There are giants in the clouds. And now we are not talking about one of the characters in the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk". These are huge, fast and powerful helicopters. Many of them are very representative in size by the standards of their class of technology. More importantly, the heavenly big ones are able to transport a huge number of people and lift loads that are significantly superior to themselves in a number of parameters.
1. CH-47F Chinook
The famous "Chinook" was born back in 1961 and has been in service with the United States ever since. The helicopter is used equally often both as a passenger car and as a flying truck. In total, the Americans have produced more than 1,200 of these helicopters. The car was upgraded several times. The payload of modern models is 12,284 kg.
2. CH-53K King Stallion
Creation of the Sikorsky aviation company. This transport and cargo helicopter was introduced to the United States in 2015. A vehicle was developed specifically for the Marine Corps. To this day, the helicopter is under state tests. It is known that together with CH-53K King Stallion fuel it can lift about 18 tons of load into the sky. In addition, the vehicle can accommodate up to 55 people.
3. V-22 Osprey
Strictly speaking, not a helicopter, but a tiltrotor. However, a direct relative of all the big guys listed here. Osprey has been in development for almost 30 years. They made the car all the same for the Marine Corps. Although the car made its first flight back in 1989, it was adopted only in 2007. The payload mass is 5.4 tons. However, the V-22 can carry up to 6.1 tons of cargo if it is attached to an external anchorage.
4. Mi-38
The junior colleague of the largest and most powerful helicopter on the planet. The Mi-38 was created back in the USSR, although the machine made its first flight after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 2003. Today it is operated by Russia and some other countries. The helicopter is positioned as a heavy cargo helicopter. The machine is capable of lifting up to 5 tons of payload. Most of the cargo is carried by the Mi-38 on an external sling.
5. Mi-26
Today, the Mi-26 remains the largest used helicopter on the planet. The machine is positioned as a multipurpose heavy helicopter for transporting extra-important and heavy loads to remote or hard-to-reach places. Thanks to two powerful engines, the miracle of the Soviet aircraft industry is capable of lifting up to 20 tons of cargo. The production of one such machine costs $ 25 million. A total of 318 Mi-26s were made. Almost all of them were released back in Soviet times.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about 5 best attack helicopters to transform the battlefield into the scorched desert.