The Md-11f: From A Ramp Agent's Perspective.

[Guest keiron]

Why be so apologetic about the "long post"?I read it all and that was a fantastic read, full of true aviator emotion and happiness. I wish you all the best fortune for your future. Thanks for sharing your experience and the photos.

[Guest GAMER]

Why be so apologetic about the "long post"?I read it all and that was a fantastic read, full of true aviator emotion and happiness. I wish you all the best fortune for your future. Thanks for sharing your experience and the photos.

"In May 2004 at LAX, my dad was Captain of N275WA on a flight from ANC-LAX. The ground crew screwed up the unloading, and tipped the plane. The flight crew was stuck in the forward galley as the plane went up. At first they got the sensation as if the plane was rolling backwards, but a split second later they realized they were tipping. Fortunately, there was only minimal damage to the aircraft. The APU was running, and it would've been a major disaster had the APU caught fire. It took emergency crews 45 minutes to assess the situation and get appropriate equipment up to the plane to get the flight crew down."If that happened between 1990 and 1993, I most like worked on the crew that donated a tail cone to the MD-11 that tipped.Michael P.

[fghdgdfdfgfgf 111]

sorry.

[fghdgdfdfgfgf 111]

Beautiful post! Read it twice. thanx man,Ken

[Guest GAMER]

He actually gave a great description of the unloading process in his first post. Being as tail heavy as it is, the procedures for unloading the MD-11 are very specific. On the Lufthansa MD-11's that I used to work, the load crew was not to move any topside cans until the aft belly was empty. The aft belly was emptied from the door aft, then forward of the door. (The pallet position numbers escape me) Then topside positions 2L and 2R came out in order to clear the "ball mat". Then the left side positions came off, typically with 12L temporarily being spotted in 4L to provide additional ballast (along with 1L/R) to keep the CG well forward of the "tip axis" (which is actually marked inside the airplane). Then the right side of the airplane is brought forward, followed by the center positions. As 1L and 1R come off, the belly crew was allowed to empty the forward belly.We never had anything in the bulk compartment, so that was no factor for us. We also used to work the 747-200F, and we frequently did a simultaneous offload via both the side cargo door and the nose. Talk about a fast download.Probably the most fun of being a loadmaster is the variety of cool stuff you get to put on airplanes. I've personally loaded/unloaded a Ferrari F360 Challenge car, several Porshe 911GT2's, a Bentley Arnage, countless BMW's, Citroen's, and Benzo's. Not to mention the jet engines (CF-6) and helicopters (AS350, R22, B206).I don't miss the long nights of wrestling with jacknifed 20 foot pallets, broken pallet locks, missing side rails, inoperative cargo handling system wheels, warped cans, and my personal favorite: Dollies with frozen castors. It certainly was fun though.Regards,Nick

That is what I meant is you want to always keep the CG within limits and it seems the MD-11 requires more of a juggling act to accomplish this. The MD-11 is am awesome aircraft and I miss working on it. I loved doing landing gear rigging and flight control rigging. Many would run for the time clocks, but I worked over time to get the bird ready for customer delivery. The thing that killed it was the disappointing fuel burn that didn't meet the fuel economy promises. the funny thing is the MD-11 seems to work better as a freighter. I used to love the times I got to fly the MD-11 sim as this is my favorite aircraft.Michael p.

[Guest GAMER]

I remember some things that would happen while working on the MD-11 where we would have hydraulics on for rigging and people working in the cargo bay would reach up and grab some control cables and stuff would move, so we started kicking overyone out of the cargo bays before we brought hydraulic pressure up as a safety precaution.I also remember the time they inadvertently trigger the fuel dump on the west ramp(delivery ramp) while working on the overhead panel, and man did it shoot JP4 all over the place, I never got doused but some people did.I 'm remembering all the good times I had working on that bird, I was so sad when I got laid off as the MD-11 meant a lot to me it wasn't just a job it was a privilege to work on the MD-11.Michael P.

[Guest KHAOS]

N290UP came in today at 1615. This was exactly the same bird I had been on in May. It was good to see it again.Speaking of gold and explosives from my earlier post, guess what we had onboard tonight? Gold and explosives. :( In position 1L on a "cookie sheet", sat 515LBS of C4 explosives bound for Eglin AFB in Florida. In position 2R, was about 2600LBS worth of money from Brinks. I counted roughly 10 bags, and was told later that each bag contained $750,000 a piece. My friend and I were concocting evil ideas on what to do with the money, explosives, and a big RCA TV we saw in one of the containers. One can dream, can't they?Tonight, we got the aircraft unloaded in 35 minutes. Just like I had remarked yesterday saying we would. Our AM guys who were double-shifting and coming in on our shift really screwed us belly-side. We got our top deck loaded on time, ahead of schedule, but the belly guys slowed down and caused us to be late. Figures. However, as we finished and pulled equipment away...the weather in SDF was so bad that the plane had to stay on the tarmac here for a weather hold. Great. I ended up staying for an hour overtime. I decided to leave when they said they didn't need anybody to stay, as the ramp's empty, equipment is clear and there's no more room on the plane to stuff anything. Last I heard, they blocked out at 2225.Pictures:1.) A view of the center cargo compartment being unloaded with one of our smaller k-loaders. 2.) View from near the nosegear, looking aft at the open door of the forward cargo compartment, and farther back.

[Guest KHAOS]

More pictures from today:1.) During our off-load. In the group of cans far out from the loader, it's a perfect example of the types of containers we use. From the Left to Right of the first 4 containers: A2, A1, M1, L9. Also, in the foreground, you can see the edge of the bridge deck on the k-loader, and the elevator down below. Adjacent to the back of the loader is what we call an Omni-Dolly. It is a trailer that can hold 4 containers at once, however its purpose today served as a transition point for offloading 2 containers simultaneously. We rarely use this method, and this is only the 2nd day we've done this. This really helped us haul &@($* in offloading. We cleared the entire top deck off in 11 minutes flat. 2.) ADG (Air Dangerous Goods) manifest. Lists information about the cargo. This tag was on the 515 LBS of explosives we had on board. Notice that the C4 is listed as class 1.4L hazmat (Explosives with a major fire hazard), and is also marked 'ACCESSIBLE' - this means that the flight crew or anyone that needs to can access it in an emergency. 3.) This shipment's going from Hill Air Force Base here in Utah to Eglin AFB in Florida. 4.) One of my best friends and the UPS rep on board, next to the explosives on the pallet. 5.) Money, money, money. That's all we get to see of the cash in position 2R.

[Guest KHAOS]

I remember the first MD-11 delivered was a Finnair that went out with a Camaro in the forward cargo bay that the copilot bought while here, he said they sell for big money in Finland.Michael P.

Ahh, my other passion. Camaro's. :( I own one myself. Planes and cars are a big deal to me. I happen to be the founder and owner of one of the largest car clubs in the state. Do you or anyone here know if there is a picture of that plane being delivered to Finnair? I'd love to see that Camaro coming off as well. My friend would absolutely go nuts over it too if he saw it. :(

I read it all and that was a fantastic read, full of true aviator emotion and happiness. I wish you all the best fortune for your future. Thanks for sharing your experience and the photos.

Thank you very much for the appreciation and the well-wishes. Thanks everybody for the comments and the questions. If anyone has any more questions later on, feel free to ask.UPDATE: Links added in first post to video from that night. Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13RenT4DS-APart 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rSoJaCaJPA

[itifonhom 0]

You are lucky mate, I

[rservice 4]

You are lucky mate, I

[Guest sunbear]

I appreciate you sharing this with me. You should consider writing a book. Your command of the English language is right up there with Stephen King.Regards to you, and it's nice to know that there are some individuals who strive to do the very best in whatever field of work that they pursue. jack

[Guest lplucas]

Love to read your post. Enhances our handling of the plane.Thank you.Pedro

[Mace 1,896]

This is a great thread; by coincidence, I just flew the UPS liveried MD-11F from Miami to Budapest, simulating a nice long cargo flight.So, I have questions: Do UPS cargo MD-11 flights normally have a loadmaster on the airplane during flight? Or is the loadmaster ground personnel? How many crew does UPS have on MD-11's? Do they double-crew for long flights?

[Guest KHAOS]

This is a great thread; by coincidence, I just flew the UPS liveried MD-11F from Miami to Budapest, simulating a nice long cargo flight.So, I have questions: Do UPS cargo MD-11 flights normally have a loadmaster on the airplane during flight? Or is the loadmaster ground personnel? How many crew does UPS have on MD-11's? Do they double-crew for long flights?

Loadmaster is ground personnel. There's no need to bring one on board, as there's always people trained how to do it at each facility. I'm sure UPS staffs the crew just like any other MD-11 operator. Captain and F/O on short flights, sometimes with an observer or reserve F/O. Double-crew on longer flights.Update for today on the MD-11. Friday here in Utah, and heavy snowfall. We received about 12 inches of snow within an 8 hour period. Winds this morning preceding the inbound storm were at 45kts sustained, gusting to 60. They apparently had to halt unloading the MD-11 on the AM shift because it was too dangerous. Even containers weighing 4,000 lbs were getting whipped around by the wind. Our 4 jets and all feeder aircraft were delayed by 1-3 hours because of the snow. It was snowing so bad, that snow plows could not keep up with clearing the ramp. I think at one point they said after about 4 hours of straight plowing, "Screw you guys" and left us up to our own devices. We ended up with an inch of loose snow on top of ice. It was a skating rink out there. The MD-11 came in at 7:22PM, 2 hrs behind schedule. I didn't even get to touch it, as I was running errands elsewhere and the unload was put on hold. We had DC-8's to quick-turn, and they took priority. The MD was staying overnight anyway. I had clocked out and left for home at 2130, as I was heading into overtime, and there was no incentive to stay. Apparently, they managed to find some people to unload the plane at 2230. It'll come back tomorrow and Sunday. My health permitting, I'll be back then to help unload it. But I think at this rate, this cold that I've caught is going to kick my &@($*...and frankly, I need a weekend right now.