Boeing's 500-Foot Wingspan Cargo Plane Never Took Flight

Boeing's Pelican Super Transport was a massive cargo plane designed in the early 2000s to rapidly deploy troops and equipment into conflict zones.

The aircraft had a wingspan of 500 feet, weighing 1,600 tons, making it larger than any plane currently flying, including the Scaled Composites' Model 351 Stratolaunch, which has a wingspan of 385 feet.

The Pelican was designed to carry 3,000 troops and seven-and-a-half thousand tons of equipment within 96 hours, but its massive size proved to be its downfall.