Radia, a Boulder-based aerospace startup, is building the WindRunner, an aircraft longer than a football field, designed solely to haul massive wind-turbine blades to remote sites, says IEEE Spectrum.
At 108 meters in length with a wingspan of 80 meters, WindRunner will dwarf the biggest commercial planes and offer a cargo volume 12 times that of a Boeing 747. Its interior bay spans roughly 105 meters long and 7.3 meters wide and tall, enough to carry either two 95-meter blades or a single 105-meter one.
Typical ground transport can’t handle blades beyond about 70 meters due to road infrastructure limits, such as tunnels and sharp turns. The WindRunner solves that by enabling aerial delivery straight to wind farms, even on dirt or semi-prepared runways.
Its design focuses on cargo volume; the aircraft remains relatively light and optimized for takeoff and landing on unpaved strips. A wide, stubby wing and multi-wheel landing gear help it land softly on rough terrain, and its nose swings open for easy loading and unloading.
With a payload capacity of around 72.6 tonnes and a 2,000-km range, WindRunner will cruise at Mach 0.6 at altitudes near 12,500 meters.
The goal: unlock “GigaWind” turbines that are longer and more efficient, cutting energy costs by up to a third. Radia argues that fewer, bigger turbines mean deeper wind access, lower installation costs per megawatt, and a cleaner carbon profile.