NEW CARGO PLANE REVEALED
Imagine having to deliver blades to wind farms, but they’re each 91 metres long. Even the biggest cargo aeroplanes in the world will have to take possibly more than one trip and its carbon footprint will be devastating to the environment.
A newly designed cargo plane has been revealed by a startup in the United States. Its main aim is to deliver blades directly to wind farms. Not only that, but the plane will be able to land on airstrips as short as 1,800 metres.
The WindRunner will have a cargo bay volume of 272,000 cubic feet, enough to hold three Olympic swimming pools. That would make it 12 times the volume of the biggest Boeing and 38 metres longer.
The wingspan is the same as four bowling lanes laid end to end.
Radio, the startup behind the aeroplane has said that it hopes to start commercial operations as soon as 2027 already by focusing “on existing technology and safety by using, where applicable, tried-and-true aviation materials, components and fabrication techniques that have FAA approval, are already in mass production and are lowest-risk”.
Image credit: X-Plane