Cargo Aircraft - History

History

Aircraft were put to use carrying cargo in the form of "air mail" in the early 1911. Although the earliest aircraft were not designed primarily as cargo carriers, by the mid 1920s aircraft manufacturers were designing and building dedicated cargo aircraft such as the Vickers Type 264 Valentia.

The earliest "true" cargo aircraft is arguably the World War II German design, the Arado Ar 232. The Ar 232 was intended to supplant the earlier Junkers Ju 52 freighter conversions, but only small numbers were built. Most other forces used freighter versions of airliners in the cargo role as well, most notably the C-47 Skytrain version of the Douglas DC-3, which served with practically every allied nation. 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." 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 West Berlin residents with food and supplies, in a virtual around the clock air bridge; after the Soviet Union closed and blockaded Berlin's borders, and land links to the west.

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 with a drop-down loading and rear unloading ramp, which itself existed as far back as World War II as pioneered in October 1941, with the Trapoklappe device used in the German Junkers Ju 252. 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.

Concerning the A380 Airbus originally accepted orders for the freighter version A380F, offering the second largest payload capacity of any cargo aircraft, exceeded only by the Antonov An-225. An aerospace consultant has estimated that the A380F would have 7% better payload and better range than the 747-8F, but also higher trip costs. However, production has been suspended until the A380 production lines have settled with no firm availability date.