To enter, participants are asked to submit their favorite photos either through Instagram with the hashtag of #NetworkingTheWorldContest or via Lufthansa Cargo’s Contest Link on Facebook. You may enter as many times as you wish!
The submission period will continue for 3 weeks from the start of the contest on October 22, 2014. After the entry period closes, a Jury appointed by Lufthansa Cargo will review all entries and will select their favorite 50 entries to proceed to the second round.
As part of the second round, the 50 finalists will be given a challenge that needs to be completed in order to continue in the contest. The challenge includes the submission of a video (50 second maximum) or 5 additional photos and a brief 500-word essay sharing your thoughts on what it would be like to be a travel journalist or blogger. The final 50 will be given 2 weeks to complete this assignment and it will be from this pool of 50 that the 5 Finalists will be chosen.
Each of the 5 winners will be randomly assigned one of the 5 destinations that are part of this contest and will be flown by Lufthansa Airlines to their respective destination where they will be the guest of Lufthansa Cargo for 3 days. As part of the prize package, Lufthansa Cargo will provide each winner with 2 nights in a local hotel.
During their visit, each winner will have a chance to visit LH Cargo and meet with the local Cargo team and observe a typical day at a Lufthansa Cargo outstation. Part of the Winner’s responsibility will be to share their experiences with the Lufthansa Cargo Community through photos and a brief description of their experience during their trip.
Pilots are typically known for having ice in their veins, but in this case it turns out that a pilot would have ice on his head, down his back, all over his uniform and down into his shoes.
Lufthansa Cargo’s Captain Wolfgang Raebiger, who flies the MD-11F around the world accepted the challenge and subjected himself to a ‘delibrately’ slow pour of ice water that had been stored on dry ice. Apparently Capt. Raebiger lost a spirited game of Rock – Paper – Scissor but being a great sport, thoroughly enjoyed his icy prize:
Lufthansa Cargo recently introduced a new module that lets you see nearly any flight being operated by Lufthansa that is carrying Cargo from LH Cargo. The Flightradar24 module seems to specifically track Lufthansa, Austrian or AeroLogic operated flights. Options include being able to see only the LH Cargo fleet (the 777F or MD-11F), all non-Cargo aircraft carrying Lufthansa Cargo or simply entering an LH or Austrian Flight Number to see that specific flight.
This actually winds up being a useful tool to see most, if not all LH operated flights since most LH passenger flights carry Lufthansa Cargo dedicated freight on board.
A few weeks ago, Lufthansa Cargo ‘retired’ one of their MD-11 Freighters as they begin introducing brand new Boeing 777Fs to replace them. As part of the process of retiring ‘D-ALCO’, she was flown to Lufthansa Technik Component Services (LTCS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she will be disassembled. Critical components will be removed, refurbished and certified for future use in other MD-11s in the Cargo Fleet while the rest of the aircraft will be dismantled and recycled as appropriate.
When I was in Tulsa last week visiting LTCS to see the arrival of D-ABIB, a 737 also entering retirement, I had the chance to get one final look at D-ALCO. Seeing D-ALCO being prepared to be disassembled was genuinely a sad moment for me because this was not the first time that I had crossed paths with her.
On one of my many trips to Frankfurt over the past years, I had a chance to visit LH Cargo and had an opportunity to board D-ALCO while she was being prepared for a flight to India. If you’d like to read that piece and see D-ALCO when she was in active duty, you can find my post here.
D-ALCO was Lufthansa Cargo’s oldest MD-11. She was completed in January 1992 and entered service as PP-SOW with now-defunct VASP (Viação Aérea São Paulo). In December 2000 she was sold to Varig (PP-VQL). In 2004 she was handed back to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest who acted as trustee/leasing agent for the aircraft. In December 2005 she joined the LH Cargo fleet.
As luck would have it, I was there to see her be parked on the LTCS ramp and was able to capture the moment:
With all of this said, here are what may be the last pictures taken of D-ALCO before tear down begins. In some of these photos you’ll see final farewells that were written on D-ALCO by her pilots, mechanics and cargo ground crew:
Final good-byes by a variety of LH Cargo employees
One of the prettiest tails in aviation……
Final push to the LTCS ramp in Tulsa (TUL)
The last crew to pilot D-ALCO pay their respects…..
After a brief delay, Lufthansa Cargo is finally going to welcome its first 777F to the fleet in a ceremony in Frankfurt today, November 19. The event was scheduled for approximately 2 weeks ago but was delayed to a minor manufacturing issue that Boeing needed to resolve.
Lufthansa Cargo will share the event with followers on Facebook tomorrow so if you are interested you can keep up with the latest updates throughout the unveiling event. Additionally, Lufthansa Cargo will reveal the ‘nickname’ of the aircraft and announce the winner of their contest that was held to name the aircraft.
To follow the events as they happen, please visit Lufthansa Cargo’s Facebook Page. The event will take place between 11:30 and 1:30 UTC (12:30 to 2:30p Local German Time).
