Originally Posted by
Just This Once...
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.
A330 Cargo Deck
That's not a really complete picture. Yes, the belly of a A330MRTT is large, But so is the belly of a KC-10 and it has a cargo door and floor. What USAF wants and needs (among other things) is the capability to haul "outsize cargo." That's cargo too tall to fit in the belly cargo hold of any airliner. Further they want the capability to routinely do aeromedical evac. That can't be done without a cargo door. Although a cargo floor is not required, the floor does require special fittings. The next time you fly in an airliner, imagine taking a non ambulatory patient on a stretcher with an IV in their arm thru the passenger door and then making a 90 degree turn to get the patient and stretcher down the aisle into the aircraft. Now stack the stretchers two or three high and add overhead fixtures for IV bottles and the like with the overhead bins in place. Consider that USAF's dedicated aeromedical evac aircraft (C-9 Nightingale, based on DC-9) had a main deck cargo door. USAF's fleet of Nightingales has been retired and the KC-46 had to have its capabilities. That includes besides the cargo door and provisions for stretcher stanchions in the floor and IV bottles in the overhead, the addition of over a dozen 115V, 60Hz, single phase electrical outlets to power standard medical equipment, special ventilation equipment for patients needing isolation or other special care, a separate station in the cargo hold to control the temperature and ventilation systems, several therapeutic oxygen outlets, on board refrigeration for storing whole blood and medications, and more. So the oft repeated mantra that a main deck cargo door "is not needed" is utter folly when you consider USAF's needs and how they operate/employ their tankers.