World's largest aircraft project to carry wind turbine blades

The WindRunner aircraft will be 108 meters long, far exceeding the world's longest commercial aircraft, the Boeing 747-8, making it easier to transport wind turbine blades on land.

Design of WindRunner, a giant plane that carries wind turbine blades. Photo: Radia — Design of WindRunner, a giant plane that carries wind turbine blades. Photo: *Radia*

The massive blades needed for today’s most powerful offshore wind turbines are not easily transported on land, limiting their use. Colorado-based energy startup Radia has proposed a solution: building a giant plane to transport wind turbine blades, Interesting Engineering reported on March 15. Called WindRunner, the aircraft promises to revolutionize the renewable energy sector by simplifying the process of transporting turbine blades.

WindRunner can reach a maximum altitude of 12,500 meters and fly from its center to a location 2,000 kilometers away. The size of WindRunner dwarfs even the most prominent commercial aircraft.

The plane is 24 meters tall and has a wingspan of 80 meters. At an incredible 108 meters long, it is 32 meters longer than the Boeing 747-8, the world's longest commercial aircraft. To put that in perspective, the Windrunner is almost as long as an NFL football field. Its impressive dimensions give it a cargo capacity of 8,200 cubic meters - about 12 times the volume of a Boeing 747-400.

With its massive size, WindRunner requires specialized infrastructure. For example, 1,800-meter runways are needed at the wind turbine blade manufacturing site to accommodate takeoffs and landings.

The WindRunner’s primary mission is to transport giant wind turbine blades on land. They can be 45-90 meters long and weigh up to 35 tons. This huge size makes it difficult for current transportation methods. For offshore wind farms, specialized ships transport the blades. But for onshore wind farms, traditional means of transport cannot carry the blades that are so large.

Mark Lundstrom, Radia’s founder and MIT-trained rocket scientist , spent seven years working with a team of engineers to improve the WindRunner’s design. In addition to solving transportation constraints, the aircraft’s capacity also paves the way for the development of larger wind turbines on land, which could help harness the full potential of wind power, Lundstrom said.

Radia revealed that WindRunner could take to the skies within the next four years. According to Lundstrom, the primary purpose of the aircraft is to accelerate the development of wind power. However, the aircraft could be useful for other tasks, including transporting heavy military equipment.

Thu Thao (According to Interesting Engineering )

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