- 2 days ago
Engineers keep pushing the limits of aviation, creating aircraft that look bizarre yet achieve things once thought impossible. From a strange helium-powered hybrid that can stay in the air for five days straight to the largest giants ever built, these machines show how far innovation can go. Their massive scale, unusual shapes, and groundbreaking technology reveal a future where flight becomes more efficient, more versatile, and more astonishing than ever. Animation is created by Bright Side.
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For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00Our estimated flight time today will be 3 days.
00:03Future passengers of the world's longest aircraft, Air Lander 10, won't get to their destinations quickly, but they will surely do it in style.
00:12Nicknamed the Flying Bum for its unconventional exterior, this plane will feature plush ensuite bedrooms, an onboard altitude bar, and glass flooring with horizon-to-horizon views.
00:24Air Lander 10 won't even need an airport. It can take off and land from any flat surface.
00:30Be it land, sand, water, or ice, using pneumatic skids.
00:34It will also be friendly to the environment, with less emissions, and is supposed to become the safest form of air travel.
00:41This 300-foot-long engineering marvel is part airship, part helicopter, and part plane.
00:47Other aircraft use one of the various methods to maintain flight—buoyancy, vertical thrust, or lift.
00:53Blimps, helicopters, and planes mostly rely on buoyancy, vertical thrust, and lift, respectively.
01:00But our bum plane incorporates all three of these principles.
01:04First comes buoyancy.
01:06Air Lander uses a massive amount of helium, a material less dense than air.
01:11It helps aircraft like Blimps and Zeppelins take off, just like how a helium-filled balloon ascends.
01:17And because helium is buoyant on its own, our hero can float effortlessly.
01:23Air Lander stores its helium in several compartments for safety, and also has four 325-horsepower engines and requires way less power compared to conventional aircraft, like the Boeing 787, which makes it more energy-efficient.
01:38But this buoyant aircraft is limited in payload—up to 10 tons.
01:43Its constructors could make the hull bigger to place more helium in it, but our plane is already the bulkiest in the world, so that would be too much.
01:51To help with this, the Air Lander 10 is equipped with two vertical thrusters, like those on helicopters.
01:56They direct the air downwards, lifting the aircraft.
02:00And then there's lift, which plays a crucial role in the aerodynamics of flight.
02:05To get lift, you need air zipping over and around the wing, creating a force.
02:10Even though the Air Lander might not have monster engines like a big jetliner, its huge hull gives plenty of space for air to do its thing and help it lift off.
02:19This unique hybrid aircraft has run several successful test voyages, so you can consider it a real thing.
02:26It will be a customizable transformer, good for passenger travel, cargo transport, extended flight operations, or scientific goals.
02:35Some of its configurations will be able to stay in flight for up to 5 days without stopping.
02:41It could be really useful for research missions.
02:43And the designers planned to build an even bigger Air Lander 50 with a capacity of 50 tons of payload.
02:51In the early days of aviation, there were no computer simulations to test the design, so there were some pretty crazy plane models built.
02:59Italian designer Gianni Caproni wanted to create an aircraft to transport 100 passengers across the Atlantic with comfort and style.
03:07His brainchild, Ka-60, had nine wings arranged in three sets of three.
03:13It had eight engines, all serviced by mechanics in flight.
03:17There were panoramic windows along both sides of the long cabin for passengers sitting in two wide rows to enjoy the views of the world below.
03:25It had a rounded nose, an integral flight deck, and a streamlined seaplane hull.
03:30Once the plane was finished, the pilot was doing test runs on Lake Maggiore to balance the hydroplane.
03:37Then, there was probably a boat in its path, or the pilot went too fast, and the plane took off when it wasn't supposed to.
03:44It broke up.
03:46By the time Caproni arrived at the lake, the pilot had been rescued, but trying to pull the wreckage out only made things worse.
03:53So, the plane never got to cross the Atlantic.
03:56The French engineers went even further and designed a plane with a body modeled after birds and named it Duck.
04:04It was supposed to have a steam engine to power a single tractor propeller to the front of its rotund body.
04:10The pilot and landing gear were supposed to be attached by cables and frame underneath the body.
04:16This weirdly-looking aircraft had an official name, but everyone remembered it as the Flying Pancake because of its saucer-like shape.
04:24This design was supposed to make it possible to land and take off in tight areas where regular planes can't fit.
04:31The prototype was a success with low takeoff and landing speeds, and the disc-shaped design helped generate lift.
04:38The engineers received funding for an improved version, but it came with flaws.
04:43When they were corrected, there was no longer a need for this quirky plane.
04:48German aeronautical engineer Alexander Lippisch came up with the Aerodyne.
04:52It looks like the rear part of an airplane after cutting the whole thing in half, but it could fly on its own.
04:59It was considered a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, the same group as helicopters.
05:04It combined lift and thrust using a single unit and flow channel like a ducted fan.
05:10Flaps at the end of the fan would divert the outflowing air.
05:14The first Dornier Aerodyne flight took off in 1972.
05:18Even though it was a success, the authorities lost interest in it and shelved the project.
05:25The pregnant Guppy, also known as Frankenplane because it was made of parts of other airplanes, has helped NASA on its way to the moon.
05:33Back in the 1960s, they had a problem shipping rockets from the West Coast to Cape Canaveral in Florida.
05:40Taking them by water through the Panama Canal took two to three weeks, and fragile parts came dented and corroded.
05:47And that's when John Conroy came up with a solution.
05:51His friend had Boeings he had bought but didn't find use for them.
05:54Conroy decided to modify the planes by adding a larger cargo bay on top of the fuselage.
06:00He didn't receive funding from NASA for his idea, but he never gave up and mortgaged his own house,
06:06sold his car, and invested all his savings into his project to prove it would work out.
06:12He borrowed the fuel to fly the prototype to Alabama.
06:15The plane flew perfectly and impressed everyone.
06:18The Super Guppy, as they started calling it, was successfully transporting rocket stages for NASA's Gemini program.
06:24Conroy built a total of 25 modifications of his aircraft to fit even larger and heavier equipment.
06:33The Edgley Optica EA-7 might look like a funky, futuristic Dragonfly aircraft,
06:39but it was designed in the mid-70s for low and slow surveillance or sightseeing missions.
06:44It features a helicopter-like cockpit mounted ahead of a ducted fan motor and an impressive 270-degree field of view.
06:54Its large ducted fan was running quietly inside and outside the cockpit.
06:59It gained renewed interest in the 21st century for border patrol, wildlife management, and fire-spotting missions.
07:06But because of lack of funding, there were only 5 out of the 22 built aircraft remaining airworthy worldwide.
07:12Have you ever seen a plane with two fuselages of differing sizes?
07:18The Rutan Model 202 Boomerang stands out as a multi-engine aircraft built this way to minimize the risks of engine failure.
07:27Unlike conventional planes, even if one of its engines were to malfunction,
07:31the Boomerang remains easily controllable thanks to its innovative design, which effectively manages asymmetric thrust.
07:38This design makes the Boomerang faster and more efficient.
07:41This plane was never designed for commercial use, but as a private plane for up to 5 people.
07:48You can tell that this short Skyvan was built for practical purposes, without caring too much about aesthetics, just by looking at it.
07:56And that's how this general-purpose aircraft got its nicknames like Flying Shoebox and The Shed.
08:02Despite all the mocking, the Skyvan has served well over the years.
08:06It's been around since its first flight in the 1960s, still transferring cargo and passengers today.
08:13It can seat 19 people and has a van-like large rear door for loading and unloading freight.
08:19That's why it's perfect for short-haul flights, activities like skydiving, and much more.
08:24We'll start our top 10 with the smallest plane in the world, the Star Bumblebee.
08:31It was built specifically to set a world record and get this title.
08:35Its wingspan is smaller than the average person's height, and the length of the plane is the same as a regular sedan.
08:41But this baby can surprise you.
08:45Its maximum speed is similar to a supercar, 190 miles per hour.
08:51Still, it has only risen in the air a few times, and it even had to make an emergency landing.
08:57But no one was injured, and the restored plane was given to a private collection.
09:02By the way, the cost of building one Star Bumblebee was about $10,000.
09:08So it was really a regular sedan among the planes, one that could only carry one person.
09:16Next on the list is a Cessna 172.
09:19This airplane is also a record-breaker.
09:22Not for its size this time, but for the number of built units.
09:27To date, more than 45,000 aircraft have been built,
09:30and it remains in production since 1956.
09:35As for its size, its length can be compared with the length of a limousine,
09:39and the wingspan is a little less than a school bus.
09:42Far fewer people can board it, though.
09:45Only the pilot plus three passengers.
09:48In 1959, this aircraft set a world record for the duration of a refueling flight.
09:55Two pilots took off at a Las Vegas airport
09:58and landed there in 64 days, 22 hours, and 19 minutes.
10:04Without refueling, the latest Cessna model can fly 800 miles.
10:09It's like the distance from San Francisco to Las Vegas and back.
10:12We move on to larger and more powerful aircraft, Embraer Legacy 600.
10:19It's slightly longer than a subway car, but much more comfortable.
10:23Figures.
10:24After all, it's a private aircraft worth $25 million.
10:28But if you want one, then be prepared to pay an additional $500,000 to $1 million a year
10:34just for plane maintenance.
10:36Now this plane is similar to a Beluga whale in its shape.
10:42Actually, that's what it's called.
10:44Airbus A300-600ST Beluga.
10:48It's designed to carry aircraft parts and external cargo.
10:53It's also transported space shuttles.
10:55It looks like a mother airplane carrying her baby.
10:59Beluga was the one who transported the Columbus module for the ISS.
11:04Its length is like two baseball fields and almost the same wingspan.
11:09Its cargo bay is so big that it can easily accommodate the fuselage of another plane.
11:15Amazingly, it only takes two people to fly such a huge machine.
11:19But despite the size of its cargo compartment, Beluga can lift no more than 47 tons.
11:27Or 30 hippos.
11:29Whatever they prefer on board.
11:31Its cost is about 180 million euros.
11:35It's almost like a fleet of 600 Cessnas.
11:40Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
11:42It's one of the most efficient aircraft in the world.
11:45This airplane holds the record for the longest flight without refueling.
11:50In March 2020, it flew from Papiete to Paris.
11:55The plane flew without landing for almost 16 hours and covered a distance of over 9,700 miles.
12:02This is like the distance from New York to Los Angeles four times.
12:07The cost of this big guy is estimated at $300 million.
12:11This is like 30 of the most expensive Rolls Royces or 30 million cinema tickets.
12:19Hughes H-4 Hercules.
12:21This is actually a flying boat and it was made of wood.
12:25It's the biggest flying boat ever built and it had an enormous wingspan, 321 feet.
12:32To get this thing in the air, 8 propeller engines were used, each with 3,000 horsepower.
12:39And even though this water monster was built in 1947, it could lift more cargo than the modern Airbus Beluga.
12:47Hercules could lift a weight of 59 tons.
12:51That's like a modern tank or about 30 SUVs.
12:55But originally, it was built to transport about 750 people at a time.
13:00Still, the payload and maximum speed of this aircraft remain an issue.
13:06This wooden guy has only made one flight in its life.
13:10It climbed to a height of about 65 feet and flew 1.2 miles above Los Angeles Harbor.
13:17Despite this, engineer Howard Hughes kept this monster in working condition for almost 30 years,
13:24spending about $1 million per year.
13:28Airbus A380.
13:30This is the largest passenger plane in the world.
13:33It has two decks and can accommodate about 850 passengers.
13:38It's like a population of a small village, all on board one airplane.
13:43To accommodate this many passengers, it has an impressive size.
13:47Its length is almost as much as a soccer field, as is its wingspan.
13:51And its height is more than a seven-story building.
13:56On top of all this, the Airbus can travel incredible distances without refueling.
14:02It can take off in Iceland and land on the tip of South America.
14:05The only disadvantage of A380 is its price, $445 million.
14:12With this money, you can buy four private islands in the British Virgin Islands.
14:18A Saudi prince once bought one of these and modified it into a private aircraft.
14:23Now, it looks like an expensive mansion or hotel inside.
14:28It has become the largest and most expensive private jet.
14:32It's estimated to cost about $500 million.
14:35Oh, and by the way, just to take off, this giant needs a runway of almost 10,000 feet.
14:44So not all airports in the world can take an Airbus A380.
14:49Scaled Composites Model 351 Strata Launch.
14:54An unusual name for an aircraft.
14:56But its appearance is even more bizarre.
14:59This aircraft fares the title of the longest wingspan in aviation history of all time.
15:04385 feet.
15:07This is more than the length of a soccer field, plus a limousine.
15:11The pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer are in the right fuselage cockpit.
15:17The cockpit of the left fuselage is used as a storage unit.
15:21Six powerful engines help this giant take off,
15:25and eight racks with a total number of 28 wheels help the big guy to land.
15:30Strata Launch was designed to launch Pegasus rockets from it.
15:34But now, it's going to be used to launch hypersonic flights.
15:39Well, whatever its purpose, pilots will have to be careful,
15:42because so far, there's only one Strata Launch Model 351 in the world.
15:47This is the world's first long-haul, double-deck aircraft.
15:56This baby held the title of the heaviest and most capacious aircraft for 36 years,
16:02until Airbus A380 appeared.
16:05Its wingspan is more than the length of a hockey field,
16:08and its length is 250 feet, which is equal to the height of 15 giraffes.
16:14This aircraft set a record for the number of passengers on one flight.
16:19During a rescue operation in Ethiopia, there were 1,086 people on board the 747.
16:26This plane was also used to transport the President of the United States, or his First Lady.
16:33In this case, the aircraft was assigned a call sign,
16:37Air Force One, or Air Force One Foxtrot.
16:41And the cargo version of this plane was used for transportation of the space shuttle
16:46from reserve airfields to the place of its launch at Cape Canaveral.
16:52Antonov AN-225 Maria is the heaviest aircraft ever built.
16:57It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.
17:03The distance between the tips of its wings is almost like the length of a soccer field,
17:07and its body length is 275 feet.
17:10This is like six school buses in a row.
17:12Naturally, it's a power lifter among planes.
17:17In 2009, Antonov was listed in the Guinness Book of Records
17:21for lifting the heaviest monocargo in aviation history, 187 tons.
17:27That's like 1,000 of the smallest aircraft in the world,
17:31the Star Bumblebee, or four Boeing 737s.
17:35But the absolute record for Antonov's lifting capacity is 253 tons.
17:41This is like half the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.
17:46Well, the records of this aircraft are quite long.
17:50Since its first flight, the AN-225 has set 240 world records.
17:56This is a unique case in aviation, and is in fact a record itself.
18:00This thing is not exactly an airplane, but it deserves a place on our list.
18:07The Caspian Sea Monster.
18:10It was an experimental wing ship.
18:12That means it used air force reflected from the surface of the earth or water to stay in the air.
18:19Formally, it was a ship, as it could fly at an altitude of only a few meters.
18:24But it looked more like an amphibian, and only pilots could fly it.
18:30A pretty complicated system, right?
18:32For a long time, it was the heaviest plane in the world.
18:36When it was empty, it weighed 240 tons.
18:40That's like 60 elephants.
18:42And it took 10 engines to get this thing in the air, five on each side.
18:47But it still had enough speed to get from New York to Washington in half an hour.
18:53That's it for today.
18:54So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
18:59Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
19:03So let's get started.
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