The enormous WindRunner cargo aircraft is edging closer to take-off as its developer secures key engineering partners ahead of a 2029 test flight.
Conceived by US-based startup Radia, WindRunner, which has roughly 12 times the cargo volume of a Boeing 747, has been designed to transport oversized payloads.
After a decade in development, the firm has moved past the initial design phase and is now working to combine its various advanced technologies into a single, functioning system. For this phase, Radia is teaming up with French aerospace company Latécoère, to develop the aircraft’s electrical architecture, and UK-based aerospace engineering firm Stirling Dynamics, to oversee the integration of its flight control systems.
"Building WindRunner requires more than designing a revolutionary aircraft. It requires assembling a world-class industrial ecosystem capable of delivering at an unprecedented scale," said Mark Lundstrom, founder and CEO of Radia.
Aerospace engineer Lundstrom...