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crossfire

Member Since 24 May 2021
Offline Last Active Today, 12:01 AM

In Topic: North American Design Competition 3

16 October 2023 - 08:46 PM

Attached File  redairlogo.png   51.1KB   4 downloads

 

RedAir, officially Corporación de Carga Aérea de Red (Network Air Cargo Corporation) is one of the largest cargo airlines in Mexico. It was founded in 1995 with 2 leased Boeing 707-320C aircraft and a base in Mexico City, with the latter being the airline's headquarters across its almost 30 year history. After replacing the 707 with DC-8s a few years after its launch, it expanded into Europe and South America, and China in 2017. As of 2023, the airline flies over 600 flights and moves 60,000 tons of cargo annually.
 
The fleet as of 2023 consists of 5 Boeing 767-300 freighter aircraft. All of these aircraft were previously passenger aircraft. Despite the company being legally registered in Mexico, 3 aircraft are registered in Ireland and 2 in the United States. The Irish registered aircraft are leased from Freightstar Malta, in which RedAir has a 49% stake.
 
N203CM is pictured in its 2021 livery. It changed hands frequently between China Southern, Canadian Airlines, Air Canada, and Air Canada Rouge before being converted to cargo in 2021. Following the completion of the conversion in 2022, the aircraft was delivered to the airline in August of that year. It is registered in the United States to avoid aircraft taxes.
 
N871MY is pictured in the livery Red adopted between 2000 and 2009. The aircraft previously served with United as a passenger airliner and Fast Air as a cargo airliner. The aircraft was delivered to Red in 1998 as the first aircraft taken up. It was taken out of service in 2002, one year before all DC-8s were retired and 2 years after the 767 was introduced. After its tenure with Red, the aircraft was delivered to Promodal Transportes Aéreos of Brazil, where it was later taken out of service again in 2004 and finally scrapped in 2017.
 
Attached File  redair767background.png   187.75KB   6 downloads
 
Attached File  reddc-8backgroujd.png   179.72KB   2 downloads

In Topic: 2023 Code Sharing Challenge!

13 January 2023 - 02:19 AM

Suncoast Airlines was founded in 1992 after starting operations as McAllen Airlines in 1983. The airline started operations with two bases in Miami and Tampa and with fleet of DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft.

N808NK, built in 1988 for a Chinese airline, was delivered to Suncoast in 1999. It primarily made runs up and down the east coast out of Miami. It was the first aircraft painted in the airline's new 2003 livery. It wore this until it was withdrawn from service in 2010.

N808NK was stored at Miami Opa-Locka until it was acquired by the Floridian Recreational Scuba Organization in late 2011. The FRSO, for short, was interested in starting a campaign that would encourage airlines to donate retired airplanes to the FRSO so that they could be sunk as artificial reefs. N808NK was to the used as the first aircraft for the project. The aircraft made a final flight to Jacksonville and was stripped of any valuables or parts that would be harmful to divers. It also was repainted into a fictional scheme, bearing the planned sinking date of 2012.

On February 3rd, 2012, the Florida Wildlife Commission approved the aircraft to be sunk off the coast of Jacksonville. 3 months later, N808NK was craned into the St. John's River with six lift bags attached to its fuselage. It was towed 25 miles northeast to its designated site, before the floatation bags were released and the aircraft sank tail first amongst a crowd of small boats.

The aircraft, over time, began to get covered in marine life, becoming the home of several schools of fish. It became a popular dive site in Jacksonville with at least 100 dive trips per year. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew swept threw Florida's eastern coast, and right over where the aircraft lay. The aircraft was picked up by the shifting water and moved 90 feet north, repeatedly striking the ground as it did. Eventually, the right wing spar broke, causing the aircraft to roll over on its port side. A month afterward, the plane was righted. The right wing and tail were damaged and posed a threat to divers. Both were detached and placed a few meters away from the fuselage.

Today, the aircraft is a popular and iconic dive site near Jacksonville teeming with marine life. The FRSO promoted the Airreef campaign more after the sinking. However, the project never went forward past the sinking of N808NK, and by 2017 the airreef.com domain had gone defunct. Despite this, the Airreef project has proved that there are more environmentally friendly ways to dispose of planes rather than the cutter's torch.


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