History
The Airbus A.330 is the medium range version of the Airbus family of jet airliners. A longer range version, the A.330-200, began entering service in the late 1990s and was popular with airlines around the world.
The A.330-200 is one of a family of airliners that uses common wings and fuselages but with different enginesto economise on production and operation.
The first A.330 flew in 1992 but the -200 version did not fly until 1997 and entered service a year later.
It was about five meters shorter than the A.330-300.
It competed with Boeing 767 airliners. It proved very competitive and popular on domestic and international routes and over 660 had been delivered by 2020.
This model represents VH-XFA in service with Virgin Australia in June 2012,
Data: long range high capacity airliner. Engines two Pratt & Whitney PW4168, two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 or two CFM International CFM6-80 turbofan engines of 600.6kN thrust each. Wing span 59.06m. Length 59.06m. Maximum take-off weight 229,970kg. Cruising speed 850km/h. Range 11,850km. Maximum payload 46,715kg or between 253 and 380 passengers depending on seating layout. Flight crew 2.
Revell 1/144 kit with Ric Warcup decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in December 2023.