Miami’s Convair Classics
In June 2024, Stewart Marshall visited South Florida to document the small pocket of classic Convair prop-liners still active and operating commercial flights out of Miami’s Opa Locka Executive Airport. IFL Group currently operate the largest fleet of Convair 580’s in the world and provided access to their operation in Miami.
The airline was established and commenced operations as Contract Air Cargo in 1983 which is wholly owned by the IFL (Independent Flight Leasing) Group. The company currently operates a mixed transport fleet comprising of Dassault Falcons, CRJ-200 and ATR’S under FAA part 135 as IFL Group Inc. Their classic Boeing 727 and Conair freighters, which mainly serve the ad-hoc charter sector, operate under part 121 as Gulf and Caribbean Cargo.
Commercially Viable through Innovation
The IFL turboprop fleet comprises a mix of traditional CV-580 airframes and the elusive stretched variant produced known as the CV-5800. Having rolled off the production since in 1950’s the aircraft have received numerous upgrades which has kept them operational and ultimately commercially viable for decades.
Kelowna Flightcraft (now KF Aerospace) picked up the Convair 240 (plus variants) Type Certificate providing them with the ability to develop significant aircraft modifications plus provide engineering, technical support and parts support to the worldwide fleet. Kelowna conducted numerous programs to modernise the Convair airframe including the CV-580 Cargo Door conversion, Turbine conversion and finally the CV-5800 fuselage extension. The CV-5800 upgrade program saw the original CV-580 airframe being stretched over 14 feet, an avionics overhaul featuring a Honeywell EFIS and Allison 501 turboprops in place of the original R-2800 radial engines. Additional enhancements for cargo operations included a 120-inch cargo door, roller floor system and payload being increased by a further 4400 pounds (2000 Kilograms).
Kelowna Flightcraft, Allison Gas Turbine and General Dynamics teamed up to launch the Convair 5800 Program in 1998, converting five former U.S. Navy C-131F's, along with one CV-580 which was operated by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Six stretched models were produced up until 2009 with IFL Group receiving five of these.
The upgraded CV-5800 Flightdeck featuring the Honeywell EFIS.
Current Operations
IFL has relied on the Convair for its ability to handle a wide variety of cargo and robustness when deploying a single aircraft for periods of time. In 2024 several of their fleet have been ferried and stored at the company’s base in Michigan, which combined with the ever-dwindling pool of air crew means the end could be near for these aging workhorse’s. Thankfully there is currently three contracts spanning North America and the Caribbean keeping some of these old classics busy every week;
One example is currently based at El Paso, Texas operating cargo charters to Chihuahua, Mexico three times per week for the automotive industry. Another is located east at Miami International, providing cargo capacity for Caribbean Airways with flights to George Town in the Cayman Islands twice per week.
The company’s operation out of Opa Locka in Miami builds the most hours by far with up to two daily cargo runs each business day. A single aircraft has been wet leased to Conquest Air Cargo since 2020 - Conquest have historically operated their own fleet of piston powered CV580’s, however these have been recently withdrawn from scheduled operations due to aircrew shortages and lack of spare parts. The IFL aircraft provided to Conquest carries out at least one daily rotation to Nassau in the Bahamas carrying general cargo. The aircrew described the operation as “Walmart for the Bahamas”, given the fact that they transport absolutely everything from Amazon Prime packages to Seafood. Essentially anything ordered by residents or businesses on the Islands, which can fit through the XL cargo door can be transported. An increase in demand for fast transit to the islands has fuelled the emergence of several carriers operating a similar setup from south Florida with newer types such as the Saab 340 and Cessna Caravan. Between the dedicated aircrews and good market conditions we might see the Convair gracing the skies of South Florida for a few more years to come.
The now retired Conquest Air fleet:
