http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 51Right: The need for firefighting aircraft that
can carry large quantities of water and/or
fire retardant has given a new lease of life to
a handful of DC-10s. New Mexico-based 10
Tanker Air Carrier started using the type in
the mid-2000s and has had four examples
in its inventory during that time. DC-10-10
N450AX was the first to join the fleet and
was subsequently withdrawn from use in
November 2014. The other three – N17085,
N612AX and N522AX – are still on strength.
Key Collection
Below right: A major cockpit update led to
the designation MD-10-30(F) being adopted.
An example of this variant is N308FE, which
is flown by FedEx Express and is seen
here at Toronto International Airport on
November 9, 2017. AirTeamImages.com/
Adam Tetzlaff
Below: Aeroflot Cargo was perhaps one of
the more surprising operators of type, with
a mixed fleet of five (one DC-10-30 joining
in 1995 and four DC-10-40Fs being added
in the early to mid-2000s). Illustrated is
DC-10-40F, VP-BDE, climbing out of Hong
Kong International Airport on July 24, 2007.
AirTeamImages.com/Colin Parker
Bottom: The last DC-10 commercial
passenger service was carried out by
S2-ACR of Bangladesh Biman Airlines on
February 24, 2014. This was a one-hour
flight for enthusiasts from Birmingham
Airport. DC-10-30 S2-ACR was the 445th
aircraft to be built out of a total of 446. It
returned to Bangladesh in late February
2014, had its engines removed and was
scrapped. Birmingham Airport48-51_jetliners_dc10DC.mfDC.indd 51 02/05/2018 15:33