LOOOOONG TAKEOFF RUN: Heavy LH MD-11F going airborne from high-elevation Nairobi! [AirClips]

Air Clips joined Lufthansa Cargo's Captain Fokko and First Officer Johannes on a full rotation from Frankfurt (Germany) via Nairobi (Kenya) to Johannesburg (South Africa) and back on the same routing. Enjoy stunning cockpit views from 11 different cameras as well as exciting interviews with both crew members.

For each of those four flights AirClips has created an "ULTIMATE COCKPIT MOVIE" which are/ will be available to the public for free as always.

Here is our release schedule (Links will NOT work before each mentioned date, 10 o'clock CET):

Preview compilation for all four flights: 28 April 2017, https://youtu.be/9OChEQQrOaM
ULTIMATE MOVIE 1, Frankfurt-Nairobi: 19 May 2017, https://youtu.be/X_Et8S0SQo4
ULTIMATE MOVIE 2, Nairobi-Johannesburg: 30 June 2017, https://youtu.be/meY-WWCvGO4
ULTIMATE MOVIE 3, Johannesburg-Nairobi: 11 August 2017, https://youtu.be/MFdnfFTYyA8
COCKPIT MOVIE 4, Nairobi-Frankfurt: 22 September 2017, https://youtu.be/oC4koLuZQfs

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American three-engine medium- to long-range wide-body jet airliner, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and, later, by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Based on the DC-10, it features a stretched fuselage, increased wingspan with winglets, refined airfoils on the wing and smaller tailplane, new engines and increased use of composite materials. Two of its engines are mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer. It also features a glass cockpit that decreases the flight deck crew from the three required on the DC-10 to two by eliminating the need for a flight engineer. Although the MD-11 program was launched in 1986, McDonnell Douglas started to search for a DC-10 derivative as early as 1976. Two versions were considered then, a DC-10-10 with a fuselage stretch of 40 feet (12 m) and a DC-10-30 stretched by 30 feet (9.1 m). That later version would have been capable of transporting up to 340 passengers in a multi-class configuration, or 277 passengers and their luggage over 5,300 nautical miles (9,800 km). At the same time, the manufacturer was seeking to reduce wing and engine drag on the trijet. Another version of the aircraft was also envisaged, the "DC-10 global", aimed to counter the risks of loss of orders for the DC-10-30 that the Boeing 747SP and its range were creating. The DC-10 global would have incorporated more fuel tanks.

In July 1985, the Board of Directors authorized the Long Beach plant to offer the MD-11 to potential customers. At the time, the aircraft was still proposed in two versions, both with the same fuselage length, a stretch of 22 ft 3 in (6.78 m) over the DC-10 airframe, as well as the same engine choice as the MD-11X. One version would have a range of 4,780 nautical miles (8,850 km) with a gross weight of 500,000 pounds (230,000 kg) and transport up to 337 passengers, while the second would carry 331 passengers over 6,900 nautical miles (12,800 km). A year later, as several airlines had committed to the MD-11, the situation was looking optimistic. The aircraft was now a 320-seater baseline and defined as an 18 ft 7 in (5.66 m) stretch over the DC-10-30 powered by the new advanced turbofans offered by the major engine manufacturers and giving it a range of 6,800 nautical miles (12,600 km). Other versions, such as a shortened ER with a range of 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km), an all-cargo offering a maximum payload of 200,970 pounds (91,160 kg) and a Combi with a provision for ten freight pallets on the main deck, were proposed. Further growth of the aircraft was also foreseen, such as the MD-11 Advanced.

MD-11F (53 built): the Freight transport aircraft was the second variant on offer at launch in 1986 and was the last and longest (1988–2000) manufactured version. The all-cargo aircraft features the same forward port side cargo door (140 by 102 inches (3.6 m × 2.6 m)) as the MD-11CF, a main deck volume of 15,530 cubic feet (440 m3), a maximum payload of 200,151 pounds (90,787 kg) and can transport 26 pallets of the same dimensions (88 by 125 inches (2.2 m × 3.2 m) or 96 by 125 inches (2.4 m × 3.2 m)) as for the MD-11C and MD-11CF. The MD-11F was delivered between 1991 and 2001 to FedEx Express (22), Lufthansa Cargo (14), and other airlines with fewer aircraft.

Lufthansa Cargo AG is a German cargo airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. It operates worldwide air freight and logistics services and is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, the main hub of Lufthansa. Besides operating dedicated cargo planes, the company also has access to cargo capacities of 350 passenger aircraft of the Lufthansa Group.