The World's Largest Vehicles
Let’s face it, while small cars are in vogue,
mankind still has the desire to constantly create vehicles bigger and better
than their predecessors. After all, the bigger the vehicle the more cargo you
can carry right? So how big are we talking here? Whether it be a plane, train,
boat or automobile it turns out there are some pretty impressive ones out
there. Here are some of the biggest.
World’s Biggest
Fixed-Wing Aircraft
Russia is a pretty big
country so it stands to reason they would make the world’s largest fixed-wing
aircraft. It is called the Antonov An-225 Mriya built by the Antonov Design
Bureau of the (former) Soviet Union. The An-225’s has a massive wingspan of 290
feet. To put that in perspective, a football field is 300 feet long, so this
plane would nearly fill one up. As for cargo space this plane can carry a space
shuttle on its back and is capable of transporting everything from train
engines, 150-ton power plant generators, and 130-foot-long, wind-turbine
blades. Or to gain even more perspective the entirety of the Wright brother’s
first flight would fit inside its
cargo hold.
World’s Biggest
Passenger Aircraft
If you need to transport
a lot of people somewhere quickly then the aptly named Airbus A380 is the plane
for you. Built by Airbus, the A380 started flying in 2007 and rather being
called a “jumbo” jet is classified as a “superjumbo” jet. So how big is this
thing? Well, the interior is 1.5 times larger than a 747’s with over 5,000
square feet and a floor capacity of up to 800 passengers depending on the seat
layout. Currently there are less than 50 of these flying the friendly sky’s but
that is likely to change as demand for these continues to increase.
World’s Longest Ship
You simply knew Japan
had to be on this list somewhere and since it is an island it only appropriate
that it builds the longest ship in the Knock Nevis Supertanker built by
Sumitomo Heavy Industries. The Knock Nevis is over 1,500 hundred feet long,
thus making it longer then the Empire State Building is tall. It has a bit of a
chaotic history as well. It was built in 1979 and was actually sunk during the
1980’s war between Iraq and Iran. However, the wreckage was bought, floated and
rebuilt and is now sailing the world again. France has a heavier tanker but no
ship is longer than this one. Sadly, it is going to be scrapped this year.
World’s Largest Tracked
Vehicle
If you need something
large engineered, it is only natural to call up the Germans and not to be
outdone, they have the largest tracked vehicle in the world. It is called the
Bagger 288 bucket-Wheel Excavator and is built by Krupp of Germany. It is over
700 feet long and 300 feet high (once again, the length of a football field) and
was built in 1978 to work in coal mines. Obviously, this thing doesn’t get
around much and moves at a crawl of 30 feet a minute and requires an external
generator producing 17 megawatts to operate. Surprisingly, its 12-foot wide
tracks don’t tear up the ground like you might think they would.
Author Bio:
Aiden Jefferson lives
and writes in Southern California. He primarily writes about automobiles and
education but occasionally dabbles into pop culture. If you need your own used
vehicle the search used car dealers such as http://www.enterprisecarsales.com/nissan/altima.
