Most voluminous: Boeing 747 Dreamlifter
Surprisingly, the giant Mriya was not all-powerful. When Boeing needed to establish a supply chain of parts for the latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner, its capabilities were insufficient to transport Dreamliner wing and fuselage parts from Japan and Europe to the plant in Washington state. Moreover, none of the existing airplanes (the Soviet AN-124 and Boeing’s own 747-400F) suited the company, and bringing in parts by sea would have been too long. Then Boeing engineers developed (not without the participation of the company’s Moscow bureau) a modified version of the Boeing 747, calling it the Dreamlifter.
The difference of this, frankly, rather ugly aircraft (Scott Carson, President of the Boeing commercial division, even had to jokingly apologize to Joe Sutter, the 747’s creator, “for what [they] did to his plane”) is visible to the naked eye: The 747 is noticeably swollen – the hull diameter has been greatly increased, and its tail section opens sideways for loading.
As a result, the engineers managed to achieve a record interior volume of 1,840 cubic meters. Note that the Dreamlifter is not unique. The American Aero Spacelines Super Guppy (used to transport and carry spacecraft parts) and the European Airbus Beluga, which transports aircraft parts to the Toulouse factory, were built for the same purpose. Both of them, however, have a smaller useful volume.
