10 biggest planes in the world

“The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors, who, in their grueling off-road journeys in prehistoric times, looked with envy at birds soaring freely in space, at full speed, without any obstacles on the endless road of air,” once Wilbur Wright said.

Could the Wright brothers have imagined back in 1903 what their idea of ​​controlled flight in the air would turn into? Now you will not surprise anyone with supersonic aircraft and winged colossi capable of transporting not only people, but also heavy equipment.

Well, even if we cannot fly like birds, but if we wish, we can fly on one of largest aircraft in the world. Choose which of these giants you like the most.

Role: multipurpose aircraft.

Developer: Design Bureau Tupolev, USSR.

This aircraft, created at the Voronezh Aviation Plant in 1934, became the largest aircraft of its time. Its wing span reached 63 meters, and the maximum takeoff weight was 42,000 kg. The ANT-20 was served by a staff of 5 people, and the aircraft could take 48 passengers on board.

When the "dad" of the Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery arrived in the USSR, he flew the ANT-20. But the life of this model was short-lived. In 1935, during a demonstration flight, the aircraft took off along with the I-5 fighter, which was supposed to demonstrate the difference in size for newsreel. During the performance of aerobatics, the I-5 entered the "Nesterov loop", lost speed and crashed down onto the ANT-20 from above. That, in turn, began to fall apart in the sky and fell on the holiday village of Sokol.

As a result of this accident, 49 people died. A memorial has been preserved at the Novodevichy Cemetery, crowned with a huge granite bas-relief of a crashed plane.

Role: transport aircraft.

Developer: Boeing.

An aircraft unsurpassed in terms of the spaciousness of the fuselage. The volume of its transport compartment is 1840 cubic meters. It is used purely for the transport of parts of the Boeing 787, which are designed by third-party suppliers. A total of 4 Dreamlifters were put into operation.

The Boeing 747 LCF looks unpretentious, for which it has even been compared to the Wienermobile, a bun-shaped car used to promote and advertise Oscar Mayer products in the United States. And the head of Boeing, Scott Carson, jokingly apologized to Joe Sutter, the head of the Boeing 747 development team, for what he did to his plane.

Role: passenger airliner.

Developer: Boeing.

Boeing knows how to develop aircraft that set records. Here 747-8 became the longest passenger aircraft in the world. Its length is 76.4 meters.

The Boeing 747-8 is a new generation of the Boeing 747 series (eighth on our list). It features a lengthened fuselage, improved wing, and greater economic efficiency.

Role: passenger airliner.

Developer: Boeing.

Once upon a time, when asked what was the largest aircraft in the world in terms of passenger capacity, the designers of the double-deck Boeing 747 proudly answered: “Ours”! Depending on the modification, the aircraft can accommodate up to 624 passengers on board. But then the Airbus A380 appeared and pushed the Boeing 747 off the pedestal of the most spacious aircraft.

If you watched "Casino Royale" with Daniel Craig as James Bond, then you may remember the SkyFleet S570 liner, which the terrorists wanted to blow up. The Boeing 747-236B, which was built in 1980 and flew until 2002, acted as this airliner. A worthy end to a career.

And the Boeing 747 is also associated with one of the largest air crashes in the world. It happened in 1977 on the island of Tenerife. In fog, two Boeing 747s collided with each other on the runway, killing 583 people.

Role: transport aircraft.

Developer: OKB im. O.K.Antonova.

This winged machine, named "Antaeus" in honor of the invincible giant from ancient Greek myths, is still the world's largest turboprop aircraft.

Transportation of goods during the war in Afghanistan and during the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, transportation of refugees and military personnel from Eastern Europe and neighboring countries - this is not a complete "track record" of the An-22. And in one of the passenger flights organized during the air bridge between Egypt and the Soviet Union in 1972, Antey set a record by taking almost 700 people on board. This is a real plane-worker, reliable and unpretentious in operation.

Role: transport aircraft.

Developer: OKB im. O.K.Antonova.

The five largest aircraft in the world are opened by the Soviet development, which until the advent of the Airbus A380 (fourth number on the list) was considered the largest of the mass-produced aircraft.

However, no one has yet taken away the title of "largest military aircraft" from the An-124, as well as the title of the world's largest cargo-lifting serial transport aircraft.

And although now the production of Ruslan, as Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov called this aircraft, has been suspended, the existing fleet of aircraft will be modernized. This was announced in July 2018 by Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov.

Role: passenger liner.

Developer: Airbus.

The largest passenger aircraft in the world (from mass-produced) and one of the largest aircraft on Earth. When you watch a video with one of the largest aircraft in the world, it's hard to believe that such a colossus is capable of taking off.

The Airbus A380 is capable of carrying up to 853 passengers in an economy class configuration. By comparison, the A380's main competitor, the Boeing 747 passenger airliner, carries only 624 people in full economy class configuration.

Not only airlines own the luxurious Airbus A380. By order of the Saudi prince Al-Walid ibn Talal, a private jet was built, which cost the owner $488 million.

Role: passenger liner.

Developer: Airbus.

It is the largest member of the Airbus A340 family and the third longest aircraft in the world (75.36 meters). Airbus A340 aircraft were produced until November 2011, but could not compete with the Boeing 777. However, they still carry out passenger transportation in various countries of the world.

It is curious that during the entire period of operation (since 1993) only five A340 aircraft were lost. In this case, not a single passenger or crew member died.

Role: cargo airplane.

Developer: OKB im. O.K.Antonova.

It is the largest transport aircraft ever built. Its maximum takeoff weight is 640 tons, and its payload is 250 tons.

An-225 is capable of transporting vehicles, construction and military equipment and other bulky cargo to different parts of the world on its fuselage. But this giant was intended for a different, much larger purpose. It was created as part of the Buran reusable spacecraft project. It was assumed that the An-225 would transport the components of the Buran and the launch vehicle from the place of creation and assembly to the launch site.

The first flight of the Mriya (dream in Ukrainian) took place in December 1988, carrying a Buran weighing sixty tons. However, after the collapse of the USSR, the "dream" was left without work. They began to operate it again (after appropriate modernization) only in 2000, for commercial transportation.

And most recently, in September 2018, the giant aircraft set a new record by making a thirteen-hour non-stop flight from Ukrainian Gostomel to the American airport of Auckland. He covered a distance of 9800 km.

Role: carrier aircraft.

Developer: Scaled Composites.

This huge aircraft will not carry conventional cargo. Rather, it will serve as another way to deliver objects, namely satellites, into the stratosphere before launching them into space orbit. This mode of transport will be more reliable and less expensive than traditional rockets.

Unlike the largest aircraft in the world, the Ukrainian Mriya, the American Stratolaunch is not yet in flight. Its first demonstration took place in May 2017. In terms of wingspan - 117.3 meters, it far exceeds the An-225 (88.4 meters, respectively). For now Stratolaunch - the world's largest wing span aircraft.

However, the American is inferior to the Ukrainian "colleague" in terms of maximum takeoff weight (589,670 kg and 640,000 kg, respectively) and length (73 meters for the Stratolaunch versus 84 meters for the An-225).

The exact dates for the new Stratolaunch tests are not yet known. Engineers hope that this aircraft will enter service within the next 10 years.