Neither Boeing nor Airbus: This company is building the largest ever airplane for a very specific reason
An aerospace firm in Colorado is developing an enormous cargo aircraft that could have a crucial impact on the wind-energy industry.
A company in Boulder, Colorado is out to build what would be the largest airplane ever made - and wants to use the craft to revolutionize the wind-energy industry.
Founded in 2016 by the aerospace engineer Mark Lundstrom, Radia is developing the WindRunner, a plane big enough to transport super-size wind turbines to onshore locations.
A game-changer for wind energy
In a YouTube video posted by Radia, Lundstrom explains that wind turbines installed in offshore wind farms have blades that can exceed 100 meters (345ft) in length.
However, turbines built on land are typically limited to blades of about 70 meters (230ft) - a problem chiefly caused by the challenge of transporting the blades along roads not built for such enormous cargo.
Super-size turbines “simply too big” for our roads
“It’s the inability to move big things that is basically the barrier that prevents us from super-sizing onshore wind turbines,” Lundstrom told an interview with the BBC in July.
In Radia’s video explainer, Lundstrom adds: “The turbines are simply too big to get under bridges, through tunnels, around curves.”
Why are bigger wind turbines important?
By enabling the installation of larger wind turbines in on-shore locations, wind farms’ productivity can be multiplied, notes the U.S. Department of Energy.
“Larger rotor diameters allow wind turbines to sweep more area, capture more wind, and produce more electricity,” the agency says.
“A turbine with longer blades will be able to capture more of the available wind than shorter blades - even in areas with relatively less wind.”
How big is the WindRunner? Length, wingspan, payload
According to Radia, the WindRunner will be 365ft in length, with a 261ft wingspan. Compare that to the Boeing 747, which measures a comparatively paltry 250ft in length and has a 224ft wingspan.
The WindRunner will have a payload volume of 272,000ft³, which the company notes is some 12 times greater than that of the Boeing 747.
What’s the world’s current biggest airplane?
The WindRunner’s length and payload would also outstrip those of the Antonov An-225 Mriya, so far the largest airplane ever built.
Built in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, the An-225 was 275ft long, with a payload bay some six times smaller. The craft was destroyed in 2022, during fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Designed with a flying range of 1,200 miles, the WindRunner will run on sustainable aviation fuel, Radia says, and will be able to land on short, unpaved runways.
“It has the capability of […] landing on dirt within a wind farm,” Lundstrom says. “By doing this, we will be able to create the path to the cheapest energy in the world.”
Per Aerospace Global News, Radia aims to complete its first WindRunner in 2028, before pressing the craft into full service by 2030.
(NB: This article’s top image is AI-generated and does not depict the Radia WindRunner).
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