TOP AIRCRAFTS EVER

NOTE: We will be considering 2 aircraft categories- Civil and Military. 

               Weight, if specified, is always going to be the empty weight of an aircraft.

            

               All the aircraft should have a minimum seating capacity of 1.

            

               We are only going to consider winged aircraft. This means we exclude airships and drone                       from this blog.

Smallest:

Civil

Stits SA-2A Sky Baby - In 1952, Ray Stits sent the Sky Baby into the air with Robert H. Starr at the wheel, and earned the Guinness World Record for creating the “World’s Smallest Plane,”. These days, you can’t ride in the Sky Baby, but you can visit it at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Stits SA-2A Sky Baby
"Stits SA-2A Sky Baby" by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Military

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was the smallest military aircraft ever built. The inspiration for the aircraft was the samurai sword, and how much agile, quick and light it is. It was designed by the team of Jiro Horikoshi. This aircraft was the best dog-fighter designed for WW II.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero

Lightest

Civil

The lightest aircraft in civil aviation has to be Starr BumbleBee II. It weighs just 162.7 kg. It still holds the crown since its creation in 1984. Yeah! it was made by the person who piloted the world's smallest aircraft, Robert H. Starr.

Starr BumbleBee II

Military

The combat aircraft are always the lightest in the military. LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) to be specific.

LCA Tejas, made by the Indian military is currently the lightest military aircraft. It weighs just 6,500 kg.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. LCA Tejas

Biggest:

Civil

The crown here goes to a cargo plane (we know it obviously), the Antonov AN-225 Mriya. Even saying this name feels energetic. This aircraft is totally humongous in every term, be it length or width. Mriya here means 'dream' or 'inspiration', which it surely feels like! and then of course, its one of a kind.

Antonov Airlines AN-225 Mriya

Military

Here also Antonov takes the crown. Looks like Antonov rules the cargo sector in aviation. The AN-124 Ruslan is the biggest military carrier, currently servicing in the Russian and US military. Actually, the AN-225 Mriya above is the modified version of the AN-124. It was built to carry a space vehicle.

US Air-force escorting the newly arrived AN-124 Ruslan

Heaviest:

Civil

Well here also the Antonov takes the crown, AN-225 Mriya being the most heaviest aircraft ever built.

Its empty weight being 285,000 kg. That's the empty weight and astonishingly its even more than the M.T.O.W. of the airbus Beluga XL (227,000 kg).

Just a comparison of chart for you all

Military

Well I know that you will be considering the AN-124 Ruslan to be the heaviest in the military sector. That's not the case here as we are on considering empty weights here. The heaviest military aircraft is the Air-force One, with an empty weight of 238,000 kg. The weight is greatly increased due to the reinforcement of structure done in it.

The Air-force One (coming to service in 2022)

Fastest

Civil

Which one are you thinking of, the Concorde or any private jet like Cessna Citation? Well you are wrong in both cases. The Tupolev Tu-144 was the fastest civil aircraft ever built. It was faster than most of the fighter jets of old times (achieving higher speeds is easy in large body aircraft). The speed of this aircraft - 2430 km/h. It broke the Mach 2 barrier and was the first one to do it, even months before the Concorde was introduced.

 

Tu-144 photographed during its first flight

Military

X-15, the only aircraft on this list with a rocket engine was the fastest aircraft ever built. It crossed the Mach 6 barrier, making it the only one to do that.

NASA X-15

Slowest

Civil

The slowest aircraft in this world is indeed a fertilizer sprayer. Its the PZL M-15 Belphegor, with a top speed of just 200 kph. It was developed in Poland for the Soviet agriculture aviation.

PZL M-15 Belphegor at the fields

Military

The Anotonov AN-2 is the slowest aircraft servicing in military to date. It is just used for utility purposes like flying ambulances, light paratroop carriers. Top speed of this aircraft is just 258 kph. And guess what! its successor, the AN-3 just improved its top speed by 1 kph.

Antonov AN-2 of Estonian Airforce

Most powerful

Civil

Thinking that AN-225 the most powerful aircraft in the world will only get right when it gets equipped with GE9x engines. The tests for these are currently under process. Till then the Airbus A380-800 F (now discontinued by Airbus) or Freighter will remain the most powerful aircraft in the world. It has a total thrust rating of approximately 1450 kN. The AN-225 has a thrust rating of 1380kN.

FedEx A380-800 F on its last flight

Military

The Antonov AN-124 Ruslan, along with being the biggest, also has the highest thrust rating of 1360 kN. Its almost the same to AN-225 even though the engines used are different.

Antonov Airlines AN-124 Ruslan

Most Expesive

Civil

The most expensive civil aircraft had to be the mighty Airbus A380, if the Prince of Saudi Arabia hadn't cancelled the order in between. It was worth $500 million. But for now, the A340-300 owned by the Russian billionaire, Alisher Ashmanov is the most expensive civil aviaton aircraft. It cost him around $500 million.

 

Military

When it  comes to military, the have no boundaries. In this case the the Northrop Grumman B-2 spirit bomber is the costliest military aircraft ever, with cost per each unit averaging around $2.1 Billion. It is one of a kind advanced stealth bomber and also the most aerodynamic military aircraft ever built.

The iconic B-2 spirit bomber