While out on some recreational exercise I visited Birmingham airport for a very rare sight indeed. On 21/11 an RCAF CC-150 Polaris made a visit. It’s a modified version on the Airbus A310 commonly known as the the “stubbybus”. The A310 was Airbus’s second ever aircraft. Using their first aircraft the A300 basic design the A310 was designed to fit a market for a slightly smaller aircraft for airlines that would struggle to fill up something the size of an A300 on short haul routes. Airbus looking to cut costs for them and airlines decided to use its existing design and shrink it a little. They also increased the range to give airlines flexibility to operate long and short haul. It’s closest competitor would be the 757 in the 250 seat market. The A310 first flew on 3rd April 1982. It’s entered service in April 1983 with Swiss. A Canadian airline Wardair bought 5 A310’s between 1987-88 they were transferred to Canadian airlines in 1989. They then went on to the RCAF to replace their CC-137’s (707’s) and were converted for military use. Three were used at VIP transports and two as MRTT’s (Multi,Role,Tanker, Transports) in 1993. They were fitted with Combi-Freighter cargo doors a reinforced floor and on the two refueller variants extra fuel tanks in the cabin and drogue shots on in the end of wings. They were converted in 2008. They are capable over tanking over four CF-18’s with 80,000 pounds of fuel over 4,360 kilometres. With its lovely sounding CF6's the A310 is now a rare sight these days with only 250 made compared to 880 A300’s because they fitted a niche market and their production was cut short because of the new A330’s in the early 1990’s. Today only around 30 are believed to be still in use. So your very lucky if you get to see one as most are either cargo or military. So I’m happy to have finally captured one on Camera. They are one of my favourite aircraft just a bit different. This one came from Prestwick or a one off troop charter and heads back to its base at CFB Trenton. A first at BHX. She was 33 years old at the time having been built in 1987.
Anyway hope you enjoy and lets hope we are out of this lockdown by 2nd December. Anyway like, comment, subscribe for more aviation content.
