10 Most Popular Cargo Aircrafts

Cargo lift is one of the basic and primary necessity for an organization to run successfully and efficiently, for this various aircraft industries have manufactured a special and very important breed of aircrafts. These aircrafts are only meant for heavy duty to light duty transportation of equipment, passengers and troops. Their defenses are limited and thus are not meant to fight in any kind of war until or unless they are modified to do so like the AC-130 Gunship, a special breed of successful transport aircraft the C-130 Hercules.

After doing detail research, I compiled a list of the most popular cargo airplanes ever built in the history of aviation. These are as follow:

C-130 HERCULES

C-130 is most successful aircraft ever developed by the Lockheed Martin company. More than 70 countries right now are using these aircraft for multipurpose roles. This aircraft is easy to maintain and also fuel efficient. In 2007 the C-130 became the fifth aircraft after the English Electric Canberra, B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95, and KC-135 Stratotanker—to mark 50 years of continuous use with its original primary customer, in this case, the United States Air Force.

ILYUSHIN IL-76

Il-76 also known as ‘Candid’ is a soviet built aircraft and is used primarily for strategic airlifts. Originally built for the military, the plane has subsequently seen extensive service as a commercial freighter, especially for the delivery of outsized or very heavy cargo, and nearly 40 countries are using this aircraft.

ANTONOV AN-12

An-12 also known as ‘Cub’ is also a soviet made aircraft design to compete with the American built aircraft C-130. The first prototype flew in December 1957. Over 900 had been built, in both military and civilian versions, before production finally ended in 1973. Presently nearly 40 countries are operating An-12 for various purposes.

C-47 SKYTRAIN

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day. But still throughout the century this aircraft was the most popular and was used by many countries, and due to it’s popularity more modified C-47’s were built later.

ANTONOV AN-32

An-32 also known as ‘Cline’ is a Russian made aircraft meant for military transportation. The An-32 is designed to withstand adverse weather conditions and enjoys excellent take-off characteristics under tropical and mountainous (high-altitude) conditions, where hot or thin air hampers the power plants tractive effort. Indian Air Force is widely using this aircraft for military purpose.

CASA CN-235

CN-235 is twin turbo-prop engine built in Spain and Indonesia. This aircraft was designed for light duty lift and was made for the military as well as commercial use, the largest user is Turkey which has a total of 61 aircraft. Nearly 30 countries are presently using this aircraft.

C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

C-17 is a US made aircraft built by the Boeing industry. The C-17 is used for rapid strategic airlift of troops and cargo to main operating bases or forward operating bases throughout the world. The C-17 is operated by the US Air Force, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, NATO and Qatar, while the United Arab Emirates have placed orders.

ANTONOV AN-124

An-124 also known as ‘Condor’ is a Russian-Ukraine built aircraft and has the honor to be the biggest cargo plane in the world. Over forty are currently in service and 20 were in commercial use in 1998 in Russia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Libya.

TRANSALL C-160

 

C-160 is a military transport aircraft developed by a consortium of French and German aircraft manufacturers for the air forces of those two nations and that of South Africa. It is turboprop-powered and of conventional configuration for aircraft of this type, with high wings, and a loading ramp built into the rear of the fuselage.

C-27J SPARTAN

C-27J Spartan is a medium-sized military transport aircraft, with the engines and systems of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. The aircraft was selected as the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) for the United States military. Nearly 8 countries are using this aircraft for military air lift purpose.

Info Credit: WIKIPEDIA

Also See LISTPHOBIA for other Top Ten’s

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