From forwarding agent on the Elbe to star performer on the Main

Jürgen H. Vahl has travelled the world and has arrived at K+N.

 The etchings and engravings on the walls of the dining area portray Hamburg motives remarkably often: The “Michel”, the city hall and of course the harbor. But the Frankfurt Cathedral, New Orleans, the Spanish Ronda or Hemingway´s famous “cat house” in Key West are likewise displayed. Only three steps down, paintings with motives from Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala and Haiti dominate the well-proportioned living room with its view over the city of Bad Homburg. The etchings and drawings reflect the landlord´s attitude to life. Jürgen H. Vahl has a special passion for Hamburg, his hometown. But apart from this, the 75-year-old cosmopolite, feels at home anywhere in the world.

A forwarding agent, especially in a responsible position, is always on the move. Jürgen Vahl was head of business operations for Schenker in Venezuela, he worked three quarters of a year in the cargo department for Lufthansa in Tokyo and knows the USA, Canada, India and all emirates on the Persian Gulf. In Madrid he learnt the Spanish language, and perfected the language in Caracas for two hours every evening after the job. As a qualified forwarding agent you will have difficulties climbing the top of the career ladder by only knowing the English language. Jürgen Vahl always aimed for the top. And, in addition, he wanted to learn his business from scratch.

more

747F - The Jumbo–Freighter

Part 2

A piece of airfreight history

At the end of the 80s or the beginning of the 90s, additional Jumbo-freighters were purchased from the Boeing plants. At this time, the price of an aircraft was more than 170 million DM. Because she was one of the very first customers,  Lufthansa, with pride and satisfaction, celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the cargo giant in April of 1997. With the 747 F first flight 25 years earlier, the German carrier had, despite the prevalent skepticism, set entirely new standards in the international air cargo business. After that, a great number of airlines followed Lufthansa’s example and put their money on the cargo version of the Boeing 747. At the time, 32 airlines were running a total of 169 Jumbo- freighters, thus making it the leading aircraft in long-range air freight service. During the 25^th anniversary festivities, an additional 747 F was taken into service. She was christened with the name “New York” as a remembrance of the first flight in 1972.

more

747F - The Jumbo–Freighter

Part 1

A Wide body Aircraft Becomes a Legend

The 23^rd of November 1971 was definitely a historically significant day for Lufthansa. As the first and only airline in the world to date, it had placed an order for a “pure” 747 F Jumbo wide-body freighter, which late in the autumn finally rolled out of the assembly hanger of the Boeing works in Seattle (Washington). The total price of this airplane amounted to 82 million DM and Lufthansa wanted to use this aircraft to fly six runs a week between New York and Frankfurt. Higher capacities, more flexibility and economic efficiency were expected because of its 100 ton freight volume. But, above all, it was expected to supply Lufthansa the edge, in order to keep abreast of the increasingly tough competition in the 1970s. This wide-bodied aircraft, in addition, was to offer an alternative to sea-transport: The new giant of the air offered freight capacities which were aunknown to the air cargo industry. Up to this time, especially over the North Atlantic, air transport could not, for the most part, compete with the sea transport; but this revolutionary aircraft was able to redefine the meaning of competition in this area. Unfortunately, the acquisition of this Jumbo-aircraft, which, without question, was the German carrier’s greatest pioneering achievement, posed a great financial risk. Other investments, including handling- and loading equipment, were needed, in order to provide smooth operations in the future and to do justice to this innovative means of transportation.

more

The Grandmother of Modern Aviation

“Auntie Ju” helps!  -  Part 2

Pioneer all over the world

The Ju 52 was an all weather aircraft, a night-flight aircraft – and she was a long-distance aircraft. In 1934 Lufthansa started up the airmail service to South America. The Ju 52 took over the delivery service on the entire continent. Flight networks were established with her in Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Peru. All this was possible, because poorly constructed and difficult to reach landing fields could only be approached with this sturdy machine. The most dangerous stretches in the network were from Lima to La Paz and Santiago to Buenos Aires, because the Andes had to be flown over.

A very important goal of Lufthansa was the development of a route network in Asia. In 1931 the German-Chinese joint venture airline, the Eurasia Aviation Corp. was founded and it decided exclusively upon Junkers aircraft. Beginning in Berlin with stopovers in Athens, Beirut, Bagdad, Karachi, Jodhpur, Allahabad, Calcutta and Rangoon and finishing up in Bangkok, the airplane had flown five one-day stages and around 10,000 km on the long voyage. The air fields around the world were not always prepared for this strange guest from Europe. In many places the landing places looked more like a cow pasture than a runway. Airplanes often got stuck in the mud and had to be freed again, sometimes only with the help of draught animals, and in some cases, water buffaloes, which had to pull them out of the morass. The take-off sometimes could be a lengthy and strenuous procedure.

Also on the African continent, the Ju 52 was used regularly. Not only South African Airways used this machine, but she was also in service in the Portuguese colonies West- and East Africa. The Lufthansa was always keen to expand their flight routes. Pioneer spirit was called for. Flying to a new and exotic destination was always a challenge for man and machine. The Ju 52 not only stood for reliability and safety, but also bore testimony to aviation’s new confidence and trust.

more

The Grandmother of Modern Aviation

“Auntie Ju” helps! - Part 1

Since the 1930s she has been epitome of innovation, quality and of reliability. The Junkers Ju 52 – This aircraft is up until the present day an aviation legend. Pilots were enamored with its robust construction and its forgiving flight characteristics. This aircraft was a pioneer – in Germany, in Europe, on all continents. On air cargo flights and in passenger service, “Auntie Ju” was responsible for laying the cornerstone for our trust in modern aviation and in air freight services.

An all-rounder is needed

The founder of the German Luft Hansa, the engineer Hugo Junkers made it his goal in the 1930s to construct a high-performance machine, which was particularly suited for transporting goods. His company, based in Dessau/Germany, the Junkers Airplane Plant, Inc., was supposed to develop a cargo machine, which should be able to carry large quantities of goods to all corners of the world. An airplane like this should be robust, easy to maintain and handle. In addition, she should have excellent maneuverability and also need only short take-off and landing (STOL) distances. Of course, she should also be suitable as a passenger carrier: This meant that one expected a high degree of safety, ideal flight characteristics and corresponding comfort from her. Beyond that, the Department of the Army in Berlin also inserted their demands and requirements, for the new machine should also be suitable for transporting  military equipment and personnel, if war broke out. In other words - What was expected of the new Junkers Ju-52? The answer: Simply everything she was expected to be a “plane for all seasons”, useable on all runways in the entire world. She was a cargo-allrounder in the best sense of the word. 

more

The Crane builds a nest for itself

The Lufthansa Cargo Center at the Frankfurt Airport

More than two years of planning, more than five years of construction and approximately 250 million DM were devoted to the project “Lufthansa Cargo Center”. On the 21^st of July, 1976 the dream became reality. Werner Utter, Member of the Executive Board of Lufthansa, signed a contract on this day with the firm Carl Schenker Inc., commissioning them to oversee the building of this gigantic project. The entire complex should have cost eighty-five million DM at that time and was to be created from the ground up. Although the “builders” had already gained extensive experience in this area - after all, they were already involved in the building of the same airfreight depot which was to be replaced by the LCC - the entire project was technically new territory for everyone and thus a challenge of a special kind. The exceptions to this were the cargo handling facilities and the relevant office buildings, which, according to the plans of Lufthansa, were to be taken over and realized by the Airport Frankfurt am Main Inc.. Everything else - including control over the process computer - was in the hands of Carl Schenker Inc.

more

The 70ies & 80ies

Very Important Cargo – Part 3

The 70ies: “Very Important Cargo”

On the 19^th of April, 1972 a Lufthansa Boeing 747 F took off as LH 460 with more than 73,000 kilograms of cargo and almost 2,000 kilograms of mail, on its first scheduled flight from Frankfurt to New York. More than 60 tons were able to be loaded in the 650 cubic meter fuselage of the Lufthansa-Jumbo Boeing 747F. The use of a wide-body aircraft was looked on with a great deal of skepticism at the time: Would this courageous step really pay off? Within five years it was confirmed: The balance was very positive; during more than 22,000 hours in flight, the jumbo-freighter with the registration number D-ABYE had flown more than 20 million air miles-that was the equivalent to 50 round-trip flights to the moon. It had brought almost 150,000 tons of goods of all types across the Atlantic from apples to a two-man U-Boat.

Air cargo freighters carry valuable goods: With the label “Very Important Person” (VIP) the airlines not only annotate prominent persons, who are to receive special privileges. Such a status, however, has been and will continue to be given not only to people, but also to freight transported by air cargo. Here also, one deals with privileged freight-it’s called “Very Important Cargo” (VIC).

more