Radia’s WindRunner to support heavy-lift cargo sector

Planemaker Radia plans to enter the air cargo industry with a heavy-lift variant of its WindRunner aircraft.

Initially designed to transport wind turbine blades, Radia hopes to expand the WindRunner's role to provide air cargo lift, potentially making it the largest widebody freighter in the industry upon certification.

[caption id="attachment_57289807" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Radia hopes to fly the WindRunner by the end of the decade. (Courtesy/Radia)[/caption] The WindRunner, designed to carry up to 73 tonnes for up to 1,200 miles, will be available for charter in the commercial cargo market or any other industries needing heavy cargo lift capacity, Boulder, Colo.-based Radia told Cargo Facts .

With a length of 356 feet, a wingspan of 261 feet and a height of 79 feet, the WindRunner is projected to be capable of an average speed of 460 miles per hour.

Radia completed wind tunnel tests with the WindRunner in August 2021, it said.

Radia has inked agreements with five suppliers since it introduced the WindRunner at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, according to a June 2 release.

It expects to begin manufacturing the WindRunner in 2027 and plans flight tests in 2029, Radia told Cargo Facts .

The five suppliers are:

Spain-based Aciturri Aeronautica, which will develop WindRunner’s composite tail structure; Brazil-based Akaer Engenharia, which will develop the aircraft’s pressurized cabin and support key systems integration; Milwaukee-based Astronautics Corporation of America, which will develop and lead integration of WindRunner’s avionics systems; U.K.-based Element Materials Technology, which will lead design and integration of WindRunner’s fuel system; and Rockford, Ill.-based Ingenium Technologies, which will develop WindRunner’s high-lift control system.