Colorado-based Radia – designer and developer of the world’s largest aircraft – already has an alternative use case in mind for its upcoming 350-foot-long behemoth. In an interview with Aerospace Global News, CEO and founder Mark Lundstrom explained that transporting oversized wind turbine blades is just the tip of the giant’s planned capabilities.
Increase the volume
“I believe it’s the first time an aircraft has been designed to carry volume rather than mass,” Lundstrom revealed, clarifying that the Windrunner’s final volume will be about 12 times larger than the Boeing 747 and about nine times larger than the largest remaining Antonovs. This aircraft can carry about 70 tons (and accommodate a 105 m long rotor blade), so there’s no shortage of space.
Could it therefore be used to transport other cargo? “The size of the aircraft means we can use it to transport other things than just wind turbine blades,” Lundstrom said, adding that Windrunner is “well positioned to serve as an aircraft carrier.” Lundstrom clarified that “apart from this one, there are no large cargo aircraft in production – military or commercial,” and believes that “the world really has no unmet cargo market or unmet production of large cargo aircraft for several decades to come.”
Alternatives from production
With the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and Boeing C-17 Globemaster III discontinued (since 1989 and 2013 respectively), transport aircraft are hard to come by. The availability of the largest military transport aircraft in service (the Antonov An-124) has also been limited by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This is where the Windrunner comes in, which, in addition to its civilian missions, “can now exploit both market opportunities.” This mission has always been part of the plan, revealed Lundstrom, who explained that discussions with potential end users are ongoing.
Accommodation of military aircraft
Crucially, the Windrunner can accommodate an extensive range of military equipment in its front-loading cargo bay, including six F-16s or six Chinook helicopters with their rotors extended. To put that in perspective, whenever the F-16 has been carried on board a flight before, it has always been with its wings and tail removed: whether it was the US Air Force’s use of the C-5, the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s An-124, or even the four Israeli examples transported in the An-225 Mriya in 2021. The F-16’s 10m wingspan and its height of around 5.1m fit easily into the Windrunner, and at 15m long, there’s potentially room to spare.
Transporting aircraft by air offers operators a number of benefits, including lower costs compared to a traditional ferry flight and eliminating the need for potential aerial refueling opportunities. The man-hours saved not only affect the flight crews themselves, but also maintenance technicians who would otherwise have to maintain the aircraft after the flight. Radia’s unique advantage of leaving attachments attached also eliminates the need to reassemble the aircraft at the destination.
Operational considerations
“We could take six Chinook helicopters with their rotors built in and land them on a piece of earth in a foreign theater,” Lundstrom continued, pointing out that the Windrunner can operate from runways as short as 1,800m. “Compared to other large aircraft, we can land at about two-thirds the required landing distance, but our surface can be earth rather than reinforced concrete.” Placing the engines as high off the ground as possible – about as high as a three-story building – also helps reduce the risk of ingesting foreign objects. With a wingspan of just under 80m of an A380, the Windrunner is also optimized to use existing airport infrastructure and hangars.
Radia plans to have its Windrunner operational by the end of this decade. Keep your eyes on this space—everyone over 100 meters of it.
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