Originally Posted by
stilton
Why does the A330 MRTT not have a main
deck cargo door ?
The fuselage is so large that the main cargo door can swallow a heck of lot as standard - the MRTT modifications do not change the basic freight capacity of the aircraft (which is rather capacious to say the least). The only in-service pain with no large upper door fitted is for aeromed.
If you look at a KC-135 the entire lower fuselage is full of aircraft systems and fuel tanks and, with the exception of the boom op area, the lower fuselage is outside of the pressure hull. When they added proper APUs to the KC-135 the only place left to fit them was in the upper fuselage in the rendition-class area. If you want to put anything in a KC-135 the upper fuselage is the only option, hence the door.
A330 Cargo Deck