Was just chatting to some Fedex guys and they where explaining Sweeper flights to me. Basically they fill an aircraft up with fuel and no cargo and fly a very non direct routing to there destination passing major FedEx destinations. The reason behind it is to pick up any cargo in case an aircraft goes Tech at one of the cities. Here's an example http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FDX1311Does anyone know of any other routes out there?RegardsRob

That's interesting, I had never heard of that before. It would be interesting to find out how many of these sweeper planes FEDEX has airborne at one time. Smart move on Fedex's part.

Was just chatting to some Fedex guys and they where explaining Sweeper flights to me. Basically they fill an aircraft up with fuel and no cargo and fly a very non direct routing to there destination passing major FedEx destinations.

Did they actually land at these locations they passed ?? For instance, the flight passes over Lubbock, Texas. Did they land there, to pick up cargo? Or did they overfly Lubbock JUST IN CASE they would be asked to land and pick up stray cargo there?

search the airliners.net forums there are a lot of discussions on the sweep flightsthey only land when there is a need to pickup stuck freight, so they fly near certain areas just waiting for another plane to go tech

I don't remember where I read it but this came up last year with the ridiculous gas prices. Fedex cut down on the number they had airborne because of fuel costs. I know UPS places crews with aircraft on standby strategically throughout the world in case of another aircraft breakdown. I will try to find the article for the Fedex flights.RegardsRichie

Very interesting. I'd love to learn more about this.Paul

This is interesting. I would never had thought this happens. Seems a little wasteful but probably cost them more if the freight doesnt get where it needs to go on time.

Wow, that's kind of an interesting strategy compared to what UPS does with the rescue aircraft staged at strategic locations.We had a rescue aircraft scenario of our own at UPS today. We were advised our Airbus A300 from SDF was going to be red-tagged (put out of service) upon arrival. Meanwhile a UPS 757 from DFW was sent up here as a back up, and also carried a part that the Airbus needed. In case the Airbus couldn't be fixed, we were going to load up the 757 with critical cargo only and send it out.What ended up happening is the Airbus was fixed, we reloaded it and sent it out. The 757 from DFW arrived and stayed as a holdover, and our normal plane from Boise came in and we quick-turned it. Our ramp was kinda full tonight.

This is the best news Ive heard for my simming life.Now I don't have to stick to real life routes and I can fly to all sorts of destinations without the flight lacking a realistic feel.Thanks for posting this informationRichy

We had a rescue aircraft scenario of our own at UPS today. We were advised our Airbus A300 from SDF was going to be red-tagged (put out of service) upon arrival. Meanwhile a UPS 757 from DFW was sent up here as a back up, and also carried a part that the Airbus needed. In case the Airbus couldn't be fixed, we were going to load up the 757 with critical cargo only and send it out.

I used to work at SDF for UPS and was wondering why they would send the 757 for the A300's cargo. Just curious because the load capacity difference is fairly big.

I used to work at SDF for UPS and was wondering why they would send the 757 for the A300's cargo. Just curious because the load capacity difference is fairly big.

How long ago did you work at Worldport?Just curious, because on all the A300's in UPS's fleet, I wrote my callsign on the #1 position placard by the bulkhead, along with everybody else's signatures. Wondering if you'd ever seen my mark. Haha.

What we used to do at our flight school was have commercial students who were in need of cross country PIC time take a plane with another commercial xc'er and take a part and have the local repair shop fix her up. Totally different level than Fedex, but anyhoo...

What we used to do at our flight school ... Totally different level than Fedex, but anyhoo...

Nothing wrong with that my friend. Aim high!Paul

I got stuck in San Angelo Texas for a couple of days because of a downed alternator and a Sunday...free hotel room and tour of the town. I can promise that tour didn't last long...