Airbus A330-200 Voyager KC3 Airtanker – ZZ336, 10 Sqn RAF 2019 (60 Only) 1/200

InFlight 1/200 scale IF330RAF001: Airbus Voyager KC3 (A330-200) ZZ336 of 10 Squadron Royal Air Force in 2019. Complete with display stand. Very low limited run of only 60 models.

Length 11.7 inches Wingspan 11.9 inches

Voyager is the RAF’s sole air-to-air refuelling (AAR) tanker and also operates as a strategic air transport.  The aircraft is in service as the Voyager KC.Mk 2, equipped with two underwing pods for refuelling fast jets, and as the Voyager KC.Mk 3, with an additional centreline hose for use by large aircraft.

Fuel offloaded during AAR is taken from the aircraft’s standard wing and fuselage tanks, leaving the cabin free for up to 291 personnel and the hold available for freight.  As a tanker, capabilities include the ability to operate a ‘towline’, where the Voyager orbits around a prescribed area awaiting ‘receivers’, or in a ‘trail’, where it flies with a number of fast jets, refuelling them over long ranges while taking responsibility for the formation’s fuel and navigation.

Alternatively, it can operate as a passenger aircraft in much the same way as a civilian airliner, but delivering personnel safely into theatre thanks to its defensive aids suite.  Voyager also offers considerable capacity for the movement of palletised and/or bulk freight in its lower fuselage hold.  A versatile aeromedical configuration, including the ability to carry up to 40 stretchers and three critical care patients is available, as is a modest VIP passenger fit.

The Airbus A330 is a medium- to long-range wide-body twin-engine jet airliner made by Airbus, a division of Airbus Group. Versions of the A330 have a range of 5,600 to 13,430 kilometres (3,020 to 7,250 nmi; 3,480 to 8,350 mi) and can accommodate up to 335 passengers in a two-class layout or carry 70 tonnes (154,000 lb) of cargo.

The A330’s origin dates to the mid-1970s as one of several conceived derivatives of Airbus’s first airliner, the A300. The A330 was developed in parallel with the four-engine A340, which shared many common airframe components but differed in number of engines. Both airliners incorporated fly-by-wire flight control technology, first introduced on an Airbus aircraft with the A320, as well as the A320’s six-display glass cockpit. In June 1987, after receiving orders from various customers, Airbus launched the A330 and A340. The A330 was Airbus’s first airliner that offered a choice of three engines: General Electric CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, and Rolls-Royce Trent 700.

The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992 and entered passenger service with Air Inter in January 1994. Airbus followed up with the slightly shorter A330-200 variant in 1998. Subsequently-developed A330 variants include a dedicated freighter, the A330-200F, and a military tanker, the A330 MRTT. The A330 MRTT formed the basis of the proposed KC-45, entered into the US Air Force’s KC-X competition in conjunction with Northrop Grumman, where after an initial win, on appeal lost to Boeing’s tanker.

Since its launch, the A330 has allowed Airbus to expand market share in wide-body airliners. Competing twinjets include the Boeing 767 and 777, along with the 787, which entered service in late 2011. The long-range Airbus A350 XWB was planned to succeed both the A330 and A340. The current A330 (referred to as the A330ceo (current engine option) since 2014) is to be replaced by the A330neo, which includes new engines and other improvements. As of November 2016, A330 orders stand at 1,634, of which 1,310 have been delivered and 1,282 remain in operation. The largest operator is Turkish Airlines with 60 A330s in its fleet.