10 Aircraft with Crazy Proportions

9: Airliners

The most passengers ever carried on one flight was in 1991 during the Operation Solomon evacuation of Jewish Ethiopians to Israel. A staggering 1086 people boarded a El Al Boeing 747 in Addis Ababa (pictured). However, when they landed, there were 1089 passengers - three babies were born during the flight.

9: Airliners

The biggest (and fastest) propeller airliner was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-114 (pictured), which first flew in 1957. This four-engined swept-wing giant had a wingspan of 51.1 m (167 ft 8 in), a length of 54.1 m (177 ft 6 in) and a maximum weight of 171,000 kg (376,990 lb).

8: Biggest & Heaviest Fighters

The Soviet Tu-128 ‘Fiddler’ of 1961 is often cited as the biggest operational fighter; with a length of 30.06 m (99 ft), it was around twice as long as today’s F-16. It was a long-distance fighter interceptor and needed to be this size to carry enough fuel to defend vast areas of the Soviet Union and the large air-to-air missiles. It weighed up to 43,700 kg (96,342 lb).

Even the Tu-128 must bow down to the American Lockheed YF-12 (pictured), which was the biggest and fastest interceptor ever made. It first flew in 1963, weighed up to 63,504 kg (140,000 lb) and was a trifle longer than the ‘Fiddler’ at 30.97 m (101 ft 8 in). However, this Mach 3 monster never entered service.

8: Biggest & Heaviest Fighters

What was the heaviest interceptor to enter service? The answer to this is the gargantuan Soviet Mikoyan MiG-31 of 1975, with a maximum take-off weight of 46200 kg (101,900 lb), equivalent to 11.5 male adult Asian elephants! As an operational fighter (rather than a dedicated interceptor) the heaviest is likely the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor that tops out at a massive 38,000 kg (83,500 lb).

However, a rather sneaky answer to the question of the biggest fighter is the British Nimrod. In preparation for the Falklands War of 1982, the RAF gave its Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft the ability to carry two AIM-9 Sidewinders. The primary intent was not self-defence, but to destroy any Argentinian maritime reconnaissance aircraft they might encounter. This arguably making the Nimrod the heaviest fighter ever to fly, with a maximum weight of 87090 kg (192,000 lb) and length of 38.65 m (126 ft 9 in).

7: Largest operational propellor plane: Antonov An-22

The Soviet Antonov An-22 first flew in 1965. It was designed to move outsize military and civilian loads great distances, and despite its size, land at less than perfect airfields. It was an absolute behemoth, with a length of 57.84 metres, wingspan of 64.40 metres and maximum take-off weight of 250,000 kg (551,156 lb).

In 1966, the gargantuan machine set 12 world records, the following year it set another when it lifted cargo weighing 100,444.6 kg to an altitude of 25,748 feet (7848 metres). The Antonov An-22 achieved a mind-bending total of 41 world records in speed and carrying capacity.

7: Largest operational prop plane: Antonov An-225

The Antonov Bureau love creating massive aircraft; the An-124 was for some time, the largest aircraft in the world, and it was followed by a similarly world-beating An-225 (pictured). The An-22 was there to support its younger siblings, and was used to moving over-sized components for constructing the An-124 and An-225.

Power for the An-22 comes from four Kuznetsov NK-12MA turboprop engines, each capable of generating an astonishing 11,000 kW (15,000 shp). These drive eight-bladed contra-rotating constant-speed propellers. The NK-12, the most powerful turboprop to see service, also powered the Tu-114 airliner, Tu-116 VIP transport, Tu-95/142 bomber, Tu-126 AWACS aircraft and the bizarre A-90 Orlyonok surface-effect vehicle.

6: Largest helicopter: Mil V-12 (‘Homer’)

Unquestionably the largest helicopter by a massive margin, is the unorthodox V-12. Like the Antonov An-22, the V-12 intended loads included inter-continental ballistic missiles, which required a helicopter of unprecedented proportions.

The Mil V-12 was enormous, with a length of 37 m (121 ft 5 in), and a maximum loaded weight of 105,000 kg (231,485 lb). The V-12 looked bizarre with two rotors each at the end of a massive, flared wing. At the wingtip was a power unit comprising two Soloviev D-25VF turbo-shaft engines. Each drove a massive five-bladed 35 m (115 ft) diameter rotor. Synchronisation shafts ran from wing-tip to wing-tip to ensure the safe synchronisation of the rotors in case of mechanical failure.

6: Largest helicopter: Mil V-12 (‘Homer’)

The four Soloviev D-25VF turboshaft engines together generated an epic 26,000 horsepower, and the V-12 was capable of 162 mph. The V-12 captured a slew of world helicopter records across 1969, including the highest altitude achieved while carrying a 40,000 kg (88,000 lb) payload when it flew to 2255 m (7,398 ft), a record that stands to this day. The largest rotor diameter was that of the US-built Hughes XH-17, an experimental flying crane that first flew in 1952.

5: Wingspan (and heaviest single-engined)

The conventional biplane with the biggest wingspan was the NC-4 Curtiss flying boat (pictured), the first aeroplane to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, which it did in 1919 (though the flight was not non-stop). It had a wingspan of 126 ft (38 m).

The sesquiplane (a biplane with upper and lower wings of different lengths) with the largest span was the Caproni Ca.90 of 1929. Though its upper wingspan of 34.90 m (114 ft 6 in) was less than that of the NC-4 Curtiss; the lower wingspan of 46.60 m (152 ft 11 in) was greater.

5: Wingspan (and heaviest single-engined)

Scaled Composites Model 351 Stratolaunch (or Roc) of 2019 (pictured) is the world's largest aeroplane of all in terms of wingspan, with an astonishing 384 feet (117 meters) of wing; that is over three times the distance of the Wright brothers’ first flight… The Roc is a ‘mothership’ capable of launching air-launch-to-orbit (ALTO) rockets or hypersonic aircraft.

The Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II is the heaviest single-engined aircraft to enter operational service, with a maximum take-off weight of around 31,751kg (70,000Ib). This is the same as the maximum operating weight of the four-engined Lancaster heavy bomber…

4: Biggest Flying Boat (and biggest piston-engined aircraft)

A flying boat is a seaplane with a fuselage (main body) designed for flotation. It differs from other types of floatplanes that rely on floats. Before there were large airports across the world, the flying boat was a solution to both passenger, freight and military transport. Able to land on any relatively calm and unobstructed body of water, it offered great flexibility (though they were generally draggier and less efficient in flight than an equivalent conventional aircraft).

The largest ever flown was the gargantuan Hughes H-4 Hercules, popularly known as the Spruce Goose (pictured) for its partly wooden construction. It was developed by the famously eccentric business magnate Howard Hughes, whose many roles included pilot, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, philanthropist - and (possibly) the world’s richest person for a period.

4: Biggest Flying Boat (and biggest piston-engined aircraft)

The Hercules was a prototype for a proposed transatlantic strategic transport, to ferry large numbers of soldiers (750 of them), or two M4 Sherman tanks, during the second world war. Its development time meant it was not completed in time to see active service. It was a leap up in aircraft size, with a wingspan of 319 ft 11 in (97.51 m), a length of 218 ft 8 in (66.65 m) and an empty weight of 250,000 lb (113,398 kg).

To give an idea of how freakishly large the Hercules was, it held the record for the largest wingspan flown for the seventy-two years from 1947-2019, finally being defeated by the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch. After one brief flight, on November 2, 1947, the Hercules was cancelled; with the war ending, there was less of an urgent need for such an expensive aircraft.

3: Largest supersonic aircraft

The Soviet (now Russian) Tupolev Tu-160 bomber, first flown in 1981, is the heaviest supersonic aircraft ever flown, with a maximum take-off weight of 275,000 kilograms (606,271 pounds). To put this into perspective, it weighs the same as 104 fully loaded Spitfires! It is also the heaviest combat aircraft ever flown.

The Tu-160 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1987. It is interesting to note that Ukraine initially inherited nineteen Tu-160s from the former Soviet Union. It later handed over eight of these aircraft to Russia in exchange for gas debt relief in 1999, with the remainder scrapped under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement.

3: Biggest supersonic aircraft

The closest American equivalent to the Tu-160 is the rather smaller B-1 bomber which is also a four-engined supersonic variable geometry (swing-) wing strategic bomber. But the B-1 is smaller than the largest US supersonic bomber, and the largest supersonic aircraft.

The longest supersonic aircraft, beating the Tu-160 by around two metres, was the North American XB-70 Valkyrie of 1965 (pictured). It measured around 185 ft 0 in (56.39 m) on the ground, but likely measured more at trisonic speeds. The XB-70 aircraft was also the largest aircraft to exceed Mach 3 (we will treat the Space Shuttle as a spacecraft).

2: Biggest aircraft flown in the second world war: Douglas XB-19

The Douglas XB-19, which first flew on 27 June 1941, was an experimental long-range bomber and among the most significant aircraft flying in World War II. The super-bomber had a wingspan of 212 ft 0 in (64.62 m), comfortably twice that of the sizable Avro Lancaster.

The massive wings had an area of 4,285 sq. ft (398.1 m2), which it needed to lug the massive maximum take-off weight of 162,000 lb (73,482 kg) into the air. To again compare it to the Avro Lancaster bomber, it was twice the weight, plus an additional 13 metric tons. In this photo, the DC-3 nearby looks tiny in comparison…

2: Biggest aircraft flown in the second world war: Douglas XB-19

What wasn’t so impressive about the XB-19 was its power; even with four Wright R-3350-5 Duplex Cyclone 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, generating 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) each, the XB-19 was woefully underpowered. Replacement of the engines with something beefier was desperately needed.

The Allison V-3420, which was essentially a pair of Allison V-1710 engines sharing a crankcase, was the choice of replacement engine, but the XB-19 was still a slouch and beset by technical problems. It also now looked decidedly old-fashioned. It never entered service and was scrapped in 1946.

2: Biggest aircraft flown in the second world war: Blohm & Voss BV 238

Though the XB-19 had the longest wingspan of the war, in terms of length and weight, it was later outdone by the German Blohm & Voss BV 238 Flying Boat of 1944. This had a maximum take-off weight of 100,000 kg (220,462 lb) and a length of 43.35 m (142 ft 3 in).