You know you’re getting old when aircraft types you remember being launched brand new start to become the target of freighter conversion companies.
Has the Airbus A321 reached that age? More importantly, am I *gasp* that old?
Because of the fact that the Airbus A321(P2F) exists, yes. It has. And I am.
Side view templates of the Airbus A321(P2F)
If it wasn’t obvious by now, “P2F” stands for Passenger to Freighter. At first glance, it looks like a standard A321 with plugged windows and a huge cargo door carved out of the side of the fuselage. It’s a little more complicated than that though.
The development process
The P2F was developed by Precision Conversions (in partnership with Airbus). Airbus never developed their own version of an A321 freighter. At least not yet anyway.
It also worth noting that Precision Conversions wasn’t even the first company that attempted doing freighter modifications to the A321.
Airbus Freighter Conversion GmbH gave it a go in the late 2000s. That program was scrapped in 2011 before any prototypes were built.
Design details
Structurally, the P2F is nearly identical to the passenger A321. You’ll see no differences in overall length or height compared to my existing A321 templates.
The wings are exactly the same, as are the engines and landing gear. Even the vertical stabilizer is a complete carryover. However:
- All doors (and emergency exits) were plugged.
- All windows except one were plugged.
- The main cargo door was placed approximately between where window number 8 and 9 were. It extended to approximately where the middle of door 2 used to be.
- As far as I can tell, at the time of this writing, only aircraft with V2500 engines (and no sharklets on the wings) have been converted. Perhaps there’s a plan to convert other engine and wing types, but I’m not aware of it.
- An all new small boarding door was cut out of the fuselage near the cockpit windows.
It’s the addition of that all new boarding door which fascinates me the most. I mean, it couldn’t have been easy considering the curvature of the fuselage in that area. It’s probably a fairly dense area for wiring and electronics as well.
The engineering involved for the addition of that little door must’ve been bonkers. Maybe that’s why Airbus never wanted to develop their own freighter version of the A321?
I’d believe it.
Thank you very much, this is what I need.
I’m still waiting for the 747-200 cargo plane.
By the way, the A321P2F exists with CFM-56 engines. I saw them on Lufthansa Cargo and IndiGo.
You’re very welcome Konstantin!
The only reason why I haven’t done the 747-200F yet is because of the multiple engine types. If I’m being honest, creating a set of templates with multiple engine types is mind-numbingly dull work. I’m still trying to recover from updating my entire Airbus A320/A321 series recently (which included multiple engine *and* winglet types). I’ll get to it eventually, but it’s one of those things I have to be in the mood for lol.
And thanks for letting me know about the CFM A321(P2F)! I had no idea. I guess I’ll need to add that one as well…
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10549849
CFM-56 A321P2Fs do exist
Thanks Karl! Looks like I’ve got some work to do lol.
The boarding door move is particularly interesting given that (1) there’s presumably still a toilet and some kind of small galley behind the cockpit (so why the need to put the door so close to the cockpit?), and (2) presumably the retained window was so pilots can visually check the wing and engine while in flight (but that means there has to be an accessway thru the freight, from the cockpit to the window, so … why not leave the door where it was anyway)?
Totally agree – I’d love to watch a video explaining the rationale (and engineering) behind that door move.
I want to see the Nord 262, the F-27 Friendship, the NAMC YS-11, Hanker Siddeley HS748, Shorts 360, Metroliner, Canadair CL-44 and Embraer’s first aircraft, the EMB-110 Bandeirante.
Also do the Lockheed Jetstar; it’s the first business jet in commercial service. Plus the mainly military but also civilian CASA 212 and CN235.
As a extra bonus; Boeing 307 Stratoliner and the Guppies (Mini, Pregnant and Super)
I’m surprised how many requests I continue to get for the Shorts 360. Out of all of the aircraft you listed, that’s the one I want to do the most. I just don’t know if it’ll be worth my time considering how niche it is.
BTW, I had no idea there was a “pregnant” version of the Guppie. That may be all the justification I need for doing that one!