FSX-SE More Condor: Airbus A300 and ETOPS etc. (20 pics)...

[P_7878]

[Please read for a bit of Airbus history, or/and jump to the screenshots, below...]
In my earlier post, I'd explored the German leisure charter carrier, Condor (airline), by flying one of their 757-300 a/c from Tenerife South Airport (GCTS) to the German city of Stuttgart Airport (EDDS). This is an airline that currently uses the 753s as the backbone of its fleet. Historically, Condor had used a mixture of 757s (752/753), but the current (757) fleet consists exclusively of only the (stretched) 757-300s (13 examples). Condor has surely put the extended range of the narrow body 753s to remarkable (and profitable) use, by offering attractive (but far-off) leisure destinations from various major German cities.

I noted today that Condor's historic fleet also included 9 Airbus A300B4s (subject aircraft of this post), typically been leased from other airlines, including from (parent) Lufthansa. The A300, by itself, was a most remarkable plane, after all, being the very first Airbus entry, and with many other firsts to its credit, also providing the base airframe for the (later) evolutions of twin-engined A330 and quad-engined A340, on both of which I've had chance to travel frequently (excellent long-haul airplanes of their time). There must be good reasons the (respected) Cargo giants FedEx and UPS, as of today, operate 65 and 52 A300 freighters, respectively, in active service. In fact, FedEx was the last carrier to receive the Final production A300 (an A300F freighter) built by Airbus. In the words of a FedEx spokesperson, "Time has proven to us that the A300s... were excellent choices for our fleet...They have given us a great return on investment and proven to be reliable, all of which increases our ability to serve our customers...". Indeed, after half-a-century of its first flight, the A300 type continues to toil and prove its worth even today. BTW, sometimes coincidences are a bit hard-to-believe, the first flight of A300 (and of the first Airbus ever) was on Oct. 28, 1972, 50 years to the date from today (today being Oct. 27th, 2022) ...🙂...when I happened to decide to fly the A300, for this post...

Back to Condor: Condor has been in continued operation for more than 66 years and Lufthansa (the flag carrier of Germany), Condor's parent airline, had always played a critical role in the growth of Condor, from the very outset of Condor's founding, though Lufthansa's role and ownership in Condor has gradually been eliminated, in recent years. Take a look at the pictures, below, of Condor livery, and see if it reminds you of the older and classic (blue, yellow) Lufthansa colors. For comparison, I've also included 5 images of a Lufthansa A300B4, at the end, (see shot #s 15-thru-19), below. The A300 was world's first twinjet widebody, and was also, significantly, world's first ETOPS compliant aircraft. Due to its high performance and safety standards, in 1977, the A300 became the first (ETOPS) compliant aircraft. The A300 and the B767 (to fly 10 years later) were the two cornerstones of all ETOPS specifications, on which the B777/A330 would later build on. It's said, "The savior of the A300 was the advent of ETOPS, a revised FAA rule which allows twin-engine jets to fly long-distance routes that were previously off-limits to them..." Though not trans-oceanic, the A300s thus could get far enough over the waters into the Ocean and then get back into land...with impunity...🙂...without violating any regulatory rules...

Attempting (myself) to understand the concept of ETOPS a bit, I've shown 2 SimBrief FlightPlan Maps, below, where I've enabled the ETOPS scenario in SimBrief (a nice feature of this Flight Planner). The first MAP (shot #2) is for the flight of my previous post with a Condor 753 (from Tenerife to Stuttgart), essentially (nearly) up the North Atlantic coastline and then into mainland Europe. Because of proximity of land and airports, for this case, note how SimBrief MAP indicates in red text that, "ETOPS not required for this route", thereby allowing Condor to be not concerned about any ETOPS restrictions. I've then shown another MAP (shot #3) for a flight e.g., from Lisbon westward to New York, directly across the Atlantic Ocean. Here, the ETOPS rules would apply, as evidenced by the (overlaid) circles of equal radius/distance, with the Entry and Exit Points of the ETOPS segment indicated by Green square markers.  

The progression of (first) ETOPS (a/c) capabilities and certifications went as follows, as expected, between the two primary rivals (and makers) of long-haul airliners:

A300 -> ETOPS 90 mins; B767 -> ETOPS 120 mins; B777 -> ETOPS 180 mins; A330 -> ETOPS 240 mins; B777-200ER -> 330 mins

A350-XWB -> ETOPS 370 mins (Meaning here that the A350-XWB's ETOPS certification allows it to fly with full load and just one engine for over 6 hours, thus, covering 99.7% of the Earth's entire surface, allowing point-to-point travel anywhere in the world except directly over the South Pole...Amazing...considering that Wright Brothers' (historic) first flight, flown for 12 secs over 120 ft, top speed of 6.8 mph, was considered a marvel at one point...!)

So, please find a set of pictures, below, of the classic A300 (B4-200 variant, the 2nd A300-B4 variant built (after the B4-100) that had proved quite successful; the most successful A300 was the B4-600). Below, I'm lifting off Stuttgart (EDDS), and banking/climbing out northward towards Frankfurt (EDDF), the city Condor was founded back in 1955. The A300s were initially equipped INS (see my LH A300 cockpit shot) and later modernized with FMS based systems (see my Condor A300 cockpit shots). Also, if interested, please refer to this interesting article, "Honeywell Engineers Help Airbus 300 Freighters Fly into the Future"... (take note of those GA-like (extra-large) glass PFD/MFD displays) ...

There is also one image, below, of an Airbus A350-XWB, see the last shot, which is the latest mid-size/wide-body/twin-engined offering from Airbus, in the (special) livery of (ACJ350 XWB, Germany Air Force, Bundesrepublik Deutschland 10-01), touted as the world's most modern VIP widebody. This new VIP plane would fly the country's top government officials. So, from the (modest and tentative) A300 that had started it all for the Airbus lineage, all the way to A350XWB...it has been a most remarkable journey for Airbus...for sure...!

Hope you enjoy this collection of images...! Thanks for your interest...!

[paulb]

Very Nice! I enjoyed your flight 🙂.

[bernd1151]

Interesting piece of German aviation history, and great screenshots to follow, many thanks P_7878!!

[Jack_Sawyer]

Very good explanation of ETOPS P!  I was fortunate enough to be an ETOPS qualified mechanic.  These planes have to go through rigorous inspections.  ETOPS was also called Engines Turn Or People Swim.  Kind of dopey.

[Alaska738]

Very nice set of shots! 😉 

[pmplayer]

Fine set P_7878 - just like those classic one's !

cheers 😉

[P_7878]

Folks: Many thanks...!!

 

On 10/27/2022 at 5:41 PM, Jack_Sawyer said:

Very good explanation of ETOPS P!  I was fortunate enough to be an ETOPS qualified mechanic.  These planes have to go through rigorous inspections.  ETOPS was also called Engines Turn Or People Swim.  Kind of dopey.

Thanks for the comment, Jack, one thing I've learned in life is book knowledge is no match for practical experience ...🙂...Anyway, I hope the explanation helps a bit the less-seasoned (virtual) simmer, like I am... ETOPS was good fun exploring, and, yes, the rigorous inspection part for such certifications, cannot be underestimated...for sure...

[Jack_Sawyer]

12 minutes ago, P_7878 said:

Thanks for the comment, Jack, one thing I've learned in life is book knowledge is no match for practical experience ...🙂...Anyway, I hope the explanation helps a bit the less-seasoned (virtual) simmer, like I am... ETOPS was good fun exploring, and, yes, the rigorous inspection part for such certifications, cannot be underestimated...for sure...

It was very cool to explain it the way you did, 100% spot on.

[VH-KDK]

You put a lot of work into these posts and they are highly informative and enjoyable, well done.