The additional wheels on this airplane did serve a purpose, and were far more than merely an aesthetic choice. Indeed, according to Travel Update, this was because of an infrastructure issue at some Indian airports. However, these were not common across A320s, and only affected a small number of Airbus A320 aircraft in service. The quirk dated back to the era of Indian Airlines, which received 31 double-bogied A320s between June 1989 and December 1994. These aircraft then ended up at Air India after Indian Airlines was merged into the flag carrier. While the A320 is not the heaviest aircraft, it still carries substantial weight. During landing, taxi, or takeoff, this can cause stress on the runway pavement. As it turns out, some of India's pavements had a lower classification. The classification number gives details relating to the strength of the pavement, and the amount of weight it can handle. Due to this lower classification number, the load of the aircraft had to be distributed across multiple wheels. As such, some of Air India's A320s had these extra wheels.
Scale:
1:200
Dimensions: see
this page
Material: mainly metal
Stand: included
Brand: Inflight200
Nr: IF320IC1023
In stock:
future release, release date unknown
Greener option!
Unlike other shops we transport this model from the factory in China to our warehouse without using air freight. We love airplanes as much as you do, but air freight has a huge environmental impact. Air freight is also expensive, by using other means of transport we can offer models for a lower price.
The only advantage of air freight is that it's very fast. But we don't think this is more important than the disadvantages. If you reserve a model in advance you will be sure you can buy it from us. At a lower price, with less environmental impact.
Added to website: 2023-08-02
Brochure / announcement:
August 2023
