World’s Largest Aircraft Takes to the Skies With Help From AvAir

CHANDLER, Ariz. – With its football field-length wingspan and twin fuselages, it’s an undeniable feat of engineering, and AvAir is honored to have played a role in its production.

Stratolaunch, the world’s largest aircraft, weighing in at 500,000 pounds, took to the skies over California’s Mojave Desert on April 13, 2019, in its first-ever flight, and AvAir supplied key components used in its creation. Designed and intended to transport rockets that can blast satellites into space, the Stratolaunch came to be after Microsoft Co-Founder Paul G. Allen provided the funding for it, and the project continued to move forward despite Allen’s death late last year.

Among several parts supplied by AvAir for use in the aircraft were two legs of landing gear and two engine pylons, plus other smaller components. AvAir is a leading global supplier of aftermarket aircraft components for airlines, OEMs and MROs, maintaining a stock of more than 26 million parts at any given time.

“The Stratolaunch is one of the most innovative, state-of-the-art aircraft the aviation industry has ever seen,” said AvAir CEO Mike Bianco, “and we are honored to have this connection to it. Anyone who has seen it can attest that it really is an engineering masterpiece.”

While the Stratolaunch will reduce costs associated with sending satellites into space by eliminating the need for standard rocket launches, it can also easily avoid bad weather and uses less fuel than a traditional rocket.

The Stratolaunch had a largely successful launch, and the company behind it expects that it will begin hurling satellites into space sometime next year. For more about AvAir, visit AvAir.aero.