Just Planes/World Air Routes – Turkish Cargo A330-200F

Turkish

Highlights

Review by Marlon Carter. Turkish Airlines is a well-known airline that provides a world class product for the travelling public. Apart from providing a top notch passenger service, Turkish Airlines also provides a reliable cargo service under the name of Turkish Cargo. When it comes to cargo aircraft, we typically think of Boeing airliners that have either been converted to freighter variants or freighter models that have been delivered directly from the factory. Few of us may have ever imagined that Airbus would have created another cargo aircraft aside from the popular A300F.

In 2010, airbus introduced the A330-200F as the world’s most modern mid-size freighter and Turkish Airlines added this unique aircraft to their fleet soon after. The airline’s cargo division serves some 47 destination and in this video series we will be following the flight crew of the A330-200F on flights to Uzbekistan, Thailand, Nigeria and Italy.

As an introduction to the airlines and a fitting start to the video, the V.P of Cargo Operations provides a brief presentation on the services and destinations of the airline. After the presentation is completed, we join the captain of our flight to Tashkent for a walk around inspection of the aircraft.

As we walk around the aircraft, it is clear to see that the A330-200F is slightly different to the passenger model. To overcome the standard A330's nose-down body angle, the A330F uses a revised nose undercarriage layout to provide a level deck during cargo loading. The normal A330-200 undercarriage is used, but its attachment points are lower in the fuselage, thus requiring a distinctive blister fairing on the nose to accommodate the retracted nose gear.

After the walk around inspection has been completed, we join the crew in the cockpit as they prepare for departure. In preparation for our departure the flight crew covers an extensive briefing that covers all aspects of the departure including emergency procedures. In addition to an extensive briefing, the flight crew also enlightens viewers on how the MCDU is setup and how performance data is calculated.

After departing for Tashkent, the Loadmaster provides a brief presentation on his role onboard the aircraft which you will soon realize is a critical role to the safety of the aircraft. This presentation continues after landing with an overview of how cargo is offloaded and loaded onto the aircraft. While this may seem to be a simple task, loading the aircraft correctly as a loadmaster is a task that requires extensive training. If the cargo is not secured or loaded properly it can easily cause an imbalance that may ultimately lead to deadly consequences.

The next leg of our trip takes us to Bangkok and then onward to Istanbul. Highlights from these flights include extensive briefings, scenic night time views from the cockpit and more presentations from the loadmaster that covers the differences between the passenger and cargo aircraft which you will find very enlightening. The final series of flights take us on a round trip from Istanbul to Nigeria and Milan. While these flights did not include an extensive cockpit presentation, there were segments that feature cockpit preparation procedures and a brief overview of the temperature controls in the cockpit by the loadmaster.

Throughout this video there is much attention placed on the role of the loadmaster. While Just Planes has filmed many cargo flights in the past, this is the first time we are seeing the importance of the loadmaster on these flights. If you are interested in becoming a loadmaster, you will definitely find it useful to pay close attention to the final presentation by the loadmaster has he explains the training that is involved. In the end I think everyone will find this Blu-Ray very entertaining. It is perhaps the first and only time the general public will have the opportunity to experience A330-200F operations and it is an opportunity not to be missed! For a price of $30.00 I think this video is well worth it.

Additional Information

What I Like About the DVD

• Great scenery
• Creative editing and camera views
• Features very unique destinations and aircraft
• HD and widescreen format
• Fantastic Airline and Flight Crew.

What I Don’t Like About the DVD

• Nothing