A large military cargo aircraft: the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III

A cargo aircraft (also known as freighters or freight aircraft) is an fixed-wing aircraft designed or converted for the carriage of goods, rather than passengers. The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft. They are devoid of passenger amenities, and generally feature one or more large doors for the loading and unloading of cargo. Freighters may be operated by civil passenger or cargo airlines, by private individuals or by the armed forces of individual countries. Cargo airlines (or airfreight carriers, and derivatives of these names are Airlines dedicated to the Transport of Cargo. For the military meaning see Armed forces. For the Soviet sports society see Armed Forces (sports society Armed Forces However most air freight is carried in special ULD containers in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft. Cargo airlines (or airfreight carriers, and derivatives of these names are Airlines dedicated to the Transport of Cargo. A unit load device, or ULD is a Pallet or container used to load luggage freight and mail on Wide-body aircraft and specific Narrow-body aircraft Cargo (or freight) refers to goods or produce transported generally for Commercial gain by ship, aircraft, train, An airliner is a large Fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers An airliner is a large Fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers

Aircraft designed for cargo use have a number of features that distinguish them from conventional passenger aircraft;:a "fat" looking fuselage, a high-wing to allow the cargo area to sit near the ground, a large number of wheels to allow it to land at unprepared locations, and a high-mounted tail to allow cargo to be driven directly into and off the aircraft.

History

A Bristol Freighter from the 1960s, with front opening clamshell doors and 747 style flight deck buldge

Aircraft were put to use carrying cargo in the form of air mail as early as 1911. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A cockpit is the area usually near the front of an Aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft Airmail (or air mail) is Mail that is transported by Aircraft. Although the earliest aircraft were not designed primarily as cargo carriers, by the mid 1920's airplane manufacturers were designing and building dedicated cargo aircraft.

The earliest "true" cargo aircraft is arguably the World War II German design, the Arado Ar 232. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Arado Ar 232 Tausendfüssler ( German:"Millipede" was the first truly modern transport aircraft, designed and built in small The Ar 232 was intended to supplant the earlier Junkers Ju 52 freighter conversions, but only small numbers were built. WikipediaWikiProject Most other forces used freighters in the cargo role as well, most notably the Douglas DC-3, which served with practically every allied nation. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Post war Europe also served to play a major role in the development of the modern air cargo and air freight industry during what became known as the "Cold War. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the " It is during the Berlin Airlift at the height of this "Cold War," when a massive mobilization of aircraft was undertaken by the "free world," to supply Germany's citizens with food and supplies, in a virtual around the clock air bridge; after the Soviet Union attempted to close and blockade Berlin's borders and land links to the west. The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 11 May 1949 was one of the first major international crises of the Cold war. For other uses of the word see Free world (disambiguation. The Free World is a Cold War -era term often applied to or used by non- An airbridge is the route and means of delivering material from one place to another by an Airlift. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies Troops information or aid from reaching an opposing force

In the years following the war era a number of new custom-built cargo aircraft were introduced, often including some "experimental" features. For instance, the US's C-82 Packet featured a removable cargo area, while the C-123 Provider introduced the now-common upswept tail. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout But it was the introduction of the turboprop that allowed the class to mature, and even one of its earliest examples, the C-130 Hercules, is still the yardstick against which newer military transport aircraft designs are measured. A turboprop engine is a type of aircraft powerplant that uses a Gas turbine engine to drive a Propeller. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Military Transport Aircraft or MTA is a division of EADS which designs manufactures and commercialises light and medium transport aircraft

Today

Most conversions are carried out on older aircraft no longer suitable for passenger use, often due to changing safety or noise requirements, or when the aircraft type is considered to have become uncompetitive in passenger airline service, but there is also a market for new-build freighter designs. A passenger airline is an Airline dedicated to the Transport of Passengers Cf Freighter aircraft normally have strengthened cabin floors and the inclusion of a broad top-hinged door on the port fuselage in addition to an absence of passenger cabin windows which are "plugged. Port is the nautical term (used on Boats and Ships) that refers to the left side of a ship as perceived by a person on board the ship and The fuselage (from the French fuselé "spindle-shaped" is an Aircraft 's main body section that holds crew and passengers or Cargo "

The Boeing 747 can be ordered in a freighter version with a large nose door which could be raised above the cockpit for loading. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The bulged top deck housing the cockpit was originally designed to allow an unobstructed main deck, and to keep cargo from crushing the pilots in the case of an accident. The interior size of the fuselage is matched to the size of a standard cargo container, stacked two high and two wide. Containerization (or containerisation) is a system of Intermodal freight transport Cargo Transport using standard ISO containers

Other types of specialized civilian cargo aircraft configurations, include the swing-tail Canadair CL-44 and Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter, and the clamshell tail CASA CN-235. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter ( LCF) known as the Dreamlifter, is a modified Boeing 747-400 used exclusively for transporting aircraft WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Examples

One of Heavylift's Boeing 727-100Fs waiting for cargo through its large passenger level cargo door

Cargolux Boeing 747-400F

Early Air mail and airlift logistics aircraft

Important "airlift and logistics;" "cargo-liners," "mail-liners," and "mail aircraft. Heavylift Cargo Airlines Pty Ltd is a Cargo airline based in Rosebery, Sydney, Australia. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies primarily via Aircraft. Logistics is the management of the flow of Goods, Information and other resources including Energy and people between the point of origin and the point "

• Avro Lancastrian (Transatlantic mail)
• Avro York (Berlin Airlift)
• Boeing C-7000
• Curtiss JN4H
• Douglas M-2

Civilian Cargo/Freight Aircraft

• Aero Spacelines Super Guppy
• Airbus A320 (Conversions)
• Airbus A300
• Airbus A310
• Airbus A330
• Airbus A380F
• Airbus Beluga
• Antonov An-225 Mriya
• Antonov Antonov An-124
• Boeing 727
• Boeing 737 (Conversions)
• Boeing 757
• Boeing 767
• Boeing 747 Freighter
• Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter (Dreamlifter)
• Boeing 777 Freighter
• Boeing MD-10
• Douglas DC-3
• Douglas DC-9
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11
• Short Belfast

Light aircraft

• Cessna Caravan - freight door and belly pod equipped
• Shorts 330 - drop ramp and twin tailed / vertical stabilizer

Military Cargo Aircraft

See: Military transport aircraft

Experimental Cargo Aircraft

• Hughes H-4 Hercules ("Spruce Goose")
• Lockheed R6V Constitution
• LTV XC-142

See also

• Air transport
• Airlift (military)
• Cargo airline
• DeHavilland DH-4

References

• Cargo aircraft comparison chart. Specifications for commercial cargo aircraft

External links

• Airlift Cargo Aircraft
• History of the Airmail Service
• Indo-Russian Transport Aircraft (IRTA)