LARGEST AIRCRAFT




(World's Largest Aircraft)

Videos and illustrations list of the world's largest aircraft throughout aviation history. Includes, specifications, and a guide to RC airplanes.

One of the questions most often asked of Aviation Trivia is to list the largest aircraft. That brings up more questions. What factors should be used to determine which are the largest aircraft? Would they have the longest wingspan, the longest length, or the heaviest weight? Should they be the largest ever built, or the largest during a certain era? Maybe they should be classified by the number of engines, or number of wings, or even the size of their propellers. Or, should we list the largest aircraft by their type, such as fighters, bombers, seaplanes, or transports. We have decided to list them beginning with the largest wingspans and lengths.
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TO FIND YOUR FAVORITE LARGEST AIRCRAFT ON THIS PAGE: Enter "Ctrl F" on your computer. A box will open on your screen that says "Find." Type in the aircraft that you are looking for and it will be highlighted on the page.
 
LZ-129 HINDENBURG

The longest aircraft ever to take to the sky was the Hindenburg Air Ship. In its final configuration it carried a crew of about 60 and had 72 sleeping berths. Its cruising speed was 76 mph. Its first flight was on March 4, 1936. On May 6, 1937 it met its demise.
803.8 feet, 511,500 pounds 

Boeing ULTRA
boeing-ultra
Boeing ULTRA (Ultra Large Transport Aircraft), are concept aircraft being developed as high capacity cargo transports. Rather than flying high in the sky, similar to the the Russian Ekranoplanes, they are designed to use ground effect to skim over water or the ground at an altitude as low as 20 feet.  They can adjusting their altitude according to sea conditions, or obstacles, for a smooth ride.
500 foot wings, 2,800,000 pounds 
 

HAV  AIRLANDER 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icbR369FZZs

The Hybrid Air Vehicles  Airlander 10 has been built for long surveillance endurance of up to five days. Its engines produce a total of 10,000 shp and can push the vehicle at speeds up to 92 mph and altitude up to 16,000 feet. Range with a 2,000 lb. payload is about 3,000 miles.
365.5 feet length, 44,000 pounds 
SPRUCE GOOSE

If largest aircraft are determined by wingspan, one has to include the Hughes H-4 Spruce Goose. Although current aircraft weigh more than the Hughes H-4 Hercules, more commonly known as the Spruce Goose, no other seaplane or land based aircraft produced has a longer wingspan. You can rank the Spruce Goose in the category of largest propeller driven aircraft, largest seaplane, and largest passenger aircraft.
320.1 foot wings, 300,000 pounds 

 

ANTONOV AN-225

The Antonov An-225 has the longest wingspan of any aircraft flying today.  It is also the largest jet plane, by weight.
291.1 foot wings, 1,179,500 pounds 

AIRBUS A380

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dARK895Y5Ns

Airbus A380's are the largest commercial airliners, and largest passenger aircraft in their class.  They are the largest passenger aircraft now flying. The Russian An-225 cargo aircraft is larger overall.
261.7 foot wings, 608,400 pounds

ANTONOV AN-124

Antonov An-124's are the second largest jet aircraft ever mass produced after the A380. However, unlike the A380 passenger jet, the An-124 is used for hauling cargo.
240.5 foot wings, 385,000 pounds 

CONVAIR XC-99

The Convair XC-99 was a one of a kind experimental cargo transport, based on the B-36. It was the world's largest aircraft for cargo ever built to operate from land, that was driven by propellers. Although very successful, the U.S.A.F. felt that they didn't need such large cargo carriers at the time and no other aircraft of its type were produced.
230 foot wings, 135,230 pounds 

LOCKHEED C-5 GALAXY

The still deployed Lockheed C-5 Galaxy aircraft have the ability to carry all air certified cargo and have among the greatest cargo capacity of any aircraft.

Some of the things which make the C-5 interesting are its ability to fly great distances on internal fuel. Its tail rises some 65 feet in height. When fully loaded, the C-5 weighs about as much as five Washington Monuments, and a single engine of the C-5 can generate enough power to lift 43,000 lbs. straight up.
222.7 foot wings, 380,000 pounds 

SAUNDERS ROE PRINCESS

Saunders Roe Princess planes were the largest all-metal seaplanes ever built.
219.5 foot wings, 190,000 pounds 

DOUGLAS XB-19

Douglas XB-19's were the largest U.S. bombers when first produced.
212 foot wings, 140,250 pounds 

ANTONOV AN-22

Antonov An-22 are the largest aircraft being mass produced using turboprop engines, and one of the heaviest aircraft ever to fly.
211.3 foot wings, 251,350 pounds 

TUPOLEV ANT-20

Tupolev ANT-20  were the largest aircraft of their time.
206.7 foot wings, 62,700 pounds 

BOEING 777

Boeing 777's are the largest twin jet engine aircraft. They are even larger than three jet engine powered aircraft.  They are, however, smaller than the largest Boeing 747 jets.
199.9 foot wings 367,000 pounds 

LOCKHEED R6V CONSTITUTION

Note: Narration begins after 60 seconds.

Lockheed R6V Constitution are the largest aircraft ever deployed by the U.S. Navy. Two of the land based aircraft were built and flown as passenger and cargo transports from 1948 to 1953.
189.1 foot wings, 113,780 pounds 

Myasishchev 3MT

Two Myasishchev 3M-T (VM-T) aircraft were built. They were the largest aircraft used by the Soviet Union as transports until the An-225 went into service.
174.4 foot wings, 167,000 pounds 

Aero Spacelines Super Guppy

The Super Guppy is a Boeing C-27J with a lengthened fuselage and larger diameter cargo compartment. It's able to carry the most massive cargo and has been used to transport parts for the International Space Station.
156.3 foot wings, 101,500 pounds 

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Boeing B-29 Superfortress the largest aircraft flown as U.S.World War II bombers.
141.2 foot wings, 70,000 pounds 

Caspian Sea Monster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Nu94khHoo

The Soviet Caspian Sea Monster KM ekranoplan is the second heaviest aircraft to fly, and the heaviest and largest to fly in ground effect.
141,1 foot wings, 839,594 pounds 

Felixstowe Fury

felixstowe_fury

The Felixstowe Fury was the largest triplane seaplane ever built.
123 foot wings, 18,550 pounds

BRISTOL BRAEMER

bristol_braemer

The Bristol Braemer was the largest triplane bomber ever produced. During World War I, two Braemer aircraft were tested. Their test flights were successful, but the war ended and they did not go into mass production.
81.7 foot wings, 10,650 pounds

 

PZL M-15

PZL M-15 are the largest jet powered biplanes dedicated as  agricultural aircraft.
73.5 foot wings, 6,812 pounds

ANTONOV AN-2 COLT

Antonov An-2 Colt aircraft are the largest biplanes of their type, by weight. Popular with bush pilots, as parachuting planes, and as crop dusters, they have been in production since 1947 and are still being produced to this date.
59.7 foot wings, 7,600 pounds

Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft were the largest aircraft ever flown as United States bombers. The B-36 is the world's largest bomber that was ever produced, if you go by wingspan.
230.1 foot wings, 171,000 pounds.

The Boeing 747 makes our list of largest aircraft because it was the largest passenger plane from 1970 to 2005. The 747-8 is the longest mass produced aircraft at 250.1'.
224.6 foot wings, 472,900 pounds

Airbus A340-600's are among the largest aircraft. They are the second longest mass produced aircraft currently produced.

208 foot wings, 392,000 pounds

Nakajima G10N Fugaku's were to be the largest aircraft that Japan intended to produce as a long range heavy bombers, able to attack the U.S. mainland from Japan. The war ended before they could be built.
206.7 foot wings, 96,600 pounds

The Martin Mars water bombers are the largest aircraft that were prop driven water bombers, and the largest production seaplanes. The aircraft, which were produced in 1945, were recently retired.
202.5 foot wings, 76,600 pounds

Blohm & Voss BV 238 was a one of a kind Luftwaffe WW II seaplane. It was their largest aircraft ever built during World War II.
197.4 foot wings, 120,600 pounds

The Boeing/Evergreen 747 Supertanker, a converted Boeing 747-400, is the world's largest air tanker. It has a capacity of 19,600 gallons.
211.5 foot wings, 404,600 pounds

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress are the largest aircraft used as U.S. jet bombers and the backbone of today's U.S. heavy bomber fleet.
184.9 foot wings, 185,000 pounds

Messerschmidt Me-323's largest aircraft were essentially gliders fitted with motors. They were used as Luftwaffe WW II transports.
183.1 foot wings, 34,000 pounds

Tupolev Tu-160's are the largest aircraft flown as the world's heaviest bombers.
182.8 foot wings, 242,500 pounds

Two Northrop XB-35's were produced. They were the largest prop driven aircraft ever manufactured as flying wings. They never went into production.
172.1 foot wings 90,000 pounds

Junkers Ju 390's were among the largest aircraft that Germany built as long range WW II bomber prototypes.
165.1 foot wings, 87,100 pounds

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 are among the largest aircraft flying today as cargo planes, water bombers, and USAF air-to-air refueling aircraft.
155.3 foot wings, 267,000 pounds

Blohm & Voss BV 222 Viking aircraft were mass produced and flew during WWII. They were the largest aircraft used by the Luftwaffe as production seaplanes deployed during the War.
151 foot wings, 67,575 pounds

Airbus A300's are among the largest aircraft flown as passenger carriers. They are the first ever two engine wide cabin aircraft to fly.
147.1 foot wings, 198,500 pounds

Mitsubishi Ki-20's were the largest aircraft that Japan produced as WW II bombers.
144.3 foot wings, 32,875 pounds

Linke-Hofman R.II were the largest aircraft, single propeller driven biplanes. Two bomber prototypes of the aircraft were produced during WW1. They each had four engines linked together turning a single huge propeller.
138.3 foot wings, 17,640 pounds

Tupolev TB-3s largest aircraft were the first monoplane four engine heavy bombers of the Soviet Union.
137.1 foot wings, 24,700 pounds

Beriev A-40's are the largest aircraft currently flying as jet powered seaplanes. Thus far two prototypes have been produced.
135.5 foot wings, 127,270 pounds

The Tarrant Tabor was the largest aircraft of the time, when produced.
131.1 foot wings, 24,750 pounds

CANT Z511 were the largest aircraft built as seaplanes during WW II.
130.8 foot wings, 45,000 pounds

Douglas DC-7 were the largest aircraft with piston engines built by the Douglas Aircraft Co.
127.5 foot wings, 72,760 pounds

Curtiss C-46 Commando twin engine U.S. transports were among the largest aircraft with twin engines to serve as transports during World War II.
108 foot wings, 33,000 pounds

The Sikorsky Ilya Murometz were the largest aircraft used as four engine strategic bombers, when first deployed.
97.8 foot wings, 6,930 pounds

Tupolev Tu-144 were the largest aircraft flown as Russian supersonic airliners.
95.5 foot wings, 187,400 pounds

Tupolev ANT-4's largest aircraft of their time flown as Soviet all-metal bombers .
94.1 foot wings, 9,965 pounds

The Sikorsky Russky Vityaz were the largest aircraft with four engines when first flown.
88.6 foot wings, 7,500 pounds

Short Bombers were the largest aircraft produced as single engine biplanes. They also had a longer wingspan than any single engine monoplanes. They were deployed during World War I as both land based bombers and torpedo bomber seaplanes.
84 foot wings, 5,000 pounds