Giant airplanes are constructed taking a variety of factors into consideration. Monsters like the whale-ish Airbus Beluga were devised with transporting parts of the Airbus in mind. There are aircraft like the Caspian Sea Monster, which are frightening pieces of engineering built with combat at the helms. Some of the biggest passenger aircraft in the world were made to make way for more efficient travel. But “the biggest aircraft ever made” is a distinction that can be measured by the weight of the aircraft, its payload, the number of people that can be fitted inside it, etc.

In this article, we will dive into the five biggest aircraft ever made in terms of the wingspan. We’ll also take a look into some of the reasons behind their development, and the impact they have had on aviation as a whole.

5. Antonov An-124 (Wingspan: 73.3 meters)

After the Antonov An-225 was destroyed during the Russia-Ukraine War, the Antonov An-124 became the largest cargo plane in operation and the largest military transport in service. It is also the fifth biggest aircraft made. The aircraft first took to the skies on Christmas Eve of 1982. The Paris Air Show of 1985 was when the West had a glimpse of this aircraft that would later become the largest-ever mass-produced aircraft.  

Seize of an Antonov An-124 after the Russia-Ukraine War

A 27.4-year-old Russian-registered Antonov An-124 aircraft belonging to a subsidiary of Volga-Dnepr Airlines LLC and Volga-Dnepr Group was seized after it was deemed that the company was complicit with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. The aircraft arrived at Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Toronto, two hours prior to Canada closing its airspace for Russian aircraft. Following the seizure, Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, commented:

“Today, Canada is sending a clear message to the Russian regime that there will be nowhere left to hide for those who support and profit from the Kremlin’s war of aggression. Canada has been there to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom since day one, and we will continue to be there through their victory to aid in their reconstruction efforts.”

It was widely reported by media outlets that Canada would donate the seized An-124 to Ukraine. 

Capacity and Features of the An-124

In a standard military configuration, the An-124 is capable of transporting 150 tons of cargo over a distance of 3400 kilometers. An-124 can travel 8400 miles with 80 tons of cargo onboard. 

Ita variant An-124-100 is used for commercial purposes, while the An-124-100M-150 variant is equipped with upgraded engines and a higher payload.

 

Maximum Takeoff weight	402,000 kg/ 886,258 lb
Service Ceiling	12,000 m/ 39,000 ft
Maximum speed	467 knots / 865 km/h
Normal Cruise speed	430–460 knots / 800–850 km/h at 9,997–12,009 m) at regional pressure setting)
Engines Power	4;  229 kN (51,000 lb) thrust each
Engine model	Progress D-18T high-bypass turbofan engines,

Notable Accident involving Antonov An-124

• The most glaring crash involving the An-124 took place in Russia in December 1997. The aircraft, carrying Sukhoi Su-27UBK fighters for delivery to Vietnamese forces, had taken off from Irkutsk Northwest Airport and was scheduled to stop at Vladivostok. Shortly after take-off, the aircraft crashed, killing 23 people on board and 49 people on the ground, leaving 70 families homeless. Although the cockpit voice recorder had been too heavily damaged to aid in the investigation, the possibility of mixing regular jet fuel with cold weather fuel might have been a cause. Itkursh was -20 degrees cold when the aircraft took off. The possibility of such fuel freeze is why helicopters don’t fly atop mountains such as Everest.  

A successor of the An-124 is on the cards

The proposed successor can carry as much as 30 tonnes more cargo than the An-124. Windtunnel tests are reported to be underway at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. The successor to the An-124 is dubbed “slon,” which means “elephant.” The elephant’s fuselage will be extended to fit more cargo and a researcher at the institute said that the aircraft would be optimized for civil aviation. 

Researchers were quoted to have said:

“The project is dedicated to the research of technologies to develop a promising transport aircraft in order to replace the An-124 Ruslan heavy long-range transport aircraft. This aircraft will be designed to transport heavy and bulky cargo over a distance of about 7,000 kilometers [4,349 miles] at a speed of 850 kph [528.13 mph]”.

4. Airbus A380 (Wingspan: 79.75 meters)

Airbus A380 is one of those gigantic aircraft like the Antonov An-225 Mriya that leaves people wondering if it can ever take off. The program, which cost €9.5 billion, was launched during the turn of the millennium, though it was in the 90s that Boeing envisaged a program of launching the world’s biggest passenger aircraft by passenger capacity. 

Variants of the A380 include the A380-800, and the A380F- the latter of which is a freighter with a capacity of carrying 150 tons of cargo over 10,400 km. It was proposed that the A380 would even have a stretched version called the A380-900 that could carry 960 passengers in a single-class layout but this never came into fruition. 

Despite having a wingspan that stretched almost the length of a football pitch, having the distinction of being the only full-length double-deck airliner in the world, clocking more than 800,000 flights, having no fatal accidents, and carrying more than 300 million passengers, the A380-800 was never popular amongst airlines and its production has completely stopped. It might also come as a surprise that the aircraft was never sold to a United States airline. 

Capacity and features: 

This spacious aircraft can accommodate 853 passengers. It is equipped with advanced avionics and state-of-the-art noise reduction technology, making it one of the quietest large flying planes. A few of the features of the A380-800 include a fly-by-wire flight control system and a range of 8000 nautical miles. The fuel capacity of the A380-800 is equal to that of 210 family fuel cars. 

There are 22 wheels on the landing gear of the A380-800- a record on its own (for a passenger aircraft). The impressive features of this aircraft come with its downsides, though- it necessitates specific airport facilities, such as wider taxiways, longer runways, and more spacious parking areas. The cockpit of the A380 comes with a camera system that allows pilots to have a 360-degree view of the plane. 

Just like its greatest competitor, the Boeing 747-800, ICAO classifies the A380 as a type F aircraft, i.e., one having a wingspan of greater than 65 meters but less than 80  meters. Thus an airport that can accommodate a type E aircraft on’t be able to land the A380, though there have been a few exceptions. 

Maximum Takeoff weight	560,000 kg/ 1,234,588 lb
Maximum landing weight	394,171 kg/ 869,000 lb
Service Ceiling	13,137 m / 43100 ft
Maximum speed	510 knots/ 944 km/hr
Normal Cruise speed	500 knots/ 900 km/he
Engines; Power	4; 332.44–356.81 kN (74,740–80,210 lbf)
Engine model	RR Trent 900 and GP 7200

 

Why was this biggest commercial aircraft and fifth biggest aircraft not popular? 

Thomas Enders,  the CEO of Airbus, was quoted in the APF, to have said:

“If you have a product that nobody wants anymore, or you can sell only below production cost, you have to stop it.”

marking the end of the production of the A380. Only approximately 250 of these were ever made. The aircraft didn’t regain the estimated $25 billion for its production. There are a few reasons behind it:

The operations only work in concentrated hubs

The expenses of running the aircraft were so heavy that operating a large fleet was the only viable way of making a profit, as was the case with Emirates, which ordered 123 of the A380.

The other way an A380 works better is if there are high concentrations of passengers in one or two major hubs. This is why the aircraft is popular with British Airlines, whose operations center on Heathrow Airport. 

Falling behind the Boeing 747

Around the time Airbus was conceptualizing a large jumbo jet, Boeing had already delivered 825 747s. When the A380 was launched, 1,475 orders for Boeing 747s had already been placed, posing stiff competition for Airbus’ answer to the 747. 

This problem was compounded by the fact that in the year that the A380 was launched, jet fuel was priced at $4/gallon, and airlines didn’t want aircraft that guzzled fuel. There was also a shift in airlines’ operational model, as carriers believed in providing flexibility in short flights for passengers. So, high-fuel guzzlers optimized for long-haul flights, such as the A380s, were not what airlines were looking for. 

Antonov-An-225 Mriya: Wingspan- 88.4 meters

The ship of dreams (Mriya translates as ‘dream’ in Ukranian), the Antonov An-225, was a magnificent giant airlifter, larger than Airbus A380. It was designed by Antonov(USSR) and had six engines, 32 wheels and a maximum speed of 850 km/hr. Anyone who wanted to charter An-225 had to pay $30,000 per hour.

The major task of one and only An-225 born in the cold war era was to transport various parts of the Energiya carrier rocket and Buran spaceship. It had its first flight on 21 December 1988. It was named in honor of airplane designer Oleg Antonov who died in 1984 at age 78. Having type code ‘A225’, this pride of Ukraine had set hundreds of world records . 

When we watch the landing videos of Mriya on YouTube, it’s hard to imagine how this giant, having such beauty and elegance could fly in the air just like an alien monster bird.

Capacity and features:

The main designer of the An-225 was Viktor Tolmachev. Its maximum takeoff weight was 640 tonnes(1.4 million pounds). Its length was 82m(275 ft 7in), and its volume was 1,200 cubic meters. The compartment had a length of 43.35m, width of 6.4m, and height of 4.4m. The floor area was 280 square meters. It had a wingspan of 88.4m.

The compartment could carry 250t of cargo internally or 200t up to a height of 70m on the upper fuselage. It had a fuel capacity of more than 300,000 kilograms (660,000 lb). Being a twin-finned derivative of the An-124, it had a longer fuselage and cargo deck due to the addition of fuselage barrel extensions. It used the same nose gear that the AN-124 did, which allowed the aircraft to ‘kneel’ for easier loading and unloading. It had a twin tail arrangement to carry its heavy external loads.

Maximum Takeoff weight	640,000kg (1,410,958 lb)
Service Ceiling	11,000m (36,000ft)
Maximum speed	850 km/hr
Normal Cruise speed	800 km/hr
Engines Power	Each produces max. Thrust of 229.5 kN
Engine model	Ukrainian Ivchenko-Progress D-18T, Lotarev D-18 turbofan engines.

 

Interesting facts about the 240 records setting An-225

• There was only one operational An-225 on Earth.
• The AN-225 has set 214 national and 124 world records, including the transportation of the heaviest payload ever airlifted, at 253,820 kg.
• In November 2004, FAI placed the An-225 in the Guinness Book of Records for its 240 records.
• It had only completed 113 test flights, 253 flying hours, and just 14 flights with the Buran on board.
• It had held the title of the biggest commercially used freighter in the world for over 25 years.
• “In 2012 the AN-225 broke another Guinness World Record for the highest altitude art exhibition, at 10,150 m above sea level. The airborne exhibition included 500 works of art created by 120 artists.”
• It was powered by six Ivchenko Progress Lotarev D-18T, 3 Shaft turbofan engines, each producing thrust of 229.5 kN.
• It was able to carry upto 250 tons of cargo which is  average weight of 52 elephants.
• Alexander Galunenko was the first person to fly the outsized An-225. 
• Developer of the AK-47 assault rifle, Kalashnikov said, “The Chinese want to buy this plane from us and there’s no harm in it, but of course no one wants to sell the aircraft. The Mriya is not separable from Ukraine, it’s like our child, and it’s something our children, and our grandchildren can always be proud of.”
• In September 2001, carrying a record load of 253.82 tonnes of cargo, it flew at an altitude of two kilometers over a closed circuit of 1000 km at a speed of 763.2 km/h.
• It had a wingspan of 88.4m, which is almost the length of a football field
• It was used in the Covid-19 relief effort to transport 100 tons of protective equipment, medicines and tests from Tianjin(China) to Warsaw(Poland) in April 2020.
• It was able to accommodate up to 950 cubic meters of cargo, compared to 750 for the AN-124 and 650 for a Boeing 747. 
• It had transported construction vehicles, maglev trains, light aircraft, nuclear fuel, water turbines, and other electric generators as cargo.

Why did they build An-225 Mriya?

• It was built to transport a space-bound rocket and was made giant to lift giant parts of rockets and space vehicles, including the Energia rocket.
• It was designed for the Soviet space program as a replacement for the Myasishchev VM-T.
• It was made using the An-124 as a base model, which had the same D-18T engines, though the number of engines was increased from four to six. Though many planes of this size were planned, Mriya was the only one completed.
• We can also determine Mriya’s external or internal appearance by watching a 3D tour created by Google Maps.

Notable accidents:

The one and only of its kind, An-225 Mriya became a victim of the Russian-Ukraine war and was destroyed in February, 2022 in the Battle of Hostomel Airport, Kyiv Oblast. This created a Mriya-shaped void in the aviation world. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter, “Russia may have destroyed our ‘Mriya’. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free, and democratic European state. We shall prevail! ” 

Shall we ever see the third biggest aircraft ever rise from its ashes? 

After the destruction, the first pilot of Mriya, Oleksandr Halunenko, surveyed it at the Antonov airfield in Hostomel, near Kyiv.They are planning to rebuild or restore An-225 at Russia’s expense at $3 billion within 5 years. AN-225 Mriya was under repair at Gostomel Airport due to which it did not have time to leave Ukraine at the time of invasion.

On 20 May 2022, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered the completion of the second An-225 to fill the void of Mriya and pay tribute to all Ukrainian pilots killed at war. However, 30% of the aircraft still needed to be completed, and the cost of resuming it ranged from $400 million to $800 million.

2. H-4 Hercules Supergoose (Wingspan: 97.82 meters)

How do we classify aircraft such as the H-4 Supergoose? Can we really call it an aircraft to begin with? Like the Soviet behemoth, the Caspian Sea Monster, the H-4 Supergoose also used ground effect technology to take to the skies. In its solitary flight, the H-4 was airborne for a mere 26 seconds and traversed a distance of a mile while 70 ft (21 m) off the water. The documented flight also reveals a speed of 135 miles per hour (217 km/h). 

Why was the H-4 Supergoose constructed in the first place? 

During the height of the Second World War, the United States wanted a large aircraft that was capable fo transporting military officers across the Atlantic. So, the plans to construct a large aircraft that, along with the military, could carry ammunition and supplies were underway. 

The original design and concept of the H-4 were dreamt up by a shipbuilder named Henry J Kaiser. Kaiser, in conjunction with Howard Hughes and his engineers at the Hughes Aircraft Company, began working on an aircraft that was previously called HK-1. The initials H referred to Hughes, and K referred to Kaiser. 

Hughes was a perfectionist and would spend hours deliberating on a particular aspect of the aircraft. Over half a decade, design modifications led to a 400,000-pound wooden flying boat with a spectacular 320-foot wingspan, making it the biggest aircraft ever. 

However, there were a few problems. The construction of the aircraft was completed 2 years after the World War had ended. Along the way, whatever interest and input Kaiser had in the project had died down, too. So, after Kaiser backed out of the project in 1944, the initial “K” referring to him had been slashed out from HK-1. The name H-4, instead, was adopted. But there were a few other names the aircraft had garnered. 

A U.S. Senator had called the aircraft a “flying lumberyard,” while the people who worked on the plane called it, albeit unsocially, “The Birch Bitch”. It was perhaps best known as  “Spruce Goose” – a name that was detested by Hughes.

Constructing it had cost more than $200 million of today’s money 

The U.S. government had already splurged a whopping $22 million on the H-4 when it was finally ready to take to the skies. Coupled with this were the $18 million that Hughes himself had invested!  

It might have been a fluke that the H-4 ever hit the skies. (A mere 70 feet off the water’s surface could hardly be described as “taking to the skies” anyhow.) Responding to the chief engineer’s inquiry whether Hughes really wanted the H-4 to take off from the water’s surface, the plane maker said, “You’ll never know.” 

About the flight itself, Hughes had commented: 

“ The Hercules was a monumental undertaking. It is the largest aircraft ever built. It is over five stories tall with a wingspan longer than a football field. That’s more than a city block. Now, I put the sweat of my life into this thing. I have my reputation all rolled up in it and I have stated several times that if it’s a failure, I’ll probably leave this country and never come back. And I mean it.” 

Capacity and features: 

During the construction of the H-4, i.e., the World War, steel and aluminum were pivotal to war efforts. So, the aircraft had to be designed using non-strategic materials such as wood. Therefore, it was constructed from a composite material made of birch and resin—Duramold. 

 

Maximum Takeoff Weight	400,000 pounds (181,400 kilograms)
Empty Weight	250,000 pounds (113,400 kilograms)
Maximum Speed	250 mph (400 km/h)
Power Plant	8 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines
Fuel Capacity	14,000 US gallons (63,645 liters)
Engine Power	3,000 horsepower each
Wingspan	320 feet (97.5 meters)
Length	218 feet (66.5 meters)
Height	79 feet (24 meters)

Why didn’t the H-4 Supergoose ever fly again? 

The H-4 was built with the intention of carrying around 750 troops. In comparison, the biggest passenger aircraft ever, the Airbus A380, can carry 850 passengers and was built only in 2007. This shows you how the aircraft was way ahead of its time- much like the metal Monster Kalinin K-7. 

It might as well be the case that the engineering didn’t back up the grandeur of the aircraft as its critics alleged that the H-4s wooden framework wouldn’t be able to support its weight, especially during long flights. The only test flight ever done was a mere few minutes long. 

Where is the Hercules H-4 Supergoose now? 

Despite critical, dissenting voices, Howard Hughes spent $1 million a year to keep the H-4 in top-notch condition. In his own words, he administered the aircraft so that it could be “one phone call away” from the flight. For this, he stored the aircraft in an enormous, climate-controlled hangar in Long Beach Harbor. The hangar was shielded from public viewing, giving a sense of Hughes’s reclusive behavior after the end of his greatest aviation achievement. 

The Los Angeles hangar where the H-4 was constructed has become a Hollywood landmark. Scenes from movies such as Howard Hughes’ biopic The Aviator, Titanic, Avatar, and Transformers were filmed in the space, which is now leased by Google. 

Currently, the aircraft lies in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. 

1. Scaled Composites Stratolaunch: Wingspan- 117 meters)

It beggars belief that an aircraft built to launch rockets into space, with not one but two fuselages, a total of 6 engines, and a mindblowing wingspan larger than an American football ground, ended up as a flight testing craft after just one flight. The aircraft was built for novel causes, though. One of the people involved in the inception of this aircraft said:

“Stratolaunch will build an airline system to give us orbital access to space with greater safety, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, for both cargo and mankind”. 

Inception of the Stratolaunch

Paul Allen and Burt Rutan announced the Scaled Composites Model 351 Stratolaunch, rolling out a video of its model and structure. They shared their overwhelmingly mind-blowing dream of a cost-effective, operationally flexible, and quick, responsive launchpad for rockets.  Unfortunately, Allen couldn’t live to see his dream take flight on 13 April 2019. However, he did live to see the craft roll out of its a hundred thousand sq. foot hangar onto the runway in May 2017.

Stratolaunch is a sci-fi nerd’s dream for its structure

Stratolaunch, also referred to as Roc for its mighty structure, has a nose-to-tail length of 238 feet and a height surpassing the wingspan of WK2 of 50 feet. Likewise, it has a wingspan of 385 feet. This is larger than an American football ground. Stratolaunch also requires a minimum of 12,000-foot-long runway for lift-off.  

The crew operates the aircraft from its right fuselage with a storage space on the left fuselage that can hold up to 2,500 lb of mission-specific equipment. This pair is supported by 12 main landing gear wheels in addition to two more nose gear wheels. Stratolaunch was fused into one of the world’s finest AeroTech companies. The carrier aircraft from Scaled Composites interfaces the health and stats of the Multi-Stage Booster by Space X with the help of a Mating and Integration System.   

 

Maximum Take-off Weight	580570 kg/ 1.3 Million lb
Service Ceiling	10,668 meters/ 35,000 ft
Maximum Speed	416 knots/ 853km/hr
Normal Cruise Speed	165 knots/ 306 km/hr (in first flight)
Engines; Power	6; 252.4kN per engine
Engine Model	PW 4000

The fuel tanks are adjacent to SIX Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines, which were borrowed and modified from the Queen of Skies, Boeing 747 herself. The engines are inboard on the wings that join the fuselage.

How does the biggest aircraft ever work?

At approximately 120 ft, the multi-stage booster lofts the payload into the lower orbit of the Earth. After achieving 30,000 feet, the booster is released, igniting the engine. This starts the spacecraft’s journey toward space. Ending the first stage burn and a short coast period, the stage ignites, and an orbital payload proceeds to its planned mission.

The MIS is located at the center of a high-mounted, high-aspect-ratio wing, which is equipped with all the systems necessary for the booster to interface with carrier aircraft. The MIS’s sole responsibility is to secure the booster to the carrier aircraft from taxiing to the booster’s release.

Interesting Facts About Stratolaunch

• The company ceased its operation and put its assets, including spacecraft, on sale just after 1 flight.
• The aircraft is repurposed for air launch hypersonic flight testing after the acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management.
•  The avionics, flight deck, landing gear, repurposed engines, pylons, actuators, hydraulics, and fuel subsystems from Queen of Skies, Boeing 747,  were remodeled and used, profiting in the development cost of STratolaunch.

What happened to the Stratolaunch after the death of Paul Allen?

Stratolaunch was a dream, Paul Allen  believed, will expand into the birth of more such crafts , “something to search for in the night sky and dream about”.  The aircraft took up to sky shortly after non- Hodgkin Lymphoma took away Allen. Unfortunately with the death of Allen,  the plans he had made for his passion project died too. 

Vulcan, Allen’s investment conglomerate, tagged the ownership of the aircraft with other intellectual property and facilities at an amount of $400 million. However, despite the failure of the expected future for the aircraft, Stratolaunch has been repurposed for flight testing which still allows it flight and further missions. Gradually testing its own abilities and preparing Talon-A, with test flights for the craft, Stratolaunch has finally released its first successful hypersonic vehicle release on March 5, 2024.

All in All

All of these aircraft were built with specific purposes. Some like the Mriya and Stratolaunch were made to facilitate our endeavors in space, while others were for made for the most capacious travel. But the case of the A380 shows, despite spending billions on the construction of a novel aircraft, it might not be widely accepted by the global community. With supersonic travels in the horizon, what aircraft might topple the ones on the list is something we do not know.

 

Contributions by: Sudeep Adhikari and Deepika Neupane