List of large aircraft

List of large aircraft
This is a list of large aircraft, including three types: fixed wing, rotary wing, and airships.
The US Federal Aviation Administration defines a large aircraft as any aircraft with a certificated maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of more than
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) defines a large aircraft as either "an aeroplane with a maximum take-off mass of more than or a multi-engined helicopter."
Fixed-wing
|-
! Type !! First flight
! Role !! Built !! Length !! Span !! MTOW !! Capacity
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| Ilya Muromets || 1913
| airliner/bomber || 85+ || 17.5 m || 29.8 m || 4.6 t || Pax: 16
| First multi-engine aircraft in serial production, Russky Vityaz development
|-
| Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI || 1916
| Bomber || 56 || 22.1 m || 42.2 m || 11.8 t ||
| Largest WWI aircraft in regular service
|- style="font-style: italic; background-color: lightgrey"
| Tarrant Tabor || 1919
| Bomber || 1 || 22.3 m || 40 m || 20.3 t ||
| Crashed on first flight
|-
| Dornier Do X ||
| Flying boat || 3 || 40 m || 47.8 m || 52 t || Pax: 100
| Then longest, widest and heaviest
|- style="font-style: italic; background-color: lightgrey"
| Kalinin K-7 ||
| Transport || 1 || 28 m || 53 m || 46.5 t || Pax: 120
| Widest aircraft until the Tupolev ANT-20
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Tupolev ANT-20 ||
| Transport || 2 || 32.9 m || 63 m || 53 t || Pax: 72
| Widest and heaviest until the Douglas XB-19
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Douglas XB-19 ||
| Bomber || 1 || 40.3 m || 64.6 m || 73.5 t ||
| Longest until the Laté. 631, widest until the B-36, heaviest until the Martin Mars
|-
| Messerschmitt Me 323 ||
| Transport || 198 || 28.2 m || 55.2 m || 43 t || 12 t
| Highest cargo capacity land-based World War II transport
|-
| Martin JRM Mars ||
| Flying boat || 7 || 35.7 m || 61 m || 74.8 t || 15 t
| Heaviest until the Junkers 390, Largest serial production flying boat
|-
| Latécoère 631 ||
| Flying boat || 11 || 43.5 m || 57.4 m || 71.4 t || Pax: 46
| Longest until the Convair B-36
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Junkers Ju 390 ||
| Bomber || 2 || 34.2 m || 50.3 m || 75.5 t || 10 t
| Heaviest until the BV 238, Junkers entry for the Amerika Bomber project
|- style="font-style: italic; background-color: lightgrey"
| Blohm & Voss BV 238 ||
| Flying boat || 1 || 43.3 m || 60.2 m || 100 t ||
| Heaviest built during WWII, destroyed in 1945
|-
| Convair B-36||
| Bomber || 384 || 49.4 m || 70.1 m || 186 t ||
| Heaviest until the B-52, longest and widest until the Hughes H-4
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Hughes H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose) ||
| Flying boat || 1 || 66.7 m || 97.8 m || 180 t ||
| Longest until the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and widest until the Stratolaunch
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Convair XC-99 ||
| Transport || 1 || 55.6 m || 70.1 m || 145 t || 45 t
| B-36 development, most capable transport aircraft until the An-22
|-
| Boeing B-52||
| Bomber || 744 || 48.5 m || 56.4 m || 220 t ||
| Heaviest until the XB-70, still in service
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| XB-70||
| Bomber || 2 || 56.4 m || 32.0 m || 246 t ||
| Heaviest until the An-22, Mach 3 prototype bomber
|-
| Antonov An-22 ||
| Transport || 68 || 57.9 m || 64.4 m || 250 t || 80 t
| Heaviest until the C-5, Heaviest turboprop aircraft
|- style="font-style: italic; background-color: lightgrey"
| Caspian Sea Monster ||
| Ekranoplan || 1 || 92 m || 37.6 m || 544 t||
| Heaviest and longest flying vehicle until the An-225, 1980 crash
|-
| Lockheed C-5 Galaxy ||
| Transport || 131 || 75.3 m || 67.9 m || 417 t || 127.5 t
| Largest payload capacity until the An-124
|-
| Boeing 747 ||
| Airliner || 1557 || 70.7 m || 59.6 m || 378 t || Pax: 550/660
| Highest passenger capacity airliner until the Airbus A380
|-
| Antonov An-124 ||
| Transport || 55 || 69.1 m || 73.3 m || 402 t || 150 t
| Most capable transport until the An-225
|- style="font-style: italic; background-color: lightgrey"
| Antonov An-225 Mriya ||
| Transport || 1 || 84 m || 88.4 m || 640 t || 250 t
| Heaviest aircraft and most capable transport, destroyed in 2022
|-
| Airbus Beluga ||
| Outsize cargo || 5 || 56.2 m || 44.8 m || 155 t || 1,500 m³
| Airbus A300 derivative, largest volume until the Dreamlifter
|-
| Airbus A380||
| Airliner || 242 || 72.7 m || 79.8 m || 575 t || Pax: 850
| Highest passenger capacity airliner
|-
| Boeing Dreamlifter ||
| Outsize cargo || 4 || 71.7 m || 64.4 m || 364 t || 1,840 m³
| Boeing 747-400 derivative, largest volume until the BelugaXL
|-
| Airbus BelugaXL||
| Outsize cargo || 5 || 63.1 m || 60.3 m || 227 t || 2,209 m³
| Airbus A330 derivative, largest volume
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Stratolaunch ||
| Air launch || 1 || 73 m || 117 m || 590 t || 250 t
| Current heaviest and widest, prototype air-launch-to-orbit carrier
|}
Projects
|-
! Type
! Proposed
! data-sort-type=number | MTOW
! class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
| Poll Triplane
| 1917 (circa) ||
| 50 m wingspan
|-
| Victory Bomber
| 1940/1941 || 47.2 t
| 52 m wingspan, to carry a ten-ton earthquake bomb, rejected by the RAF
|-
| Boeing 2707
| 1960s || 306 t
| A 93 m long Concorde answer, canceled in 1971
|-
| Lockheed CL-1201
| 1960s || 6,420 t
| Nuclear-powered, 1,120 feet (340 m) wing span, airborne aircraft carrier
|-
| Boeing RC-1
| 1970s || 1,610 t
| "flying pipeline", proposed before the 1973 oil crisis
|-
| Conroy Virtus
| 1974 || 386 t
| 140 m wingspan, to carry Space Shuttle parts
|-
| Beriev Be-2500
| 1980s || 2,500 t
| Super heavy amphibious transport aircraft
|-
| Beriev Be-5000
| 1980s || 5,000 t
| Twin fuselage Be-2500
|-
| McDonnell Douglas MD-12
| 1990 || 430 t
| Proposed double deck airliner, canceled in mid-1990s
|-
| Boeing New Large Airplane
| 1990s || 532 t
| 747 replacement powered by 777 engines, canceled in the 1990s
|-
| Aerocon Dash 1.6 wingship
| 1990s || 5,000 t
| US ground effect aircraft, developed with Russian consultation
|-
| Tupolev Tu-404
| 1990s || 605 t
| Blended wing body airliner for 1,214 passenger, 110 m wingspan
|-
| Sukhoi KR-860
| 1990s || 650 t
| Transport for 300 t payload or 860-1,000 passengers Double deck airliner
|-
| Boeing 747X
| 1996 || 473 t
| 747-400 stretch, Airbus A3XX competitor
|-
| Boeing Pelican
| 2002 || 2,700 t
| Ground effect and medium altitude transport
|-
| Airbus A380-900
| 2006 || 590 t
| Airbus A380-800 stretch, postponed in May 2010
|-
| TsAGI HCA-LB
| 2010s || 1,000 t
| Ground effect aircraft powered by LNG
|-
| Skylon
| current || 345 t
| Reusable spaceplane
|}
Rotary-wing
|-
! Type
! First flight
! MTOW
!Number built
!class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
| Cierva W.11 Air Horse
|
| 8 t
| 1
| three rotor helicopter
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Hughes XH-17
|
| 23 t
| 1
| Prototype heavy-lift helicopter, largest rotor at 39.6 m
|-
| Mil Mi-6
|
| 44 t
| 926
| Heavy transport helicopter, 35 m rotor
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Mil V-12 or Mi-12
|
| 105 t
| 2
| Largest prototype helicopter, 2 × 35 m rotors
|-
| Mil Mi-26
|
| 56 t
| 316
| Heaviest serial production helicopter
|- style="background-color: lightgrey"
| Fairey Rotodyne
|
| 15 t
| 1
| Largest gyrodyne. Prototype for 40 passengers
|-
|Kamov Ka-22
|
|42.5 t
|4
|composite rotorcraft
|-
| Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey
|
| 21.5 t
| 400
| First operational VTOL tiltrotor
|}
Proposals
Yakovlev Yak-60 - Mil V-12 size helicopter design
Yakovlev VVP-6 - Mil V-12 size helicopter design
Lighter than air
|+ Large balloons
! Type !! Date !! Volume !! Description
|-
| Preusen ("Prussia")
| 1901
| 8,400 m3
| German experimental prototype
|-
| CL75 AirCrane
| 2001
| 110,000 m3
| CargoLifter experimental prototype, approximately 120.6 tonnes with helium fill
|}
|+ Large airships
! Type
! First flight
! Volume
! Length
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| Zeppelin LZ 1
| 1900
| 11,300 m3
| 128 m
| German experimental prototype
|-
| R38 (US: ZR-2)
| 1921
|
| 212 m
| UK military, built for US Navy
|-
| R100
| 1929
| 193,970 m3
| 216 m
| UK experimental passenger transport
|-
| HM Airship R101
|
| 156,000 m3
| 236 m
| Followed by the smaller 146,000 m3 R100 (220 m) on 16 Dec 1929
|-
| US Navy USS Akron
|
| 180,000 m3
| 239 m
| Largest helium-filled airship along its USS Macon sister ship
|-
| LZ 129 Hindenburg
|
| 200,000 m3
| 245 m
| Largest volume along with its LZ130 Graf Zeppelin II sister ship, approximately 237.2 tonnes with hydrogen fill
|}
Proposals
Hydrogen carrier airship (2.45 km long) and balloon (727 m wide), 28000 tonne MTOW both.
See also
List of largest machines
List of largest passenger vehicles
Wide-body aircraft
References
Further reading
External links
Top 50 Largest Aircraft at Global Aircraft
Largest Plane in the World at Aerospaceweb
Large