December 23, 1913 rose in the sky The world's first passenger aircraft - the famous "Ilya Muromets"designed by Igor Sikorsky. The liner was electrified and more like a mini-hotel.
The designers equipped him with a warm guest lounge, bedroom, and even a toilet. One hundred years of development of passenger aviation showed that the ingenious designer turned out to be a real visionary. Just look at the huge modern airliners.
Tu-114
To some extent, this unique aircraft was out of luck. Having made its first flight in 1961, it could serve for more than a dozen years serving long-haul passenger airlines. But in the mid-sixties the rapid development of a new aviation page began. Jet engines were much faster than turboprop counterparts. Therefore, the life of the Tu-114 was limited to only sixteen years.
The world's largest turboprop passenger airliner
But what were these years! On the the world's largest turboprop passenger liner Soviet pilots set 32 world records - in terms of flight range, carrying capacity and passenger capacity. The aircraft, built on the basis of the long-range strategic bomber Tu-95, could carry up to 220 passengers.
The maximum flight range was 9720 km. Of the 31 aircraft built, only one crashed - on February 17, 1966, at Sheremetyevo Airport. The very first board was an exhibit of the Central Air Force Museum in Monino near Moscow.
Boeing 747 - the world's first wide-body aircraft
Anyone who understands a little in passenger aviation when asked what passenger airliner is the most popular, without hesitation, will answer - Boeing 747. The year 1969 marked a new era in the development of passenger aviation. A wide-body aircraft first entered long-haul lines. The chairs in it are not arranged in two, but in three rows. The business class cabin and the cockpit are located on the second deck. The number of passengers on the 747-400 modification aircraft is simply unbelievable - 524 people.
Over forty years of operation, more than one and a half thousand aircraft of the 747 series of various modifications left the stocks of the plant in Everett. However, a worthy replacement for them on intercontinental airlines is not expected. Competitors can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Few of them are able to transfer five hundred passengers to 15 thousand kilometers.
Airbus A330
In Europe, only one aircraft manufacturing concern, Airbus Industry, can hold back Boeing's expansion. Only his planes at the airports of the world no less. Starting with a simple and reliable A320, in 1992, French aircraft manufacturers launched an excellent A330 aircraft on passenger lines. Its main characteristics:
- passenger capacity - up to 400 people;
- range - 13400 km.
Over 26 years, 16 modifications of the A330 have been certified. A distinctive feature of the aircraft is a large number of engine suppliers. At different times, the liner was equipped with power plants of three companies:
- General Electric.
- Pratt & Witney.
- Rolls Royce.
Airbus a340
Almost simultaneously with the A330, Airbus Industry engineers designed yet another long-range passenger aircraft, the A340. Both liners are very similar to each other. 340th prior to commissioning, the Boeing747-8 was the longest airliner in the world. Modification 340-600 showed a unique result of the flight range - 16 670 km.
It would seem that the fate of the aircraft would be very happy. But in 2011, the release of the A340 was discontinued for economic reasons. In 2009-2010, aircraft sales fell to zero. He completely lost the competition to the American Boeing 777. The total fleet of aircraft for the 19 years of production amounted to 380 units. At different times, only four airlines became A340 operators:
- Lufthansa - 32 pcs.
- Iberia - 25 pcs.
- South African Airways - 16 pcs.
- Mahan Air - 14 pcs.
Boeing 777
The American Aircraft Corporation for the quarter century showed outstanding results.The number of Boeing 777 super-modern wide-body airliners that came off the stocks was more than one and a half thousand units. Up to 550 passengers can comfortably sit on one deck of the liner. The new liner exceeded the result of the A340 in flight range (17,500 km).
The uniqueness of the aircraft is that its power plant does not consist of four, but of two engines. The Boeing 777 is the world's largest passenger airliner with two turbofan engines. Their thrust ranges from 330 to 470 kN, depending on the modification and the manufacturer. From an economic point of view, the aircraft turned out to be very successful. Since 1995, output and sales have never declined. Orders at the end of 2019 for 427 pcs. exceed the actual release.
Boeing 747-8
A child of the 21st century, the heir to the famous Boeing 747, the new aircraft answered the question: will the operation of the liner, which will be half a century in a year, continue. Lengthening the upper deck allowed to increase the maximum capacity of the aircraft 747-8 to 581 passengers with a two-class seating plan. Before the launch, 242 tons of fuel are pumped into the caissons. Because of this, the take-off mass of the liner increased to almost five hundred tons.
The main task of the 747-8 aircraft is to restrain the expansion of the flying five-star A380 hotel. He has already taken away one record from the “Frenchman”. The liner is 76.25 m long, or 0.9 m longer than the 380th. And yet, while the contract for 118 aircraft does not look very impressive. Moreover, a significant part of them has been converted into "trucks". All cards in the hands of Boeing marketers. They have to figure out how to get around the two-story monster in terms of passenger traffic.
The largest passenger aircraft in the world
The largest passenger plane in the world is the Airbus A380. Due to the full-sized second deck, the total height of the A380 was 24.08 m. The developers took the innovative path in terms of completing the power plant. Four turbofan jet engines give a total thrust of over 120,000 daN. They are produced by the Engine Alliance consortium, which includes four major manufacturers:
- GE Aviation.
- Pratt & Whitney.
- SNECMA.
- MTU Aero Engines.
- For three modifications (codes 841, 842 and 843F), Trent 977 engines are supplied by Rolls Royce.
Aircraft capacity:
- according to the three-class scheme - 525.
- by a single-class scheme - 853.
The plane is more like a five-star hotel than a regular airliner.
The level of comfort in the salons is the highest. Accordingly, the cost of construction is also high - almost 490 million euros. 232 already built liners are operated by 15 airlines around the world.
IL-96
It would be wrong to keep silent about the contribution of domestic aircraft designers to the development of wide-body aircraft. The largest airliner in the USSR and Russia is the IL-96. It is designed in OKB them. G.V. Ilyushina. First flew in 1988. Further development of the IL-86 project led to the fact that the new airliner (modification 96-400) had very good characteristics:
- Flight range - 13,000 km.
- Passenger capacity - 435 people.
IL-96 - unique aircraft. Over the entire period of operation, they did not suffer a single major accident. One of the boards of the IL-96-400 is the unofficial title of "the first ship of the state." Simply put, he is part of the special squadron "Russia". The crew carries out air transportation of the President of Russia. The equipment and decoration of the aircraft are made to the highest level. For convenience and comfort the main board of the country has no equal.
Designing heavy aircraft is a very long and complicated process. Scientific progress does not stand still: aviation flies farther and faster. Ceilings of speed and altitude are hardly surmountable. There remain two main “whales” - profitability and comfort. It is on these fronts that in the coming years the competition between the main manufacturers of wide-body passenger airliners will unfold. Without a doubt, it will be very interesting!
