The Antonov An-225 is the world’s largest most powerful cargo plane. It can carry heavy and bulky items, like a generator or a mining drill, across the world. It was even essentially in transporting the engines for the Boeing 777X to the airframe across North America. In today’s video from Found And Explained, lets’ explore the future of cargo planes, what would a future heavy-lift aircraft look like, and why it may never be built.
image: Found And Explained
This HyperTransport plane can carry more than a 747, fly further than any other cargo aircraft, and is far more fuel-efficient – this is the futuristic cargo competitor to the AN-225 built by both Boeing and Airbus.This plane would be modern heavy-lift aircraft utilizing the very best new technologies.
image: Found And Explained
With the learnings from other passenger and cargo airframes like the A380 and 747, and with the combined efforts of both aerospace firms – a truly world class giga-flying machine. This plane would be called the Proteus, after the greek god of the same name who served Poseidon and was capable of changing his shape at will to serve the task at hand. A fitting description don’t you think.
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This beast would have six high-bypass engines, such as the GE9X found on the Boeing 777X, or a future derivative, and would have a range greater than that of the AN-225 and at least equal to the 747-8F. With better engines and using learnings in fuel efficiency, we would expect this aircraft to have a load distance greater than 4,120 nmi (7,630 km).
When it comes to cargo-carrying capacity, this is where it gets interesting. This aircraft would be able to load in full containers, like those found on trains, trucks and boats, and fill in the missing link found in intermodal delivery channels, directly into the cargo cabin using its own onboard lift technology.. This would mean that while it wouldn’t be as long as the 747 and not suitable to tall items – like aircraft wings, but it would be more flexible for boxy items like giant turbines or engines.
