The freighter was in development. The center section was manufacturered and all of the EIS work was more or less completed. It was the HGW version of the 380-900, the 1000 pax version, the -700 being the ULR version.
Fuselage loading was a complex problem. The early 380’s in development had no load allowance in the fdw class C cargo compartment due to load limitations;this was subsequently modified to a 2 g limit...miles off the CS25 requirements, but extrapolate that to the freighter loading issues with two decks and it was a nightmare in the making.
The ovoid fuselage, in conjunction with the floor loadings required resulted in unusual fuselage bending with the myriad of load requirements from UPS and FedEx, (SIA too from memory). A structures engineering problem with little or no leeway on weight increases with the circuitous catch 22 program management.
Can you fix it?
Yes
What’s the solution?
Reinforcing the structure
Does that mean more weight?
Yes
You can’t increase the weight (because my annual bonus is tied to the weight reduction program). Find another way
There is no other way
Excuse me...sound of head being buried in the sand
The 6 tonnes of titanium required for the F also contributed to the death knell of the variant as a huge amount of the global supply was purchased in advance by the Seattle aeroplane company and supply lines were looking dodgy.
A retrofit F version, a P to F conversion is possible, but for low load density, high volume cargo. The 380’s parked up are only half lifed, someone will come up with a bright idea...horse movers, flying hospitals, flying shuttles in China...