Radia WindRunner

[martinbayer]

Let's make it a VTOL and have some popcorn...

 

[OliverSedlacek]

That wasn't the CONOPS I read, they clearly talked about landing more or less at the site of the turbine generators.

You're better informed than me. My suggestion is more as a fall back.

 

[Stargazer]

Windrunner: Why there won’t be a scale prototype for the world’s biggest aircraft​

The company developing what is set to be by far the biggest aircraft the world has ever seen - the Windrunner - will not fly a scale prototype. Radia CEO, Mark Lundstrom, explains why in a wide-ranging interview with AGN on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.

Read article here: Aerospace Global News


A model of the Windrunner was displayed at Paris Air Show. Photo: Joanna Bailey

 

[Scott Kenny]

Windrunner: Why there won’t be a scale prototype for the world’s biggest aircraft​

The company developing what is set to be by far the biggest aircraft the world has ever seen - the Windrunner - will not fly a scale prototype. Radia CEO, Mark Lundstrom, explains why in a wide-ranging interview with AGN on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.

Read article here: Aerospace Global News

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A model of the Windrunner was displayed at Paris Air Show. Photo: Joanna Bailey

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If they're still talking about unimproved runways near the wind turbine areas, the design would be much better served with turboprops than fans. So that wing with 4x A400 engines per side, maybe even 6x per side.

 

[OliverSedlacek]

If they're still talking about unimproved runways near the wind turbine areas, the design would be much better served with turboprops than fans. So that wing with 4x A400 engines per side, maybe even 6x per side.

Might go against the ethos of using only 'off the shelf' proven components.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Might go against the ethos of using only 'off the shelf' proven components.

A400 engines are proven. You just need more of them.

Or are you/they meaning "parts we pulled out of the Boneyard"?

 

[Nicknick]

Might be the right approach for the prototype, Stratolaunch did that too, at least to a certain degree...

 

[martinbayer]

Please, bring on the megaplanes...

 

[OliverSedlacek]

A400 engines are proven. You just need more of them.

Or are you/they meaning "parts we pulled out of the Boneyard"?

Even though the engines are all proven and certified, using more than 4 will mean changes to the cockpit controls etc that call for more risk assessment and certifion. Then the fuel system with more permutations of 'tank to engine' feeds.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Even though the engines are all proven and certified, using more than 4 will mean changes to the cockpit controls etc that call for more risk assessment and certifion. Then the fuel system with more permutations of 'tank to engine' feeds.

So talk to whoever is doing the B-52 8-engine FADEC cockpit interface design and "acquire" a set, then install the prop controls.

Turbofans are distinctly suboptimal for dirt runway operations.

 

[OliverSedlacek]

I'm not disagreeing with your logic, just suggesting Radia will go with a sub-optimal solution as being easier to get flying. I've worked on enough projects where obviously good proposals were squashed by the cost of getting approval.

 

[Scott Kenny]

I'm not disagreeing with your logic, just suggesting Radia will go with a sub-optimal solution as being easier to get flying. I've worked on enough projects where obviously good proposals were squashed by the cost of getting approval.

It's just that the turbofans are so bad for dirt strips and anything approximating STOL performance...

And refitting the wing for props-at-wing-level versus podded-jets is a major redesign, so if you don't do it at Prototype it'll never happen at all.

 

[Grey Havoc]

The mods may want to merge this and then move the thread over to Aviation & Space:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/radia-windrunner.43192/

 

[OliverSedlacek]

Yep, that's the way these things go....

 

[Forest Green]

How Radia hopes to move DoD cargo with the world’s largest airplane​

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/09...e-dod-cargo-with-the-worlds-largest-airplane/

 

[alberchico]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1969365409120792586

View: https://x.com/TheDeadDistrict/status/1969365409120792586

https://twitter.com/x/status/1969352330073010273

View: https://x.com/FaySue6/status/1969352330073010273

 

[OliverSedlacek]

Re turbofans and dirt strips, those engine intakes are long way up!

 

[fightingirish]

Some additional pictures I discovered on the German aviation magazine website "FlugRevue".
Source (in German and restricted by a paywall):
https://www.flugrevue.de/zivil/radi...esste-flugzeug-der-welt-zum-militaerfrachter/

 

[RavenOne]

Just catching up as most of you know i attended Farnborough Air Show last week, so shared a cab with one of Radia VP from the rail station to the show itself, and popped to their booth. So my photos below including the swag I got!!



cheers

 

[Brett Davidson]

Update from AvWeek.

https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/...c-242-outsize-cargo-market-looks-new-entrants

Some design changes, moving the landing gear to increase hold volume.

The main point is that the outsize freighter market, while relatively small, is growing but ageing out and a new aircraft is overdue. The first An-124 flew 44 years ago and only 23 remain in service, of which five are in storage while the C-5 is limited largely to military or emergency operations and has a declining readiness rate, currently at 37%. The C-17 ceased production in 2015. The last 747 freighter with a nose door was delivered in 2023 (and the aircraft requires special handling facilities).

While WindRunner can carry only two thirds the mass than an An-124 can, it can can carry about double the mass that an A400 can and has seven times the internal volume of a C-5 so that it can deploy four F-16s or six CH-47s without disassembly.

The USAF has issued an RFI for a Next Generation Airlift requirement. They want an aircraft with a wingspan of 223 ft or less but WindRunner has a Wingspan of 261 ft. JetZero is also entering its design, the full-size version of which may be about 200 ft. So, the WR's wingspan may be a problem for the USAF unless they relax that requirement or Radia spends money and weight on folding wingtips for the military version.

Still,

By positioning itself for direct sales or as a fleet operator for lease to the Air Force and to commercial users, the company “can complement the existing fleet,” Lundstrom says. “We think there is a very interesting opportunity during the early 2030s to provide a powerful bridge to whatever comes next."

 

[Scott Kenny]

I think it would work just fine for hauling oversized cargo from developed airfield to developed airfield.

I still question their model of delivering wind turbine blades to dirt strips.

 

[Nicknick]

I think the idea of transporting wind turbines is long gone. They had the luck, to present a large transport plane just when the air force needed one urgently. So now they probably made it and will get enough financial backup to keep the project going for the next three years or so.

 

[Nicknick]

Re turbofans and dirt strips, those engine intakes are long way up!

That's true, but if you look on on the side mounted front wheels, they are directly aiming at the engine intakes...

 

[Scott Kenny]

I think the idea of transporting wind turbines is long gone. They had the luck, to present a large transport plane just when the air force needed one urgently. So know they probably made it and will get enough financial backup to keep the project going for the next three years or so.

Hopefully.