Aircraft With Unusual Purposes

When you think of aircraft, you usually imagine passenger planes, private jets, or military aircraft. But what about planes that aren’t designed just to carry passengers? Planes created for specific functions like saving lives, construction, espionage, as well as those that will transform the way we travel in the future.

We’ve put together a list of eight innovative aircraft — from old models to state-of-the-art. Each was specifically designed to perform a function or solve a problem, and each one required a completely new way of thinking about aircraft design and conventional aviation standards.

Click ahead to learn about some uncommon aircraft that serve important functions.

By Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani
(Posted: Feb. 14, 2012)

Beluga — Super Transporter

The Airbus’ Beluga is the world’s largest cargo carrier, designed to transport complete sections of aircraft.

Also known as the Super Transporter, the Beluga is more than 184 feet long and can carry a payload of 47 tons over a range of 900 nautical miles. A fleet of five Belugas is in operation today with Airbus, with the first being introduced in 1995. Its unique design, which includes the world’s largest main cargo deck, features a nose that opens to load the bulkiest items.

The Beluga was created as a solution to Airbus’ manufacturing needs. The multinational consortium manufactures sections of its aircraft in four European countries — France, Germany, Great Britain, and Spain. The sections, including fuselages and wings, are then transported by the Beluga to be assembled at a central location.

The Beluga has been used to carry space station payloads from Italy to the Kennedy Space Station in Florida, chartered to make commercial flights, and used to transport military helicopters, chemical tanks, and even large French paintings.

"Superscooper" — Water Bomber

The Bombardier 415 is an amphibious Canadian water bomber — the only aircraft specifically designed for aerial firefighting.

Also known as the "Superscooper" in the U.S., the Bombardier 415 was launched in 1994, and there are now 76 aircraft in service with more than 18 operators in 10 countries. The plane can scoop 1,621 gallons of water in 12 seconds while skimming water at a high speed. The aircraft can also complete nine drops within an hour, delivering a total of 14,600 gallons of water to douse bush or forest fires. The Bombardier 415 has also been utilized for humanitarian relief, search and rescue, surveillance and transporting workers.

In December, the aircraft type reached the milestone of flying over 200,000 hours and dropping over 1.3 billion gallons of water since its entry into the market nearly two decades ago. While the individual unit price hasn’t been disclosed, Bombardier did announce in March 2011 that it sold four 415 aircraft to an undisclosed customer for a total cost of around $162 million.

Skycrane

The Erickson S-64 Aircrane is a twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter that can carry an external load of up to 25,000 pounds at sea level. It is also the first helicopter to be built that gives the pilot an unobstructed view of the load being carried.

The S-64 Aircrane, formerly known as the S-64 Skycrane, was originally manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft in 1962, but its production rights were bought over by the Erickson Air-Crane company 30 years later. Erickson has made over 1,350 modifications to the helicopter since 1992. The S-64 initially gained worldwide fame during the Vietnam War after its U.S. Army model — the CH-54A “Tarhe” — was used to retrieve damaged aircraft and helicopters. In all, 380 damaged aircraft were retrieved, saving the military an estimated $240 million.

Since entering the civil aviation market in 1969, the aircraft has been involved in the construction of some of the world’s most famous landmarks. In 1975, it was used to lift the top section of the CN tower in Toronto — the world’s tallest free-standing tower at the time. In 1993, the Aircrane was contracted to remove and replace the “Statue of Freedom,” which sits on top of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. The Aircrane has also played a key role in the energy sector globally. Since 1971, the aircraft has been used to construct over 8,000 miles of electrical transmission towers across North America.

Hurricane Hunters

The Lockheed WP-3D Orion, also known as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) hurricane hunters, are flown into hurricanes at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet to collect weather data like the storm’s path and intensity.

Introduced in 1976, only two of these highly modified P-3 Orion aircraft exist. The turboprop planes are equipped with advanced scientific instruments like radars, sensors and recording systems to measure the atmosphere, climate trends and environmental factors like the state of the ocean and its fish population. In addition to hurricane reconnaissance missions, P-3s also participate in international research programs. One example of its research capabilities occurred during BP’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. A hurricane hunter was sent out to monitor the air quality and pollution above the gulf.

Last September during hurricane Irene, two P-3 hurricane hunters made repeated flights into the storm to collect weather data, which helped the NOAA successfully predict the hurricane’s landfall in North Carolina and its destructive route up the East Coast. But proposed cuts to the U.S. weather agency’s budget, which includes an over 40 percent reduction in funding for hurricane hunters, could undermine the aircraft's future.

Space Shuttle Carrier

The Antonov AN-225 Mriya is the world’s heaviest aircraft and the biggest plane to ever be built. With six engines and a capacity of 250 tons, the aircraft can carry up to 50 vehicles on board.

The AN-225 was initially designed to transport the Buran space shuttle for the Soviet space program. The first aircraft was launched in 1988, while a planned second was never completed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Currently, the AN-225 is in commercial use for the Ukrainian cargo company Antonov Airlines, carrying oversized payloads that were once thought impossible to transport by air. Discussing the value of the aircraft last year, Antonov CEO Kostiantyn Lushakov said the creation of a second AN-225 would require at least $300 million in funding and take three years to complete.

The aircraft has been used by a number of international aid agencies to provide relief after natural disasters. In 2011, it delivered humanitarian cargo, generators and equipment weighing 140 tons to Japan after the March earthquake and tsunami. The aircraft was also used to carry heavy construction equipment to quake-stricken Haiti in 2010.

Flying Car

The Terrafugia Transition is a light aircraft that also functions as a car and has the potential to transform the future of commuting. The flying car can go from being a car to a plane in less than a minute by unfolding its wings, without the driver having to leave the vehicle.

Designed by a team of MIT aeronautics engineers, the two-seater aircraft is made from carbon fibre, and a 100-horsepower engine has been under development in the U.S. since 2006. It made its first test flight that same year. As a car it can travel at speeds of up to 65 mph and fly at 115 mph for 500 miles on a tank of unleaded fuel. While it can’t take off in the middle of traffic gridlock, the $279,000 flying car could be ideal for those that want to drive and fly the same vehicle.

Creators of the Transition passed a major hurdle in July 2011 after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cleared the aircraft for road use. It was also named one of Time magazine’s 50 best inventions of 2010. The company is planning its first customer delivery by the end of 2012.

Stealth Drone

The RQ-170 Sentinel is a stealth drone used by the U.S. military for reconnaissance missions.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was developed by Lockheed Martin and has reportedly been used by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since 2007. The air force didn’t acknowledge its existence until 2009 when images surfaced of the drone. As part of the CIA’s most advanced and sensitive surveillance systems, little information has been released about the drone’s capabilities. Images online show a tail-less bat-wing aircraft. Its RQ designation implies that the UAV is unarmed.

The Sentinel was reportedly used for surveillance of Osama bin Laden’s compound during the Navy SEAL mission in Pakistan in May 2011.

The drone made headlines in December when the Iranian government showed television footage of what they claimed was an RQ-170 (pictured) in their possession after the drone was shot down while flying in Iranian air space. U.S. officials acknowledged that a highly sensitive drone crashed in Iran a week prior because of a malfunction, but said the aircraft had not landed intact. Iranian state television went on to report that the government would try to reverse engineer the U.S. drone and was in the final stages of unlocking the aircraft’s software secrets.

Space Plane

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is an air-launched space plane designed to carry tourists to the edge of space. The venture is part of business tycoon Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. The aircraft is based on SpaceShipOne, a revolutionary sub-orbital rocket designed by the aerospace designer Burt Rutan.

The company is planning its first passenger spaceship flight this summer in a bid to become the world’s only commercial spaceliner service.

SpaceShipTwo will be carried to launch altitude by a mothership called the WhiteKnightTwo. The smaller plane, powered by a hybrid rocket, will then fly to an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers). The journey, which is expected to last three and half hours to the edge of space, and back, will cost $200,000 per passenger. The 60-feet long space plane can carry six people, plus two pilots.

About 430 people have already purchased the suborbital trip, according to Virgin Galactic’s website. That compares to only 525 people have gone to space in human history. In October, the company also announced a deal with NASA, which chartered one full flight with options for two additional flights in a contract worth $4.5 million. Virgin Galactic plans to start commercial operations from its Spaceport America station in New Mexico by 2013.