First of all, it's worth noting that the Freighters (or Freight Dogs, as they are sometimes called) are, so to speak, the unsung heroes of aviation. Whether it's a (small) Piper Cub carrying lifesaving essential goods in the Alaskan or Canadian wilderness, or it's a super-heavy 777F/747-8F/330F freighter flying across the Globe and high above the vast Atlantic or Pacific, transporting cargo to far-off destinations, they are all performing vital services...without the fanfare and publicity associated with their pax counterparts. Due to their mission-critical roles, it's the freighters (or freighter segments) that could withstand the severe (business) impact of the pandemic, felt by most airline operators. Actually, even becoming more profitable themselves during the pandemic, they, also, helped many major airlines (financially) survive through the troubling times...  

I'd earlier posted about Prime Air 767Fs, the backbone fleet of Amazon's massive ecosystem...carrying e.g., bits of our own (personal) on-line orders...I read today, "Amazon ships approximately 1.6 million packages a day which works out to more than 66 thousand orders per hour, and 18.5 orders per second..."...And it's the busy-bee (Amazon) freighters that are working tirelessly behind the scene of such large-scale (and time-sensitive) operations...

We do not (usually) see these freighters in colorful liveries, as their pax versions. See below e.g., the fictional (and eye-catching) Braniff Jellybeans colors (Green/Red/Blue), here, on an a/c you would least expect, the Tupolev Tu154B-2 Trijet... (or see the colorful HARIBO paint on a 737-800, seen, here recently...🙂...if you like colors...) ...! Also, we may recall Braniff's classic commercial from the 80s, "...We have blue planes, orange planes, yellow planes...You can fly with us seven times and never fly the same color twice..."...Oh well...anyway, the (exciting) airline colors surely do not matter for (or appeal to) "Cargo"...as they might do for "Pax"...So, we normally see rather austere (or/and plain looking) paints on Cargo a/c, nonetheless no less beautiful (and elegant) in their own rights...(see below e.g., the shots of "CMA CGM AIR CARGO", a new cargo carrier, founded just over a year ago, in 2021, and operating out of Liege Airport, in Eastern Belgium). As you can see, this livery is not overly exciting or eye-catching, adopting a practical look for its operator. The aircraft's paint scheme is a good example of how much less significant it is for a cargo carrier to have a "flashy" livery.... but nonetheless, yours truly (not alone, I hope...🙂...) happened to like this livery from the upload files of this week.... especially because I'd not seen it before...

So, please, find below, a set of pictures of the following a/c:

1. (Fictional Braniff Tupolev Tu154B-2) - It was an impressive Trijet, in a class by itself, that served as the (capable) workhorse for many national carriers...in the 70s/80s... (Though, of course, not for Braniff...but some of our repainters are dreamers...you know...). Notice the curious design (and angling) of the gears (see shot #3), mounted on the wings (not on the belly, as typical, compare e.g., with the AIR CANADA 777F gear shots below), for fitting into the wheel well when retracted. So, the Tu154 retracts the main wheel bogey up laterally rather than swinging 90 degrees towards the center like most other airliners. It's one of the many curiosities with this aircraft...
2. (Three Cargo Airline 777-200LRF's for CMA CGM AIR CARGO, AIR CANADA CARGO, and KOREAN AIR CARGO) - The 777F, a heavy freighter popular among the major operators, is an a/c that never ceases to impress one's aviation instincts (whether you're a pure enthusiast or a virtual 777 flyer). The a/c is a proven winner and heavy-lifter, and a remarkable (aviation) specimen of (modern) engineering excellence.
3. And I actually wished to fly/show a TUI Airways Airbus A330-200 in a UK (fictional) registration, that I also spotted today. TUI, a favorite of mine, also seen often, around here, historically, operated only A320/A321 Airbus variants, but no A330, and currently seems to be an all-Boeing airline. However, I could not make this TUI A330 to work for me, so, instead, please find below (shots #1/#2), an A330-300 and an A330-200, respectively, in the colors of Air Berlin and Edelweiss Air. The A330 is an excellent (and capable) long-hauler, I've travelled many times on, mostly with Lufthansa, with pleasant memories. These planes were actually the main reason, LH, an airline with a remarkable (and historic) tradition of (and association with) Boeing a/c since the infancy of jet travel never acquired one of Boeing's most successful long-haulers, the 777 (I'd found this very surprising)...This might change, though, if things fall into place for 777X (proper name 777-9), Lufthansa being one of the launch operators of the 777X (BTW, if you missed the impressive 777X takeoff pictures from the last month's Farnborough Air Show 2022, here is a 1-min video of it...please search for "Boeing 777X another ROCKETING 🚀🚀 Takeoff Farnborough Air Show 2022". The clip shows off the near vertical climb and also the so-called wingover maneuver, one that is described as a (challenging) combination of climbing and descending turns at high bank angles for a complete 180 degree heading change...) ...despite the scorching (prevailing) heatwave conditions in UK... it was the hottest day on record there...maybe...🙂...

Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures...! Thanks for viewing...!!

Edited September 3, 20223 yr by P_7878

Great set of shots! 😉 

Very nice, P_7878 !! And to see a Tupolev in Braniff colors is a sight to behold 😃

Grand collection of paint indeed !! . 

Thanks, John, Bernd, Will....appreciated the comments...🙂...!!

 

13 hours ago, bernd1151 said:

And to see a Tupolev in Braniff colors is a sight to behold 😃

Agree, bernd,...it's probably somewhat like seeing, or actually having seen here, Airbus in Southwest colors....🙂... Oh well...it's, after all, only a virtual world...if the repainters paint, we fly...!

Fine set of shots, like the tripple seven's !

cheers 😉