🛩️ Aircraft Hangar
Every aircraft in this hangar exists (or existed) for real — these are the machines I've studied for thousands of hours, and the ones I fly in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Long-haul widebody
The first airliner built mostly of woven carbon fibre instead of aluminium. Lighter body, bigger dimmable windows, higher cabin humidity — it changed how long-haul jets are made.
🎮 Sim note: Watch the wings flex gracefully upward on takeoff — real 787 wings can flex several metres.
Double-deck superjumbo
The largest passenger aircraft ever built. Airports rebuilt gates and widened taxiways just to receive it. Emirates flies the biggest A380 fleet in the world — a familiar sight at DXB.
🎮 Sim note: It needs the code letter F — the biggest airport stands — so not every airport can host one.
Queen of the Skies
The original jumbo jet made world travel affordable for millions. The famous hump exists because the 747 was designed so its nose could swing open for cargo — the cockpit had to sit upstairs.
🎮 Sim note: The 747-8 is the longest 747 ever built — line it up carefully on the centreline.
Supersonic airliner
The only supersonic airliner to fly for decades. Its needle nose drooped down so pilots could see the runway, and passengers watched the sky turn dark purple at the edge of space.
🎮 Sim note: Flying westward, it beat the clock — arriving in New York earlier than its London departure time.
Long-haul flagship
Airbus's most advanced long-hauler, with sweeping curved wingtips and some of the quietest cabins in the sky. A version of it flies the world's longest routes.
🎮 Sim note: Spot it instantly by the black 'sunglasses' around the cockpit windows.
Long-haul twin workhorse
Proof that two giant engines can do the work of four. Its GE90 engines were the most powerful jet engines in the world — each fan is nearly as wide as a small plane's whole body.
🎮 Sim note: The first airliner designed entirely on computers — no paper drawings.
Short-haul champion
The best-selling airliner family in history, and the backbone of India's airlines — IndiGo operates one of the largest A320neo fleets on Earth. You've almost certainly flown one.
🎮 Sim note: Its upturned wingtips are called 'sharklets' — spot them at any Indian airport.
The world's flight teacher
The most-produced aircraft in history. Most of the world's airline captains flew one of these before they ever touched a jet. Simple, honest, and nearly indestructible.
🎮 Sim note: The perfect first aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator — learn it before the jets.
Heaviest aircraft ever
Built to carry the Soviet space shuttle on its back. 'Mriya' means 'dream' in Ukrainian. The only one ever completed was destroyed in 2022 — but engineers dream of building her again.
🎮 Sim note: Six engines to manage on takeoff — the ultimate multi-throttle challenge.
Short-haul workhorse
The most-produced jet airliner in history. Somewhere in the world, a 737 takes off every few seconds — the family has carried more people than any other jet ever built.
🎮 Sim note: Its engines are slightly flat at the bottom — squeezed to fit under the 737's low wings.
The folding-wing giant
The first airliner with folding wingtips — 3.5 metres of each wing swings up after landing so it can fit normal airport gates. Long wings fly efficiently; folding solves the parking problem.
🎮 Sim note: Watch the wingtips fold up right after it leaves the runway — like a bird tucking its wings.
Small plane, giant range
A single-aisle jet that can cross oceans — the longest-range small airliner ever built. It opens routes between smaller cities that could never fill a jumbo.
🎮 Sim note: India to Europe in a single-aisle jet — routes nobody could fly economically before.
The quiet little genius
Designed fresh from a blank sheet in Canada, then adopted by Airbus. Its geared engines spin the fan slower than the core — a clever gearbox trick that saves fuel and hushes the roar.
🎮 Sim note: Listen on takeoff — it's noticeably quieter than the bigger jets.
The smiling whale
Airbus builds wings in Wales, fuselages in Germany and France — the Beluga XL is the flying delivery van that carries aeroplane parts between factories. Employees voted to paint a beluga whale smile on it.
🎮 Sim note: Its cargo hold is so big a whole A320 fuselage slides right in.
India's regional connector
Propellers aren't old-fashioned — on short hops they burn far less fuel than jets. ATRs link India's smaller cities, landing on runways too short for airliners.
🎮 Sim note: High wings and big props — the best window views of the landscape below.
The plane that invented air travel
Before the DC-3, flying was a rich person's adventure; after it, airlines could actually profit from carrying passengers. Dozens are still working today, nine decades on — aviation's most unkillable machine. (The photo shows a C-53D Dakota — the military troop-carrier version of the same airframe.)
🎮 Sim note: A taildragger — it sits nose-up on the ground, so taxiing takes real skill.
The elliptical-wing legend
Its beautiful elliptical wing wasn't just for looks — the shape spreads lift smoothly and made it a dream to fly. The Merlin engine's growl is still the most famous sound at any airshow.
🎮 Sim note: The wing shape that every aerodynamics textbook still talks about, 90 years later.
Where everything began
Two bicycle mechanics from Ohio solved what the world's greatest scientists couldn't: controlled, powered flight. Their first hop was shorter than an A380's wingspan — 66 years later, humans stood on the Moon.
🎮 Sim note: No seat — the pilot lay flat on the wing and steered by shifting his hips in a cradle.
Fastest jet with a pilot
Flying at Mach 3.3 heated its titanium skin so much the whole plane stretched several inches longer. It outran missiles simply by accelerating. No piloted jet has ever flown faster.
🎮 Sim note: New York to London in under 2 hours — it did it in 1974.
Photos are real photographs of the real aircraft — see photo credits.