World's Largest Aircraft Leaves Hangar For 1st Time

The world's largest aircraft, Airlander 10, has left the confines of its hangar for the first time since it was transported to the UK in 2013.

The short move out of the UK's largest hangar(247m long by 24m wide by 48m tall) at the former Royal Air Force base at RAF Cardington. marked the public debut of the Airlander 10, which has been christened the 'Martha Gwyn'.

Airlander 10 is now expected to complete ground systems checks before it makes its maiden flight, though a date for that event has not been given yet.

When it does fly, the Airlander will be largest aircraft in the skies.

The humongous aircraft is 92 metres long, 43.5 metres wide, and 26 metres tall. Its hull can hold 38,000 cubic metres of air and it has a gross weight of 20 tons and can carry a payload of 10 tons.

Powering the massive Airlander 10, will be four 4.0-litre supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 1380bhp.

Hybrid Air Vehicles is planning an even more massive version of the Airlander called the Airlander 50. The 50 will make the current Airlander look quite small (the 50 will be 119 metres long), when it finally takes to the skies.

However, neither aircraft will ever be able to match the size of the LZ-129 Hindenburg, which was a massive 245 metres long.