A new venture for Caicos Freight Dogs

Following the success of our core business, and our recent expansion to four fully active Fairchild Providers, Caicos Freight Dogs is pleased to announce the beginning of an entirely new model in freight servicing for the northwest Caribbean.

 

Following investment in the latest in fast jet technology, we are now able to offer delivery of your most vital goods in the shortest possible time.

 

Using both internal storage and underwing cargo pods, we can offer delivery of small to medium freight items* (shoes, frozen prawns etc) up to 6000lbs in weight in the local area.

 

And by utilising the wing storage pods for extra fuel, we can also offer delivery of smaller items (secret documents, transplant organs etc) at ranges up to 1200nm. And all with the extra peace of mind that comes from knowing that your package is protected by chaff, flares and, if necessary, ejector seats.

 

The Caicos freight Dogs Super Courier(tm) : Delivering your most precious cargo - at 550kts.

 

 

 

 

 

* Following disussion with the ASPCA and PETA, Caicos Freight Dogs regrets to announce that, due to the somewhat restricted nature of the BAe Hawk's cargo space, our Super Courier (tm) service can no longer be used for the delivery of chickens. And sheep are right out.

 

So I did a little research, and the consensus seems to be that empty weight is between 8000 and 9700lbs. MTOW ranges from 18,400 to 21,000. Since there's little internal cargo space though (apart from the back seat!) the real restriction is the maximum external storage weight. In the T1 it was just 1500lb, but by the time they'd reached the T100 it was 6600lbs, and may have gone higher in later models. But of course, that 6600lbs includes external tanks if you want them (for a range of 1200nm). In the end, I based my plane on a T100, with MTOW 21,000lbs. She can theoretically lift more than I'm allowed to store under the wings, so I adjusted MTOW down so that with full internal tanks I could carry 7000lbs cargo (figuring stuffing 400lbs in the back seat, the rest in cargo pods). I then added external tank capacity to match the info I'd got (2 x 160 gal drop tanks), so that with full fuel I can't carry as much cargo. It's a bit of a mashup, but I think it's about as fair as I can get it. I only use it for short runs, where I'm usually able to carry full cargo capacity, so I'm not sure exactly what the reduction in cargo weight is when I use the external tanks, but I guess it would be 160gal x 2 x 6ish (for weight of jet fuel) for about 2000lbs. That still leaves about  5000lbs of ordinance... I mean cargo, so she's a worthwhile bird.

 

The main reason I set her up was that my lovely AI guys, whilst pretty good at earning me cash, are a slow drain on my rep. So I wanted a plane that would allow me to do a lot of fast deliveries at the weekend to get my rep back up. If the final cargo cap had been 200lbs I'd still have bought her, but it was a pleasant surprise to do the research and find that she could actually carry a fair load. As it is, I don't worry about pay for the jobs I do with her, I just pick a stream of short hops, and whizz around the local area repairing my rep. Loads of fun.

 

And then occasionally she's a life saver. Last night I had the 'pilot gets drunk and loses the keys' bug, and one of my pilots stopped after returning to home base to pick up the second half of a job he'd been doing. I logged in this morning to find that he'd delivered 12,000lbs of microwaves, but stopped without taking the last 1000lbs. There were 3 hours left on the clock, and to load up and deliver would have taken him about 6. So, I hopped over in the Hawk, crammed the microwaves in the pods, and nipped up to Jacksonville to finish off.