Mammoth preps for FAA test flights

Mammoth Freighters is preparing its 777-200LRMF prototype for formal test flights with FAA personnel onboard after the aircraft’s first post-conversion flight in May. Mammoth hopes to have submitted all the required data to the FAA by the end of August, the company told Cargo Facts . [caption id="attachment_57290302" align="aligncenter" width="624"] The STS facility in Manchester started a second conversion line this month. (Courtesy/Mammoth Freighters)[/caption] The 2009-vintage prototype (29742, ex-Delta Air Lines) took to the air for the first time on May 1 after arriving at the Aspire MRO facility in Fort Worth, Texas (AFW), in February 2022. It is the first of five 777-200LRMFs that is destined for Qatar Airways. After certification, which Mammoth still hopes to obtain by yearend, the company will amend the STC to include the longer 777-300ERMF. Mammoth launched both programs in 2021 . First 777-300ERMF nears ground tests All the flight and ground tests — as well as test plans, equipment and procedures required to carry out those tests — will be virtually identical to that of the -200LRMF, which should accelerate the -300ERMF STC finalization process, Mammoth said. The only significant difference between the two types is about 33 feet of additional fuselage, so the smoke-detection and environmental-control systems will be the only areas with slight alterations and testing to document. [caption id="attachment_57290303" align="aligncenter" width="1907"] Unit 35299 is almost complete. (Courtesy/Mammoth Freighters)[/caption] Having installed the cargo door on the 2007-vintage 777-300ERMF prototype (35299, ex-Nordwind Airlines) at AFW in February, Mammoth has completed most structural work on its 777-300ERMF prototype and is working on systems and wiring, with ground testing possibly starting around October, Mammoth said. Unit 35299 is the first of six 777-300ERMF conversions that launch customer AviaAM Leasing has on order. The lessor is set to place the freighter with Turkey-based BBN Airlines . The aircraft has been at AFW since October 2022. Mammoth cut metal on it in August 2024 . AviaAM’s second feedstock 777-300ER (35300), which it sent to AFW in February 2024, is waiting for induction, the lessor confirmed to Cargo Facts . AviaAM still holds six conversion slots with Mammoth but declined to say how many other feedstock units it had bought, saying only that the timeline for its subsequent inductions would depend on the prototype aircraft’s completion and certification and conversion . Growing 777 conversions At least two other ex-Delta 777-200LRMF conversions (40560 and 40559) have also had their cargo doors fitted, Mammoth said. Those two aircraft arrived at AFW in October 2022 and December 2023, respectively. Meanwhile, in July, the STS Aviation Services facility in Manchester, England (MAN), started its second conversion line for Mammoth a year after beginning its first 777-200LRMF (32222, ex-Delta). The second 777-200LR to enter conversion there (36017, ex-Qatar Airways) arrived in October 2024. Both aircraft will join DHL . Apart from Mammoth, two other companies are developing 777 freighter conversions. IAI has completed and flown five 777-300ERSFs but is still awaiting certification, while Kansas Modification Center is preparing for the cargo door cutout on its prototype 777-300ERCF. Cargo Facts Symposium, the quintessential event for stakeholders and key leaders in the global freighter and air cargo industries, will take place Oct. 22-24 at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville . Learn more and register today to take advantage of the early-bird rate.

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