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Aeroflot Russian Airlines has been around almost 100 years, always adapting flight and delivery of passengers, cargo, and mail throughout different political changes in Russia and the world over the past decades. Read more about Aeroflot and the MD-11F and add a PlaneTag made from an Aeroflot to your collection.
The MD-11, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and later by Boeing, is a wide body trijet derived from the DC-10. It stretched 18.6 feet longer than the DC-10 and featured aerodynamic advancements such as a redesigned wing trailing edge and winglets, smaller horizontal tail and extended tail cone, which reduced drag and added range while using less fuel. Other advances with cockpit avionics, propulsion, systems and interior design promised to make this aircraft an economical and competitive choice, but ultimately only 200 were produced. Boeing ended production in 2000 and delivered the last one on February 22, 2001.
The MD-11 was produced in several variants:
VP-BDR MD11F Aeroflot flickr photo by Maarten-sr shared under a Creative Commons (BY-SA) license
Aeroflot was founded in 1923, at the dawn of Russia’s civil aviation and is Russia’s flagship carrier Following World War I and the Russian civil war, Russia like other European countries, began developing civil aviation for its economic needs, offering passenger, mail, and cargo transport.
In the beginning, Aeroflot used re-equipped warplanes but eventually began using Russian made aircraft, including the Tupolev Tu-104, one of the world’s first jetliners. By 1981, Aeroflot was the world's largest airline in terms of passengers carried, serving 87 countries all over the world. In 2019, the airline carried 37.2 million passengers, holds a four star airline status from Skytrax and five-star rating from APEX, and was also named Best Airline in Eastern Europe for the 8th time. Today, Aeroflot has been named “Strongest Brand in Russia” and strongest airline brand in the world. The airline continues to strengthen its position despite the pandemic.
VP-BDR was produced in Long Beach, California, delivered in early 1993, and leased soon after to Garuda Indonesia, as one of 26 MD-11s in their fleet. In 1999, this aircraft was then leased to Brazil’s Varig Airline, also as one a fleet of 26 MD-11. It was then converted to a freighter and delivered to Aeroflot in May 2008. The freighter had only one notable incident - on a flight from Novosibirsk to Moscow Sheremetyevo on February 11, 2012, its number 1 hydraulic system failed upon descent but continued for a safe landing.
As part of SkyTeam Cargo, Aeroflot used VP-BDR and its fleet of cargo planes to transport goods from its central hub in Europe to the Middle East and Asia, cementing its position as a top global cargo carrier. She was retired by 2013 and stored at VCV.
VP-BDR Takeoff at Narita International Airport
MotoArt owner Dave Hall first laid eyes on the Aeroflot giant stored at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California and knew he wanted to add it to the PlaneTags fleet.
“A total of 200 MD-11s were produced,” says Hall. “Out of these, only 53 were MD-11Fs. And it’s Aeroflot, so this is an uncommon find. We were pretty stoked to add this exceptional aircraft to our collection.”
They are numbered to 10,000 and come in solid orange, deep blue, and silver, and combinations of orange/blue, orange/silver, and blue/silver. They are the perfect aviation collectible for a pilot gift. Commemorate a trip you’ve taken or introduce a budding aviation geek to a new hobby. Be sure to get one for your own collection before they are gone.
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