
They are the grey eminences of aviation. They are doing what they have to do without any ado. We hardly notice them when we take a flight from A to B. However, cargo aircraft can be as interesting and special as fighter planes or passenger aircraft. We are going to prove this.
We compared the following amazing transport aircraft by these means: Name - Country - Primary use - First flight - Powerplant - Empty weight - Payload - Specialty/fun fact.
USS Macon (ZRS-5) ā United States ā rigid airship, flying aircraft carrier (launched biplane fighters from its exterior riggings) ā 1933 ā 8 Ć 420 kW (560 hp) internal combustion engines ā 108,000 kg ā 72,000 kg ā The USS Macon and the USS Akron (ZRS-4) were among the largest flying objects ever built.

Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center
Martin JRM Mars ā United States ā cargo transport seaplane ā 1942 ā 4 Ć Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex Cyclone 18-cylinder radial engines ā 34,279 kg ā 15,000 kg ā It was the largest Allied flying boat, although only seven were built.

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Photo: Naval Air Station Jacksonville/Wikimedia Commons
Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant ā Germany ā heavy military transport ā 1942 - 6 Ć Gnome-RhĆ“ne 14N-48/49 two-row air-cooled radial engines ā 27,330 kg ā 12,000 kg. It was the largest land-based transport aircraft of the 2nd world war.

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Photo: San Diego Air & Space Museum
The Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the "Spruce Goose") ā United States ā heavy transport aircraft prototype (1 built) ā 1947 ā 8 Ć Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines ā loaded weight: 180,000 kg ā This is the largest flying boat ever built and it has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history.

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Photo: San Diego Air & Space Museum
Mil Mi-6 ā Soviet Union ā heavy transport helicopter ā 1957 ā 2 Ć Soloviev D-25V turboshaft ā 27,240 kg ā 12,000 kg ā The Mi-6 was the world's largest and fastest helicopter when it was introduced.

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Image sources: Repülés, 1966. július / Utak és jÔrművek, Magyar-Szovjet BarÔti TÔrsasÔg, 1975
Antonov An-12 ā Soviet Union ā civil and military transport aircraft ā 1957 ā 4 Ć Progress AI-20L or AI-20M turboprops ā 28,000 kg ā 20,000 kg ā Over 900 had been built, in both military and civilian versions.

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Photo: Bjƶrn Strey
Canadair CL-44 ā Canada ā turboprop airliner and cargo aircraft ā 1959 ā 4 Ć Rolls-Royce Tyne 515/50 turboprops ā 40,348 kg ā 29,959 kg ā Innovative fuselage design.

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Image source: Repülés, 1964. februÔr
Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy ā Great-Britain ā military transport/cargo aircraft ā 1959 ā 4 Ć Rolls-Royce Dart RDa.8 Mk 101 turboprops ā 25,401 kg ā 13,150 kg ā Its unusual "pod and boom" structure earned its nickname "The Whistling Wheelbarrow."

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Image source: Flieger-Jahrbuch, 1965. Transpress Veb Verlag Für Verkehrswesen Berlin, 1964.
Mil Mi-10 ā Soviet Union ā heavy military transport aircraft ā 1960 ā 2 Ć Soloviev D-25V turboshaft ā 27,100 kg ā 3,000 kg internally or up to 15,000 kg payload on platform or 8,000 kg max slung payload ā A transport helicopter of flying crane configuration.

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Image source: Utak és jÔrművek, Magyar-Szovjet BarÔti TÔrsasÔg, 1975
Aero Spacelines B-377PG Pregnant Guppy ā United States ā wide-bodied cargo aircraft ā 1962 ā 4 Ć Pratt & Whitney R-4360-59 "Wasp Major" radials ā 41,275 kg ā 22,670 kg ā This aircraft was built to transport outsized cargo for NASA's Apollo program, primarily portions of the Saturn 5 rockets.

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Photo: NASA
Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe ā United States ā heavy-lift cargo helicopter ā 1962 ā 2 Ć Pratt & Whitney T73-P-700 turboshaft engines ā 8,980 kg ā 9,072 kg ā A highly successful aerial crane used in Vietnam for transport and downed-aircraft retrieval.

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Photo: U.S. Defense Imagery/Wikimedia Commons
Antonov An-22 ā Soviet Union ā heavy military transport aircraft ā 1965 ā 4 Ć Kuznetsov NK-12MA turboprops driving contra-rotating propellers ā 114,000 kg ā 80,000 kg ā The world's largest turboprop-powered airplane.

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Bonus pic ā nice view with a bus:

Image source: Repülés, 1965. augusztus
Mil V-12 ā Soviet Union ā heavy lift helicopter ā 1968 ā 4 Ć Soloviev D-25VF turboshaft engines ā 69,100 kg ā 40,000 kg ā The largest helicopter ever flown, although only two prototypes were built of this transverse rotor system aircraft.

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Image source: Utak és jÔrművek, Magyar-Szovjet BarÔti TÔrsasÔg, 1975
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy ā United States ā USAF strategic airlifter ā 1968 ā 4 Ć General Electric TF39-GE-1C high-bypass turbofan ā 172,370 kg ā 122,470 kg ā One of the largest military aircraft in the world used to move vehicles and equipment.

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Photo: Senior Airman Perry Aston/U.S. Air Force
Bonus pic ā C5-A, the original version of the C-5 Galaxy:

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Image source: Repülés, August 1969.
Ilyushin Il-76 - Soviet Union - multi-purpose strategic airlifter, commercial freighter - 1971 - 4 Ć Aviadvigatel PS-90-76 turbofans - 92,500 kg - 60,000 kg - It has also been modified into an airborne refueller, waterbomber, and simulated weightlessness trainer for cosmonauts.

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Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
A-90 Orlyonok ā Soviet Union ā ekranoplan (a ground effect vehicle) ā 1972 ā 2 Ć Kuznetsov NK-8-4K turbofan, 1 Ć Kuznetsov NK-12MK turboprop ā N/A ā 28,000 kg ā The A-90 uses ground effect to fly a few meters above the surface. It is a Class B Ekranoplan, it can achieve an altitude of 3,000 m.

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Photo: Ivan Sekretarev/AP
Mil Mi-26 ā Soviet Union ā heavy transport helicopter ā 1977 ā 2 Ć Lotarev D-136 turboshafts ā 28,200 kg ā 24,000 kg ā The largest and most powerful production helicopter.

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Photo: AP//Dmitry Lovetsky/AP
Boeing 747-100 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ā United States ā two modified airliners NASA used to transport Space Shuttles ā 1977 ā 4 Ć P&W JT9D-7J turbofans ā 144,200 kg ā 68,585 kg ā Piggybacking Space Shuttle orbiters.

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Photo: German postcard, 1983.
Myasishchev VM-T Atlant ā Soviet Union ā strategic airlift airplane ā 1981 ā 4 Ć RKBM/Koliesov VD-7MD turbojets ā 75,740 kg ā 50,000 kg. The VM-T was designed to carry rocket boosters and the Soviet space shuttles of the Buran program.

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Photo: buran.ru
Antonov An-124 Ruslan ā Soviet Union ā strategic airlift jet aircraft ā 1982 ā 4 Ć Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofans ā 175,000 kg ā 150,000 kg ā The world's largest military aircraft.

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Photo: Bombardier Transportation/Getty Images
Antonov An-225 Mriya ā Soviet Union ā strategic airlift cargo aircraft ā 1988 ā 6 Ć ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans ā 285,000 kg ā 253,820 kg ā The largest and heaviest airplane in the world, carrier of the the Soviet space shuttle Buran.

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Bonus pic ā because it deserves the exposure:

Photo: Michel Lipchitz/AP
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III ā United States ā strategic/tactical airlifter ā 1991 ā 4 Ć Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofans ā 128,100 kg ā 77,519 kg ā The C-17 is used to transport the Presidential Limousine and security detachments.

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Photo: Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder/U.S. Air Force
Antonov An-70 ā Ukraine ā medium-range transport aircraft - 1994 ā 4 Ć Progress D-27 propfans ā 66,230 kg ā 47,000 kg ā The first large aircraft to be powered by propfan engines.

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Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Airbus Beluga ā France (and Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain) ā wide-bodied outsize cargo freight aircraft ā 1994 ā 2 x GE CF6-80C2A8 high-bypass turbofans ā 86,000 kg ā 47,000 kg ā It is basically an Airbus A300-600 airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and oversized cargo, and well, it really looks like a Beluga.

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Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) or Dreamlifter ā United States ā wide-body cargo aircraft ā 2006 ā 4 x Pratt & Whitney 4062747 high-bypass turbofans ā 180,530 kg ā N/A ā Used exclusively for transporting 787 aircraft parts to Boeing's assembly plants from suppliers around the world. Able to land and takeoff from Col. James Jabara Airport, Wichita, Kansas.

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Photo: Brett Deering/Getty Images
Boeing 747-8F ā United States ā wide-body freighter aircraft ā 2010 ā 4 x GEnx-2B67 high-bypass turbofans ā 195,800 kg ā 140,000 kg ā The second largest cargo jet after the Mrya.

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Photo: Boeing Dreamscape/Wikimedia Commons
Top photo: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Super Guppy. The awkwardly shaped aircraft is specifically designed to carry oversized payloads and has been in service since August 1965. ā Tech. Sgt. Christine Jones/U.S. Air Force
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