By Fabrizio Panico
Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.
Whilst the present pandemic has impacted heavily on travels, and consequentially hit passenger airlines hard, the freight sector received a strong boost despite the reduced overall cargo demand. Airfreight carriers operate both with dedicated flights and with mixed flights (belly freight in passenger aircrafts) in a near half and half ratio. Air cargo demand fell due to the pandemic, but the huge reduction in passenger traffic cut capacity, as a consequence air freight rates rose and some passenger airlines decided to operate cargo-only flights. Cargo airlines even started bringing back into service older fuel-guzzling aircrafts held in storage due to demand and falling oil prices.
It is common for an older aircraft, no longer suited to passenger service, to be modified to accept air freight pallets. FedEx Express and UPS Airlines are among the largest all-cargo carriers, while passenger airlines often also operate freight divisions like Qatar Airways Cargo and Emirates SkyCargo, or nearer to us Lufthansa Cargo. We’ll see that promotional models are not limited to passenger airlines, sometimes only a change in livery is needed to make a freight version.
These models are, as already said in previous articles, plastic snap together kits, with a hollow fuselage, usually to 1:200 or 1:250 scale and made in China. They are accurate, quite easy to assemble quickly, with fully printed airline liveries and a stand to display them on, and best of all they are quite affordable.
Lufthansa Cargo Boeing 777 Freighter (1:200 scale by PPC Holland)
Lufthansa Cargo AG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa, headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, operating dedicated cargo aircraft, but also with access to the passenger flights of the whole group. A Lufthansa cargo subsidiary called German Cargo was operated from 1977 to 1993, later re-integrated into Lufthansa itself, but split up into two parts, one using Lufthansa-owned aircrafts, and another for chartered or leased aircraft. In 2004 they became separate companies, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo Charter. Lufthansa Cargo’s initial fleet was expanded by cargo-converted former passenger Boeing 747, to be then replaced by MD-11F and later on, in 2013, by Boeing 777 Freighter. Retirement of the remaining MD-11F was planned by December 2020, but it was delayed to 2021 due to the increased all-cargo demand caused by the pandemic.
The Boeing 777 Freighter is an all-cargo version of the 777 wide-body twin-jet, commonly surnamed “Triple Seven”. The 777 entered service in 1995, the world’s largest twin-jet, and easily surpassed 2,000 orders, with more than 1,600 already delivered. Advanced technologies in the 777 design included fully digital fly-by-wire controls, software-configurable avionics, LCD glass cockpit flight displays and the first fibre optic avionics network on a commercial airliner. The 777 Freighter shares the main features of the 777-200LR (airframe, engines and fuel capacity), based upon the “Long Range” model intended for ultra long-haul routes. Its maximum payload is 102,000 kg with a range of 9,200 km, with less cargo weight a greater range is possible. The 1:200 scale model by PPC Holland sports the old livery and the registration number D-ALFA. This is the very first 777 Freighter flown by Lufthansa Cargo, and the first one to be christened “Good day, USA” in a scheme referring to typical greetings of the countries they serve. The inscription is located near the front door, you could see it magnifying the picture. A large model, quite faithful, very impressive.
Lufthansa Cargo McDonnel Douglas MD-11 Freighter (1:200 scale by PPC Holland)
As already seen Lufthansa Cargo began from 1998 to gradually phase out all other aircraft types in favour of a fleet entirely consisting of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Freighter and its successor, the Boeing 777 Freighter. McDonnell Douglas was formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Before its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produced many well-known commercial and military aircraft such as the DC-10, and the F-15 and F-18 fighters.
The MD-11 entered service in 1990, with the same basic tri-jet configuration of the DC-10, with updated engines, a stretched fuselage and slightly wider wings with winglets, but range and fuel efficiency targets were limited, impacting sales heavily (only 200 built, all versions included). Many MD-11s were converted to cargo service, often retrofitted with later aerodynamic improvements packages and composite panels, and are still in active service. The Freighter version was produced until 2000, with a standard loading capacity slightly more than 90,000 kg, but range limited to 6,600 km. The 1:200 scale model by PPC Holland, like the 777 Freighter, sports the old livery while the registration number is now D-ALCA. Easily identifiable by its fully circular fuselage cross-section, its two engines mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer, the MD-11 F is an imposing model, well reproduced and a worthy companion to the 777 F.
Back to passenger aircraft now.
Air France Airbus A320-200ceo (1:200 scale by Socatec Aircraft Models – ref. 14599)
We have already briefly covered the Air France history (see part two), the French flag carrier (IATA code AF), part of the Air France-KLM Group and member of the SkyTeam alliance. No need to repeat it here, but an update following the pandemic reports the announcement of the elimination of 7,600 jobs in 2022, heavily impacting its subsidiary Air France Hop, the regional airline. Air France also announced that it would permanently stop operating its nine A380s due to the reduced air traffic.
Even the Airbus A320-200ceo is an old friend, the same mould already seen with the Joon livery (see part five). The quite heavy 1:200 scale model, apparently not an hollow fuselage, wears the more recent Air France livery from 2009. A white fuselage with the name “AIRFRANCE” in blue, one word (instead of two) in capital letters, with a red slash after the name. The tail is white with three blue bars (instead of four) and a red one, curved at the base to reflect the shape of the new logo. The largest of the blue bars carries a small European flag in its upper part. Since its creation Air France adopted as a badge the hippocampus logo of its predecessor, Air Orient, also known as the “winged seahorse” or “shrimp”. After the Air France-KLM merger, the winged seahorse was transferred from the aircraft’s nose to the engine pods. Like British Airways, Air France also repainted one A320 with its first livery for the company’s 75th anniversary. A nice reproduction, which is sometimes difficult to find.
Primera Air Boeing 737-800 (1:200 scale by Premier Planes, a brand of Premier Portfolio International – ref. 7437 – code SM737-157)
Primera Air Scandinavia A/S (IATA code PF) was a Danish airline owned by Icelandic tourism operator Primera Travel Group. Founded in Iceland as JetX in 2003, it was acquired by Primera Travel Group in 2006 and renamed. In 2010 operations were transferred to a Danish unit, to finally cease on October 2018. Initially, Primera operated charter flights, then started selling surplus seats on some of them. The success of this mixed charter/scheduled carrier business model allowed Primera Air to aggressively expand both its fleet and routes. But the 2017 decision to venture into the scheduled low-cost transatlantic market was the fatal one, of course helped by its previous low profitability. The late delivery of its planned Airbus A321neo fleet forced Primera to charter/lease other aircraft, leading to large losses and, unable to obtain further financing, to cease operations. Following the airline’s bankruptcy, Primera Travel Group changed its name to TravelCo Nordic, continuing to operate its travel agencies in Scandinavia.
The Boeing 737-800 is a variant of the 737NG (New Generation) series (-600/-700/-800/-900), an upgrade of the 737 Classic (-300/-400/-500) series, therefore it represents the third generation of the original 737. A narrow-body, twin-engined aircraft it has been produced since 1997, featuring larger wings, wider wingspan, bigger fuel tanks and allowing a higher maximum weight at takeoff (MTOW). With a longer range than the 737 Classic, the 737NG series includes four models. The 737-800 is a stretched version of the 737-700, replacing the previous 737-400 and competing directly with the Airbus A320. More than 7,000 737NG have been ordered and delivered. The 737NG is replaced by the 737MAX, the fourth generation introduced in 2017, an aircraft with some serious teething problems, grounded worldwide in 2020 and waiting for a new air-certification. The 1:200 scale model by Premier Planes wears the colourful Primera livery, but no registration number. Progress from the 737 first generation could be easily seen comparing the 737-800 with the easyJet 737-200 seen in part one. Another interesting model, well detailed.
As can be easily seen in the last picture, to display an air fleet requires a lot of space, much more than needed for scale model cars or trains, even collecting the smallest scale aircraft.
It is the same when it comes to storage. But in our case we are lucky. Being ‘snap-on’ models they can easily be “snapped-off” (with a certain care) and repositioned inside their compact boxes. Happy collecting!
Information about the producers of the featured models
PPC Holland (www.ppcholland.nl )
Premier Planes is a brand of Premier Portfolio International (www.premier-portfolio.net ).
Socatec Aircraft Models (www.socatec.aero )
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