Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant

what is it?

The Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant ("Giant") was a German military transport aircraft of World War II. It was a powered variant of the Me 321 military glider and was the largest land-based transport aircraft to fly during the war. In total, 198 were made, with 15 being converted from the Me 321.

🔎How to recognise it: 6 piston engines with propellers · shoulder wing · 55.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 285 km/htop speed
• range 800 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 130passengers
• size 43 tmax take-off weight
• built 201made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 84 years ago, in 1942.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 55.2 m: about 12 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 7 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1942-01-20

introduced

1942

retired

1944

status

retired

number built

201

role

heavy transport

origin

German Reich

makers

Messerschmitt

engines

6× Gnome-Rhône 14N / Gnome et Rhône 14N

crew

5

passengers

130

length

28.2 m

wingspan

55.2 m

height

10.2 m

max take-off weight

43 t

top speed

285 km/h

cruise speed

218 km/h

range

800 km

ceiling

4,000 m

wings

shoulder wing

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.