The immense H-4 Hercules was conceived during World War II to move troops and cargo without exposing ships to submarine attack. Built largely from laminated wood because strategic aluminium was restricted, it flew only once in 1947, but its scale made it an enduring demonstration of ambitious wartime engineering.
INTERACTIVE MODEL LOADS WHEN NEARBY
2016 / ModernAirframe B
F-35A Lightning II
Lockheed Martin · Conventional multirole fighter
HISTORICAL FIELD NOTE
The conventional-runway F-35A combines low-observable shaping, sensor fusion, and internal weapons carriage with the lightest airframe and largest internal fuel load of the three F-35 variants. It entered U.S. Air Force operational service in 2016 and is designed for both air-to-air and precision-strike missions.
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATION BREAKDOWN
METRICHughes H-4 HerculesF-35A Lightning II
Top speed
250 mphREFERENCE VALUE
Mach 1.6REFERENCE VALUE
Ceiling
20,900 ftREFERENCE VALUE
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
Range
3,000 miREFERENCE VALUE
1,200+ nmiAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
Archive milestone
First flight · 1947REFERENCE VALUE
Service entry · 2016REFERENCE VALUE
Nation
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Primary role
Heavy transport prototypeDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Conventional multirole fighterDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Values are concise archive references and can vary by variant, payload, configuration, altitude, operating conditions, and source. Range may describe different published measures where a directly comparable figure is unavailable.
