Here she is – my favorite A340 variant of them all! I’ve been really anxious to publish these templates because the A340-600 contains pretty much everything I like in a big airliner: four very large engines, a long fuselage, and very well balanced proportions. Some may argue with me a bit on the proportion thing, but I think the extra-long fuselage with those four big Rolls Royce engines looks fantastic from any angle.
I’ve heard it referred to as “the flying pencil” (the Boeing 757-300 has the honor of being referred to that as well), but that makes no difference to me. Flying pencil or not, she’s still a beauty!
Creating this template wasn’t too difficult, mostly since it borrows a large majority of components from the -500. The biggest difference (besides the added length) is the window and boarding door configuration. The -600 has four full size boarding doors, while the -500 has only three.
Both have one emergency exit door. Other than that, was simply a matter of stretching a little here, pulling a little there, and repositioning components like sensors and landing gear to the appropriate positions.
There’s something special about these large four-engined airliners that no other type of aircraft has ever been able to replicate, and it’s a shame that we are at the end of an era with this sort of thing. The aviation industry has moved on to large twins (two-engine aircraft) for cost and efficiency purposes and it’s likely that we’ll never see another four-engined airliner again.
Of course Airbus could continue to develop variants of the A380 over time, but there are very few airlines in this world who have been able to make large quads work within their fleets. It’s simply too much airplane for most markets, so only time will tell how much longer we’ll see four-engined airliners flying across the skies above.
Anyway, I’m still up in the air (ha!) about which airliner template to focus on next. The Airbus A320 NEO seems like it would be a good option due to how popular it has become, but…I’m not ashamed to admit that it’s not very exciting and I’d prefer to work on something with a bit more style. How about a Concorde? Or DC-8?? I can’t imagine there would be too many of you anxious to download templates for those, so the NEO may be the one. We’ll see…
Your illustrations are amazing and this one is no exception – another amazing beauty! Thank you for such wonderful work. They are especially fun for livery design. A DC-8 next would be cool, something classic. Keep up the awesome illustrations!
Thanks Ryan! Yeah, I’d love to do some of the classics like the DC-8 / 707 / etc. I’m not sure how useful they would be for others but I’d have a lot of fun doing them.
Hello Scott
Those A346 templates look amazing! Great work! So, you can abort the A310. The customer changed his mind and is buying an A320NEO. If you make those, the livery would be so easy for me. But if you’re not intrested in the A320NEO, I have some recommendations that will be fastly done but will definitely gain a lot of fans! One is the Cessna 208. It’s a small plane and used mostly for hopper operations or startup fleets. Another thing that is sure to be successful is the Beechcraft King Air. It’s such a good prop to my opinion and some airlines operate it despite it being small.
But as I’ve seen that you don’t do General Aviation a lot, I have a few non-GA recommendations.
One is definitely the ATR42/72. It’s used by like a trillion airlines and would gain a lot of fans for you. The Fokker 100 is also something you might like. But, if you want bigger things, A 747-200 or -100 or maybe an -SP or even crazier, a 747 SOFIA or SCA would be my recommendations but I’d personally choose either the ATRs or the Cessna 208.
Anyways, if you choose the A320NEO, okay then. It’s your decision you know.
Thanks Parsa – lots of good ideas! I much prefer big airliners over smaller aircraft, so the old 747’s / DC-8’s / 707’s / etc will probably come first. I still plan on doing the A320 NEO too, but it’s not all that different than the current versions (so it’s not as exciting for me). Too many to do, too little time to do them all. 🙂
Yeah, the A320neo is only fitted with new engines. You can just replace your A320 ones and there you have it. The other things are pretty surely the same between the A320 and A320neo
Please, Boeing 707, 747-100, -200, SP, SCA, and Freighter aircraft. Norebbo, you are the BEST!
Thanks Alper – all of those are coming eventually!
Thanks!! I’m really anxious to start working on the classic 747’s, and I’m trying to figure out how to fit them into my schedule. I will do them all!
Awesome new model! Would you be willing to do 3D model renderings for me?
Thanks Dwight! I’m pretty busy at the moment, so unfortunately I am unable to help out at this time. Sorry!
Sweet rendering as always! I use your templates for doing livery drawings ncluding concept drawings. I look forward to more! Would you please do an A320neo?
Hi Dwight – thanks for the compliment! The A320neo is coming…
The windows at the aft end of the fuselage should slope upwards slightly. They are not perfectly level on the actual aircraft. All A340s (and A330s) have upward-sloping rear passenger decks and, consequently, passenger windows. Airbus employed this approach to maximize the width of the passenger deck as it tapers aft within the conical fuselage. Here’s a photograph where the angled affect is clear: https://flyawaysimulation.com/modules/Images/gallery/reallifegen/198.JPG.
Please see this much simpler image for an example (http://flightlineaviationmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a340side.jpg).
CONCORDE PLEASE
Oh it’s coming! 🙂