When it comes to charter brokers, no other name in the industry carries more weight than Chapman Freeborn. 

Since the company's first L-100 Hercules charter over 40 years ago, it's built up a global network of locations and developed niche expertise with both Russian and Western-built freighters that regularly sees them move some of the world’s heaviest and outsized cargo.

Whether it’s transporting a 97.5 ton gas turbine rotor to the Middle East or flying an 18-metre long bus to Central Asia, here’s five of Chapman Freeborn's monster moves:

Chapman Freeborn and NATCO Global Transport Solutions & Projects successfully coordinated an Antonov AN-225 cargo charter to transport a 170-ton load from Switzerland to Bahrain.

The joint operation to move a gigantic GT13E2 gas turbine rotor, a generator rotor and other outsize technical equipment to the Middle East was the first time the world’s largest fixed-wing aircraft has visited Zurich Airport.

The six hour loading process involved both the AN-225’s ramp-loading apparatus in addition to two heavy-lift cranes. The largest of the pieces handled was a gas turbine rotor weighing 97.5 tons and measuring over 13 metres in length.

Chapman Freeborn's Italian team coordinated the airlift of an 18-metre, 20-ton Iveco city bus from Italy to Central Asia.

Chapman Freeborn’s cargo charter experts faced the challenge of loading the oversized cargo into a hold only marginally bigger than the vehicle, and loadmasters had to reduce the angle of the aircraft’s extension ramp using special equipment to allow the bus to drive safely on board.

If you’re a fan of the Discovery Channel you may well have seen one of Chapman Freeborn's cargo charters featured in the Mighty Planes documentary about the Antonov AN-124 aircraft. The film followed an AN-124 charter project to fly an industrial rotor and equipment weighing a total of 97 tons from Düsseldorf to Santiago de Chile.

The entire charter flight was accompanied by a camera team making a series about aircraft in various areas of deployment. Due to the weight of the cargo, the aircraft required four fuel stops before it reached its final destination.

The company's Brazillian team completed an Antonov AN-225 project to transport four giant pieces of oil and gas equipment totalling almost 150 tons from Houston to Sao Paulo.

The charter was again the first time the AN-225 had been used for an operation in South America. The equipment formed part of a Petrobras refinery project in Paulinia, in the state of Sao Paulo.

This list would not be complete without including the Boeing 747-800F - a new large-capacity freighter for the 21st century.

Chapman Freeborn recently moved an 80-ton energy component, but its favourite consignment was a 20-foot unmanned sea vessel which was transported, along with associated equipment, from the UK to the USA. The vessel pushes the boundaries of autonomous technology and will be used for subsea positioning and surveying in the oil and gas industry.

Story by Michael Cooper.