A monster aircraft bigger than we have ever seen before soaring through the sky is probably not the best thing for the climate – or is it?
The ambitious gigantic jet is called WindRunner and it is being built by energy company Radia for a unique purpose. The 356ft long plane would carry 12 times as much as a Boeing 747 (which is 127ft shorter) – and it would even be longer than the Wembley Stadium pitch.
One man behind the project is rocket scientist Mark Lundstrom. He is helping to design the plane to carry mammoth blades of wind turbines (some of the longest items in the world) to remote sites. The blades are so massive that the cargo jet – 80 times larger than the world’s biggest military aircraft – may only carry one at a time.
This would help solve the current problems of transporting offshore blades that struggle to get shifted because of their sheer size. It would also lead to more wind farms being created, according to Radia, which was founded in 2016.
The blades can weigh up to a staggering 26,000kg. One of the brains behind Radia told the Royal Aeronautical Society how bigger turbines and longer blades produce more energy costing 30% less.
And speaking about the difficulties moving the blades, Paul Hanna, vice-president of marketing for Radia, told the publication: “It takes a year and a half to plan a move of these things down a highway. You’ve got road bridges to get underneath, traffic signs that need to come down, homes that are near the off-ramp that may have to be moved.”
He said that the “only viable solution” was to build a huge plane that can pick the blades up from wind farms. And this is where the idea for WindRunner was born.
And despite being 79ft tall with a wingspan of 261ft, the plane could only carry one 105m blade at a time, or up to three 80m blades. The current average size for wind turbine blades is 229ft – but with WindRunner it is estimated that blades could soon reach up to 341ft resulting in more wind energy being harvested.
But thinking ahead, Lundstrom believes WindRuner could have multiple functions in the future – including military operations. This includes the possibility of it carrying F-16 fighters that would not need to be dismantled beforehand. The cargo jet could also be used in the oil and gas industry.
First, vice-president Hanna hopes to be delivering blades through the skies by 2030. He added to Aerospace: “We have the opportunity to take a dramatic and lasting amount of CO2 out of the atmosphere, and we’re giving the aerospace industry the opportunity to participate in reducing the cost of energy by as much as 30%.”
And emphasising the project’s commitment to addressing climate change, Lundstrom added to the World Economic Forum: “The necessity to fight climate change is something that’s a big motivating factor.
“It’s very unique to be able to have an aerospace solution to climate change, as opposed to contributing to the problem. And so for an aerospace engineer or for an aerospace company to be able to contribute their skills to fighting climate change, instead of just optimizing passenger seat miles or making a defence product, this is a unique opportunity for the aerospace industry to both get exposure into the energy world, and also be able to take many percentage points of CO2 out of the world.”