A size comparison of five of the largest aeroplanes:
Airbus A380-800
Antonov An-225 Mriya
Boeing 747
Hughes H-4 Hercules
Stratolaunch
Large aircraft allow the transportation of large and/or heavy payloads over long distances. Making an aircraft design larger can also improve the overall fuel efficiency and man-hours for transporting a given load, while a greater space is available for transporting lightweight cargoes or giving passengers room to move around. However, as aircraft increase in size they pose significant design issues not present in smaller types. These include structural efficiency, flight control response and sufficient power in a reliable and cost-effective installation.
Large aircraft also require specialised ground facilities, and some countries have special regulatory environments for them.
The giant airships of the 1930s remain, as of 2016, the largest aircraft ever constructed, while the Hughes H-4 "Spruce Goose" of 1947 had the largest wingspan of any fixed-wing type. The Hybrid Air Vehicles Airlander 10 hybrid airship is the largest aircraft flying today.
Largeaircraft allow the transportation of large and/or heavy payloads over long distances. Making an aircraft design larger can also improve the overall...
of largeaircraft, including three types: fixed wing, rotary wing, and airships. The US Federal Aviation Administration defines a largeaircraft as any...
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying...
An aircraft (pl.: aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static...
Airbus A400M Atlas is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military, now Airbus Defence and Space, as a...
category of light aircraft. Aviation safety General aviation Largeaircraft, those over 12,500 lb (5,670 kg) MTOW Light-sport aircraft List of current production...
counterparts to the largeraircraft operated by the major carriers, legacy carriers, and flag carriers, and are used to feed traffic into the large airline hubs...
flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in some cases a wire rope...
variety of military aircraft across the respective aviation arms of its various service branches. The numbers of specific aircraft listed in the following...
military aircraft currently in service with the Indian Armed Forces, as well as aircraft on order. For a list of historical military aircraft used by the...
supersonic aircraft is an aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1). Supersonic aircraft were developed...
This is a list of Russian military aircraft currently in service across three branches of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as in the National Guard of...
is a large transport aircraft based on the Airbus A330-200F built by Airbus to replace the original Airbus Beluga to transport very largeaircraft components...
projects on a very large strategic transport aircraft. Although the C-141 Starlifter was being introduced, officials believed that a much larger and more capable...
This is a list of aircraft by date and usage. The date shown is the introduction of the first model of a line but not the current model. For instance,...
jet fuel, but to many more individual aircraft operators; whereas jet fuel is sold in high volume to largeaircraft operators, such as airlines and militaries...
several parts. These can include travel class sections in medium and largeaircraft, areas for flight attendants, the galley, and storage for in-flight...
List of aircraft List of aircraft by date and usage category List of aircraft manufacturers by ICAO name List of civil aircraft List of jet aircraft of World...
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs were originally...
: 19 The A3XX was pitted against the VLCT study and Boeing's own New LargeAircraft successor to the 747. In July 1995, the joint study with Boeing was...
warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several...
In earlier days, most largeraircraft were designed and built with a flight engineer's position. For U.S. civilian aircraft that require a flight engineer...
The following is a list of military aircraft currently used by the four branches of the Italian Armed Forces: Italian Army, Italian Navy, Italian Air Force...
earlier aircraft company, Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which was operational from 1912 to 1920. The company built and operated aircraft for paying...
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