What is the largest aircraft in the world?

The Antonov An-225 is the largest plane in the world, according to Popular Mechanics. The plane, originally designed for use by the Russian space program, is nearly as long as a football field and has a maximum takeoff weight of nearly 1.32 million pounds.

Creators of the Antonov An-225's design based its design upon the schematics of the Antonov An-124 military transport. Despite its size, the An-225 is a relatively maneuverable plane due to its split-tail design, which is also the primary design difference, outside of scale, between it and the smaller An-124 transport.

The An-225 debuted in 1989 at the Paris Air Show. The manufacturer discontinued the plane in 1993.