I’ve flown some big aircraft in my time. After my first flight in the B-52 I remember standing on the tarmac, staring at it and thinking “I landed that?”
There’s big, and then there’s freakin’ huge. Today we’re going to talk about some seriously big stuff.
Airbus A380-800
The largest passenger aircraft, the A380 has roughly 40% more passenger space than the 747-8. If you set it up in an all-coach (cattle car) configuration you could cram 853 unlucky souls into one.
This aircraft required the creation of a new size class above “Heavy”. When an A380 is called out as traffic it is referred to as a “Super”.
I deadheaded from Paris to New York on one of these and it was a nice ride. Felt more like being on a ship than an airplane. I had more room in business class than I knew what to do with.
I think Airbus will likely lose money on this thing. While it’s a fine aircraft, they’ve only managed to sell a little over 200 units. That’s usually a money-loser in the airliner business. Some initial customers, Singapore Airlines for example, are already having second thoughts about the A380. There just may not be enough demand for a plane with this much capacity.
Hughes H-4 Hercules
In 1942 German U-boats were sinking allied shipping across the Atlantic at an alarming rate. The War Department asked for an aircraft that could act as a “flying cargo ship” to carry troops and material across the Atlantic.
Shipbuilder Henry Kaiser and aircraft designer Howard Hughes designed the H-4 “Hercules” to carry 150,000 pounds or 750 troops. Since the requirement specified the plane could not use strategic materials (aluminum) it was made mostly of birch wood. Hughes by the way hated the name “Spruce Goose”.
I could write a whole diary about this plane. It was well ahead of its time, including one of the first uses of powered flight controls.
By the time of its first and only flight in 1947 the plane was no longer needed. Today it remains the largest aircraft (by wingspan) ever flown.
Antonov An-124 Ruslan
The world’s largest military airlifter, the An-124 beats out its American counterpart, the C-5 Galaxy, by 50,000 pounds and 18 feet of wingspan. I occasionally see the civilian version of this thing on my travels. It’s big.
I had to dig a bit to find out what “Ruslan” means. From Wiki:
“It is a Slavic variation of Turkic or Persian name Arlsan/Aslan, which is translated as lion”.
The easiest way to tell an Antonov from a C-5 is the C-5 has a T-tail while Antonov has a conventional tail. You can also tell a C-5 by the fact that it’s usually sitting on the ramp with a bunch of maintenance people working on it. If you see four C-5’s and three are up on jacks, it means they ran out of jacks.
You don’t see many of these and there’s a reason. Military airlifters are not very efficient aircraft. They’re designed with certain abilities that are wasted in the civilian world. The ability to operate from dirt strips, for example, means you’re dragging around a lot of extra weight. It’s like driving a 4x4 truck and never taking it off road.
Where you see them is when someone needs to ship oversize cargo that won’t fit on a more conventional freighter.
Airbus A300-600ST Beluga
Beluga! Beluga! Beluga! I just like saying Beluga.
The A300-600ST (Super Transporter) isn’t nearly as large as the other giants here but it has more cargo space than the An-124 or C-5 Galaxy. Pretty impressive for something based on an A300, which is roughly equal to a 767 in size and capability.
Airbus primarily uses these to carry aircraft sections to their final assembly point.
These specialize in carrying very bulky items, as long as it doesn’t weigh more than 94,000 pounds.
Airbus is currently working on a Beluga XL, which will be based on the A330 and will have 30% more cargo space. Now with 30% more Beluga!
Boeing 747 Dreamlifter
Looking like a 747 that’s been spending too much time at the all-u-can-eat buffet, the Dreamlifter boasts the largest cargo compartment of any aircraft. A massive 65,000 cubic feet of cargo space.
These are mostly used to carry sections of the 787 from various places for final assembly. They spend a lot of time shuttling between Charleston SC and Seattle. I usually see at least one any time I go through Charleston.
Antonov An-225 Mriya
Big brother to the An-124, the Mriya (Dream) is the heaviest aircraft ever built and has the largest wingspan of anything currently flying.
Originally built to carry the Soviet version of the Space Shuttle, the An-225 specializes in hauling very heavy loads — like the Chrysler Building.
With a max takeoff weight of 1.4 million pounds this thing is a monster. It can be distinguished by its six engines and distinctive twin tails. Not that you need to distinguish it from anything smaller than the Death Star. Trust me, if you see it, you’ll know it!
Scaled Composites Stratolaunch
I didn’t even know this thing existed until about a week ago, prompting me to write this diary.
The Stratolaunch is the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Hopefully it works better than Windows Vista. I knew from the moment I saw it that Burt Rutan had his hands on the design, and sure enough, he’s listed as the designer.
They cannibalized two 747s to provide the engines, landing gear and flight deck for this thing. With a wingspan of 385 feet, it will be the largest (but not heaviest) aircraft ever flown. Payload will be a massive 500,000 pounds. A max takeoff weight of 1,300,000 pounds will put it right behind the An-225 in weight class.
The idea is for it to carry a rocket between the two fuselages, and then launch it into low earth orbit from around 35,000 feet.
I’m no rocket scientist, but as I understand it, much of the cost of launching a payload to orbit is getting it through the thick air of the lower atmosphere. By starting out at 35,000 feet, the Stratolaunch should theoretically lower the cost to orbit. Elon Musk (Space X) doesn’t think it’s worth it, so I’ll let you space geeks fight it out with each other.
Note that only the right fuselage will be crewed. The other one will not be pressurized.
Size Comparison Chart
Aircraft |
# built |
engines |
wingspan (ft) |
Takeoff weight (lbs) |
size class |
A380-800 |
213 |
4 |
261 |
1,268,000 |
“Super Size Me” |
Hughes H-4 |
1 |
8 |
320 |
400,000 |
“Flying lumberyard” |
An-124 |
55 |
4 |
240 |
893,000 |
Trump’s Ego |
Beluga |
5 |
2 |
147 |
341,700 |
“Big Boned” |
Dreamlifter |
4 |
4 |
211 |
803,000 |
Humongous |
An-225 |
1 |
6 |
290 |
1,420,000 |
Ginormous |
Stratolaunch |
1 |
6 |
385 |
1,300,000 |
You gotta be joking |