Title: Concept of a “Flexible” Combi Aircraft
text: An airframe manufacturer is compelled to include the requirements of the air cargo transport market, existing and anticipated, in the definition of its products- A combi aircraft, derived from the passenger version, requires configuration flexibility. With the addition of an aft located main deck cargo door, six (6) 96 in × 125 in pallets may be carried on the main deck. All six (6) pallets can be loaded to a 96 in high contour, with both lateral upper corners cut. A number of other ULDs can be accommodated, e.g the AHA container, up to the 20 ft pallet. The flexibility to adapt to market requirements and i.e. airline route networks is achieved by the convertibility from the typical passenger layout with six (6) to five (5) to four (4) pallet combi configurations up to an all-passenger mode, with particular attention to conversion times.