Airplanes are one of the largest, and heaviest, mobile objects in our world today.
How much does an airplane weigh?
Airplanes can weigh between 2,000 pounds (907 kg) for a small Cessna, to upwards of over 1 million pounds (453,592 kg) during takeoff for an Airbus A380.
They weigh so much that they need well-designed runways to handle their massive weights.
That is exactly why airplanes cannot land just anywhere.
How Much Does The Boeing 747 Weigh?
The average sized Boeing 747, with passengers, weighs between 735,000 pounds (333,400 kg) and 970,000 pounds (439,985 kg).
That’s about the weight of 5 space shuttles!
Maximum Takeoff Weights Of Different Planes
- Airbus A330-800F – 1,117,882 pounds (507,063 kg)
- Boeing 747-400 – 875,014 pounds (396,900 kg)
- Lockheed C-5 Galaxy – 839,961 pounds (381,000 kg)
- McDonnel Douglas MD-11 – 602,523 pounds (273,300 kg)
- Boeing 767-400ER – 449,743 pounds (204,000 kg)
- Concorde – 407,855 pounds (185,000 kg)
- Boeing 727-100 – 159,835 pounds (72,500 kg)
How Much Does Jet Fuel Weigh?
The weight of aviation fuel depends on the type of fuel. One of the most common is JP-5 which weighs 6.8 pounds per U.S gallon.
Usually, an average airplane like the Boeing 747 burns one gallon of fuel every second. So, in a 10-hour trip, the plane burns approximately 36,000 gallons of fuel.
It can take an hour just to fill one of these airplanes up.
~ Fun Fact ~
The heaviest airplane in existence today is the Antonov An-225. It carries a maximum takeoff weight of 1,280,000 pounds (580,598 kg).That is just a bit heavier than the largest passenger carrying airplane, the Airbus A380. It comes in a lighter 1,265,000 pounds (573,794 kg) when fully loaded.
Resources:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/planes-dump-fuel-before-landing.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airliners_by_maximum_takeoff_weight
https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/question192.htm