# Maximum possible size for flight?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-possible-size-for-flight/118397>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 11, 2002, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-possible-size-for-flight/118397 "2002-07-11T11:39:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Damascene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Damascene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damascene)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-possible-size-for-flight/118397/1 "2002-07-11T11:39:37Z")

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I remember watching a documentary years ago which said that based on the laws on physics, it was enitirely possible to have a creature the size of a Boeing 747 Jumbo jet that was still capable of flight. I don’t remember if they meant gliding or proper, muscle-powered, wing-flapping flight, but it was flight nevertheless.

So is this true? Just how big could a bird get before its sheer size made flight impossible?

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-possible-size-for-flight/118397/2 "2002-07-11T12:43:57Z")

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Does it have to be designed like a bird?

I imagine a creature more like a balloon (something like a cross between an octopus and jellyfish). It breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen, stores the hydrogen in a bladder, and floats around hoping not to get hit by lightning.

Why not Hindenburg sized?

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-possible-size-for-flight/118397/3 "2002-07-11T12:59:10Z")

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The problem I see with such a creature (not the balloon type - that’s just silly\*) is the supporting structure would have to be stronger then the materials currently in use (bone) and still be light weight.

- Not that I against such a creature but the concept made me chuckle. Perhaps we will find some of these floating around titus.

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**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-possible-size-for-flight/118397/4 "2002-07-11T21:18:16Z")

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Err, **k2dave** , don’t you mean Titan? It would be pretty easy to have a balloon creature floating about in a dense methane atmosphere in low gravity. Jupiter itself would be another possibility. Carl Sagan went into this in _Cosmos_.

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**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-possible-size-for-flight/118397/5 "2002-07-11T21:37:41Z")

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Such a creature would still have to contend with the financial difficulties of buying two tickets for itself at the Southwest Airlines counter.