Engineers reveal plans for the world's largest plane
Engineers have revealed plans for the world's largest plane, dubbed the WindRunner, which would use renewable energy to transport giant wind turbine blades from point A to B.
Designed by Colorado-based energy company Radia, the mammoth cargo transporter measures an impressive 356 feet long and 79 feet tall, with a wingspan of 261 feet.
The plane is as long as an NFL football field and 127 feet longer than the Boeing 747, the largest passenger plane in the world.
With a potential payload capacity of 80 tonnes, it will also be able to carry 12 times more than this latest aircraft.
To accommodate the jumbo jet's landing, a 6,000-foot runway will also need to be built.
The purpose of the WindRunner is to transport onshore wind turbine blades that measure between 150-300 feet or more in length and can weigh 35 tons to various wind farms.
Due to their large size and difficult handling, large fan blades currently have to be transported out to sea via specialized marine vessels, which limits their use on land.
“Today’s largest and tomorrow’s largest wind turbines cannot be transported to onshore wind farms via onshore infrastructure,” Radia writes on its website.
“This was a very clear moment where the industry talks to you,” Mark Lundstrom, the MIT-trained rocket scientist who founded the company, told the Wall Street Journal.
He spent the last seven years perfecting the design with an engineering team to ensure the WindRunner wouldn't fall apart when the rubber hit the track.
In addition to carrying pre-existing windmills, the WindRunner's capacity would also pave the way for the development of even larger land-based turbines that would be capable of generating even more power.
In fact, experts estimate that the largest air sculptors could increase the consistency of power generation by 20% compared to today's land-based turbines. They could also reduce energy costs by up to 35%.
Lundstrom also believes his plane's enormous payload capacity could have other applications, transporting massive military machinery.
Source: www.lindaikejisblog.com