Freight DogsFinally a forum for those midnight prowler types who utilise the unglamorous parts of airports that many of us never get to see. Freight Dogs is for pilots and crew who operate mostly without SLF.
well pallets are 125n x-wise in ac so if yr ldg xwise start at 125n (I'm going to assume that there's 'ground clearance' front& back sufficient to clear restraints)
I' a bit rusty on all this but from memory for every 1" groundclearance at front/back you can extend legth by 1"
then again if it's a low roofline sportscar/convertible you can raise the whole car up, effectively increasing ground clearance and hence increasing overall length until you get to max height or max length which (again from memory) is 13' 6""
((sorry about ft & ins but I've just spent the day working with my joiner who is firmly imperial))
If the car is the usual 'wedge' shape another trick is to raise fron/back differentially (i.e. on a slope)) and that gets you out to about 14' 6"" ((length of and escort rs2000 full rally car as run by Ford)) But this tends to make you VERY unpopular with the flightdeck, who will insist on checking all the tie-downs and asking lots & lots of questions. So if you go down this route be sure to cover the whole pallet & contents in nice black plastic sheet.
Finally, of course you can just drive it in & turn left (or right).
Actually, it was an A.330, and I think that the internal dimensions are the same.
The suggestion or raising the vehicle (off the pallet) is a good suggestions, as I've seen that procedure used quite a few times. The only problem (for us loaders) with that is that we can't unstrap it, and move it manually.
If the vehicle is too long to fit sideways into the hold (which it sound like it is) then it is delivered to the aircraft strapped to a pallet, with a second pallet with it. The 'spare' pallet goes into the doorway first, the car (on its pallet) is placed next to it, car is unstrapped and man-handled onto the first pallet. With a bit of careful huffing and puffing (it sounds like the Chuckle Brothers ... "To me, to me. To you, to you"!) we can turn the vehicle through 90 degrees, re-do the straps on the pallets and slide the whole thing into the hold.
wel according to ford the specs are length 188, width 74, height 56, wheelbase 107 overall width (mirrors) 80, track 62/63 (all inches) couldn't see (1) ground clearance, (2) overhang at rear (behind rear-wheel centreline) (3) overhang forward (of front wheel centreline)
anyhow, wheelbase/track will fit inside the 121*84 inch "useable" area of a standard pallet. The "however" is that will need both end-to-end and side-to-side spreaders to stop pallet curling. will also need 8 sets standard straps for fore-aft restraint, 4 sets for lateral restraint probably 2 sets vertical restraint, possibly 4 sets.
vehicle overall height at 56" means you will already have run out of height once loaded on spreaders.
At a guess you have about 34" pallet overhang fore- and aft (but depends on notes (2) & (3) above)
So theoretically you could get this loaded on a standard pallet & turn entire pallet in through the door for loading lengthwise in A/C over 2 pallet positions.
BUT... (1) does you co. allow this? (2) is there a 360-degree type roller-ball mat inside the door ? (3) if this is "free" cargo ((ie staff effects returning from posting)) consider this : it travels 'subload' - just how busy (freight/mail-wise) is the route you hope to send it over ? you just might be waiting for a long time...
p.s. remember I already said I was "rusty" on all of this and i worked all this out using a pencil, an old plastic ruler and squared graph paper; thus my results might not be particularly accurate....
I don't know anything about the A340, but can confirm that I've also driven cars into the belly of a 747. Empty pallets on the highloader, aircraft floor...
I also owned a Mustang and would suggest its a little big. Visibility isn't great either.
Check if the handling agent will do it though. Many will say "no way" for insurance purposes...
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