Carriers for long/lanky dogs?

So I've been looking into kennels for the flight, just to get a better idea of what the pet-moving expenses will be.

Pet Crates/Sizes

Turns out my dog is 26" high (probably too tall for the large crate which is 27" tall, but fine for XL which is 29"), 8" wide (fine for anything, including a cat-sized crate ), but a whopping 40" long!  That seems to limit us to a "jumbo" sized crate, which is 8" taller than he needs and about 15" wider than he needs, even doubling his width to give him plenty of space to turn around.

So, I'm happy to buy him a crate large enough that he'll be comfortable, but does anyone know if there are other crates made for the long/lean type of dog so I could potentially avoid paying extra for a ton of "air space", basically?*

Thanks!

*This assumes that the airline charges by volume, not weight, which seemed to be the case from the quotes I got from VA.

  Just wanted to add that one of our dogs is also longer than he is tall and we've had to go with the 'giant breed' crate...not nice on our wallet, but it fits the dog and by all accounts the airlines are VERY strict about crate sizes...something about the fact that the airlines can get fined by the UK for flying dogs in crates that are too small, so if there is a shadow of a doubt, they want them in the bigger crate.
  I have heard of some people making their own crates out of wood to custom sizes, but you'd have to weigh up the +/- of going that route...you'd have a big wooden crate to try and transport from the airport when you get to the UK...at least these plasticy ones come apart and you can gain some transport room that way.
 
Anyway, sorry I can't offer more--but wanted to let you know I understand I never really recognized how long my guy was until I went on a crate search for him--go figure!

Yeah, I suppose there is the build-a-crate option, but given that I'll be relying on family to get us to the airport, it's probably a lot easier just to fork over the extra money for an easily portable plastic crate that can disassemble.

I did take him to try crates out over the weekend, and he fits in the XXL one.  Technically he fits in the XL one, but he didn't seem too happy in there, so I'll opt for the XXL instead.  Slightly more money for the crate itself, and another $700 or so in airfare...yay!

Thanks for the info...it is amazing how much larger the animals are when you have to add a bunch of head/tail/legroom for them.  (It's extra-ironic since I can pretty much guarantee that he's going to flop down and snooze for the entire flight, so he won't be using any of that extra room!)