I thought that this aircraft was now on the Bulgarian register as LZ-PTC - is this not correct? Also, D-AERP has been in desert storage for years!! Given the L10's propensity for problems after long term storage (it's been in TUC since 1995) I'd seriously question the viability of this whole deal.
Custom Air Support came up with this particular bright idea of loading mini-containers through the passenger doors
- haven't they (a) worked out how many containers it's going to take to fill the thing; (b) realised they will lose a heck of a lot of volume (ie the height between the top of the pax door and the ceiling of the aircraft - which is why cargo doors are so much larger than pax doors!); (c) realised how long it will take to load - the L1011 isn't a short DC9 or YS11!!; and last, but not least, (d) worked out that the weight of all these mini-containers is going to be astronomical, to say the least!!
Considering the ICAO Safety Oversight responsibilities that the Bulgarian/Liberian authorities will have to put in place to carry out said duties then I'm sure that the L1011 will present a very steep learning curve for them!
All sounds a bit iffy to me!
[This message has been edited by The Guvnor (edited 06 June 2001).]