeing 747-8 is a new generation of the famous Boeing 747 series with a stretched fuselage, redesigned wing and improved economic efficiency. The 747-8 is the largest commercial aircraft built in the United States, as well as 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 the Design Bureau named after. O. K. Antonova. It was created primarily for 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 USSR military transport aviation in January 1987; a total of 56 aircraft were built.

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

Repair and modernization of An-124 Ruslan aircraft is now carried out at the aircraft manufacturing 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 services. Length - 92 m, wingspan - 37.6 m, maximum take-off weight - 544,000 kg.

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

Start of production - 2004. The first aircraft sold was delivered 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 named after. G. M. Berieva. Is the largest aircraft ever conceived. 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 adopted at the end of 2012 state program“Development of the Aviation Industry for 2013-2025” contains no mention of the aircraft.

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 flew at Friedrichafen 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 crash of the Hindenburg was effectively the end commercial use airships for transport purposes.

The history of aviation begins at the end of the eighteenth century - after all, it was at the junction of eras that the English designer developed the design of an aircraft. Modern airliners bear little resemblance to their predecessors. Today, aviation industry leaders compete to produce giants. The largest aircraft in the world, the An-225 Mriya, amazes with its size and carrying capacity. Let's study the rating of the largest airliners in more detail.

Let's start with brief description leader of the list among boards civil aviation, which specialize in passenger flights. Today, the first place in this area is held by the invention of the European company Airbus - the A380 board. The ship was developed over 10 years, and in 2005 this giant successfully completed its first voyage.

With a fuselage length of 72.75 m, a wing spread of 79.75 m and a body height of 24 meters, this aircraft is capable of lifting up to 853 people into the air.

A distinctive characteristic of the model is its economical fuel consumption - the flight range of this airliner is 15,400 kilometers. It is noteworthy that in order to achieve this goal, engineers ordered a batch of machines specially created for the model. After all, a reduction in fuel consumption can only be achieved with an ideally adjusted shape of the wing and fuselage. Actual aviation fuel consumption here is 855 liters per 100 km when fully loaded.

Note that the Airbus A380 800 replaced the thirty-five-year-old leader in this area -. Moreover, the current record holder is capable of transporting 7% more passengers while reducing the cost of producing the aircraft within 15%. However, it took the designers about 2,000,000,000 euros to create the first model.

The aircraft was first put into operation by Singapore Airlines. The vessel successfully completed its first intercontinental voyage from Singapore to Sydney, which had an excellent effect on customers. In addition, such a model transports up to 150 tons of cargo over a distance of up to 10,370 kilometers. Note that the empty aircraft weighs 280 tons, and the maximum take-off weight on board reaches 560 tons.

Leaders in size

The world's longest aircraft for passenger transportation- the predecessor of the aircraft described above, the Boeing 747 aircraft. This is a wide-body, double-deck airliner, whose body length reaches 76.3 meters with a side height of 19.4 m and a wingspan of 68 and a half meters.

Such a successful project was launched in the early seventies of the last century by an American company. And until the Airbus A380, the aircraft remained the largest passenger airliner in the world.

At the time the model appeared, the project to create this aircraft had become so expensive that the company had to take out loans. However, all the costs were fully paid off - and today these ships are in demand and popular. The calling card was the “hump” in the front part of the hull - this is where the designers placed the upper side deck. The aircraft also remains the leader in speed characteristics in its class among subsonic passenger airliners. The speed of this board reaches 910–950 km/h.

Heavyweights in the world of aviation

Now let's determine the largest cargo aircraft in the world - the photos presented in the article will help readers see the true scale of this equipment. Let us describe the characteristics of global leaders in more detail.

Record holder for cargo transportation

The most load-lifting aircraft in the world - developed by the Antonov Design Bureau, model An-225 Mriya. The airliner successfully passed flight tests back in 1988, and from 1989 to the present time it has been operated in the field of cargo transportation. The hull length of this vessel reaches 84 meters, and the wing spread is 88.4 m. According to these parameters, the modification is second only to the Hughes H-4, which was designed back in 1947.

The empty weight of the An-225 aircraft is 250 tons, and the take-off weight of the airliner reaches 640 tons.

In 2004, the modification was included in the Guinness Book of Records, as it leads in 240 parameters at once. It is noteworthy that the aircraft was designed on the basis of a project by another giant, which was the world's largest cargo aircraft, the An-124 Ruslan. Moreover, to this day only a single copy of the heavyweight “Mriya” has been constructed. True, even one airliner is actively used for commercial purposes and rescue operations.

Although at the end of 2016, an agreement between Ukraine and China was signed on the joint release of the second updated experimental model and further cooperation in this industry.

The An-255 is designed to carry up to 88 passengers who accompany the cargo and six crew members. Initially, the aircraft was planned to be used for the space industry, so the Mriya project is a universal technology. It is a record holder for weight and carrying capacity, a leader in the transportation of mono cargo and large equipment.

Largest serial heavyweight

The largest cargo aircraft in Russia, which was mass-produced and in use today, is the . It is on the basis of the design of this airliner from the OKB im. Antonov and developed "Mriya". Concerning "Ruslana", the first such board appeared in 1982. Initially, the function of the equipment was to transport intercontinental and ballistic missiles, but today the ship is used as a military transport aircraft.

An-124 "Ruslan" is slightly inferior to "Mriya" in size and payload capacity

Since 1987, the modification has been actively used by the Russian Air Force and the Ukrainian Antonov Airlines. Throughout the history of the production of such airliners, the world has seen 55 Ruslan models. The vessel has a length of 69.1 meters. Moreover, its height is 24.5 m, and its wingspan is 73.3 m. The efficiency of the airliner allows it to fly 4,800 km when fully loaded, and the maximum flight range here is 11,600 meters.

The vessel's cruising speed is 800–850 km/h with a maximum permissible acceleration of 865 km/h. The empty weight of the airliner is 178.4 tons, and the maximum take-off weight of this modification is 392,000 kilograms.

The design features of the vessel allow loading through the bow compartment

There are two decks on board the equipment. The upper tier of the liner is designed to carry 21 passengers accompanying the cargo, stationary and interchangeable cabins for the crew. The lower deck of the vessel is a sealed cargo compartment with a capacity of 1,060 m³. If we talk about the records of this model, in 1985 the aircraft became a leader in 21 positions for transporting cargo over long distances. Over the entire period of operation, 4 such aircraft were lost.

Western analogue of An-124

If we consider popular Western projects that compete with Ruslan, here aviators call the airliner Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. This modification occupied a leading position in the world until the appearance of the An-124 project in 1982. However, similar airliners are still successfully used by the US Air Force today. Moreover, the manufacturing company produced 131 units of such equipment.

The third largest heavyweight in the world is the American model Lockheed C-5 Galaxy

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a military transport aircraft that has increased payload capabilities and ranks third in the world ranking of aviation heavyweights. After all, an empty airliner that weighs 169.643 tons has a maximum take-off weight of 379,657 kilograms. At the same time, the dimensions of the aircraft are very impressive. The height of the hull here is 19.85 m, the length is 75.54 m, and the wingspan is 67.88 m.

The transport is capable of transporting 270 soldiers and 118,387 kg of cargo simultaneously over a distance of 5,526 km. Moreover, the maximum practical flight range of this model is 10,895 m.

This modification of the double-deck side, power point which is provided with four engines. The cruising speed that the ship is capable of reaching reaches 888 km/h. Here, on the upper tier of the aircraft, there is a crew cabin for 5 people and seats for passengers. The lower sector of the airliner is designed for transporting cargo. The length of this deck is 36.91 m and the width is 5.79 meters.

Leader in wing length

Since the current record holder "Mriya" was unable to break the world aviation record for wingspan, we will describe the characteristics of the aircraft that holds this position. Model Hughes H-4 is a wooden structure developed for the American military in 1947. The only copy of this modification can be seen in the Oregon State Museum. Moreover, since its inception, aircraft have been used only once in history, conducting an experimental flight.

Today, the only example of the Hughes H-4 airboat is in the Oregon State Museum.

The dimensions of the airliner are impressive - the body length is 66.45 m and the height is 24.08 meters. Moreover, the record wingspan here is 97.54 m. The ship was intended to transport military personnel and is designed to transport 750 soldiers in full gear and three pilots. The maximum take-off weight of the giant is limited to 180 tons, and useful weight, which the board is capable of lifting - 59,000 kg.

The design of this airboat appeared at the beginning of the Second World War, but the designer never managed to bring the equipment to readiness by the deadline. It took $13,000,000 to develop and manufacture the aircraft, and storing the aircraft cost the designer $1,000,000 annually.

As you can see, aviators are constantly competing to produce the best aircraft that can perform universal missions. In the near future, the release of the modernized giant “Mriya” is expected. Perhaps this modification will break a personal record and become the largest airliner in the history of aviation. Details about the classification of flight equipment are available here.

Airbus A380 - the largest passenger aircraft in the world
The cabin of this giant can accommodate up to 853 passengers.
Among aircraft for passenger transportation, the most long liner Boeing 747 remains
AN-225 "Mriya" - world record holder for dimensions
With a maximum take-off weight of 640 tons, Mriya becomes the world's highest-lifting airliner