A380 -- The Reveal

[Monkey Lib Front 10]

Test flight in 2007 A380 will have been operating for a year already by that time.

But what airports can actually take the Airbus and what airports will be able to take it in the future (next 1-2 years).

[Colossus 2]

Whatever airport that can take a Boeing 747-400 I guess.

[raedor 8]

good to see it flying. all the money was worth it.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Test flight in 2007 A380 will have been operating for a year already by that time.

But what airports can actually take the Airbus and what airports will be able to take it in the future (next 1-2 years).

The A380 is, weightwise, less of a problem than the 777 or 787, because it has more wheels and thus less pressure on each wheel.

The only problem that the A380 has is that it currently can not be loaded from the topdeck, that's all.

[Monkey Lib Front 10]

Test flight in 2007 A380 will have been operating for a year already by that time.

But what airports can actually take the Airbus and what airports will be able to take it in the future (next 1-2 years).

The A380 is, weightwise, less of a problem than the 777 or 787, because it has more wheels and thus less pressure on each wheel.

The only problem that the A380 has is that it currently can not be loaded from the topdeck, that's all.

i thought the wingspan was a big problem when navigating towards the terminal.

[Guest RKSL-Rock]

i thought the wingspan was a big problem when navigating towards the terminal.

The wingspan is 79.8m...well within the JAA rules for taxi clearences.

[Akira 0]

Hmmm, well, how 'bout that? Sure doesn't seem that out of date, does it?

From the article:

Quote[/b] ]If it goes ahead with the aircraft program...

[Akira 0]

Quote[/b] ]seeing it on TV, that crazy how it took off so quickly.It didn't use the whole runway...

Well also remember its hardly a fully laden A380. There are no interior fixtures, no baggage, and certianly not 500+ passengers.

Quote[/b] ]i thought the wingspan was a big problem when navigating towards the terminal.

The A380 "box" is no more than a 747. It's mostly political BS and a little bit of fear and uncertainty to what exactly a plane that large will be like operationally (since no one really has a clue other then theory).

Quote[/b] ]The A380 is, weightwise, less of a problem than the 777 or 787, because it has more wheels and thus less pressure on each wheel.

Indeed. I think it was Phillie or Pittsburgh...pretty sure it was in Penn, that had to re-enforce the runway because of 777-200LR's (IGW) that would be landing there.

EDIT: Watching the live stream from Airbus...missed the takeoff though

EDIT2 Nope just flew by....but by god thats a large plane! Very very impressive!

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

That was just the flyby. Its landing now tho.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Is that a Rafale shadowing it?

[raedor 8]

according to schedule it lands in ~15 minutes...

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

DONT BREAK UP STUPID WEBSTREAM!!!

[Akira 0]

I can't tell from the tiny square of bandwidth Airbus is allowing me

[hellfish6 7]

Wow... I'm watching it live. I knew I got up early for a good reason. Very, very impressive!

[Akira 0]

How'd ya like to be under that flight path!

EDIT

Man you can really see that wing flex!

EDIT2

I take back all the bad things I've said about its looks. When its actually moving and in its natural habitat (the air) it looks really beautiful.

[raedor 8]

it landed in one piece. wow!

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

I pressed F5 at the wrong moment and missed it

Was reading on a German site that it was actually at normal take-off weight, they have water on board to simulate the weight of passengers.

[Akira 0]

I think you mean the water ballasts, which I don't think equal up to the weight of 550 passengers. It is also carrying 22 tons of instruments.

EDIT: Well the operating empty weight is 610,000lbs and Airbus said its take-off weight was 928,300lbs (Max TOW being 1,234,600lbs). The regulated weight of 550 passengers would be in the area of 93000lbs, so maybe they did add the weight of the passengers.

EDIT: I like the pilot pulling out the video camera to tape the crowd

[Acecombat 0]

Saw it live on CNN , beautiful sight , cant wait to travel in it wonder when will we get the chance to do though .

One thing i noticed BBC wasnt showing any interest in showing it even though its a European event and CNN was all glued to it. BBC also showed the new Boeing 777 or whatever its called 'dreamliner' which looks wierd as its stretched itself back instead of making a double decker design as Airbus. However its still in design/manufacture phase and will take 2 years to complete.

P.S: Any one got a ID on the plane riding shotgun with the A380? i was interested in that small thing too , it look minscule compared to the airbus .

[Akira 0]

Man that guy can't get a mic to save his life....

[Acecombat 0]

Thats from CNN , i thought they said on the TV that the plane could carry 800 people , here they are writing 555?

[Mr_Tea 0]

There will be different configurations of this plane. Example: When the upper deck is configured as luxory class, there will be much less seats in that plane. Around 800 passengers is the maximum that can be reached without having a first class in the plane.

[Akira 0]

I'm sure it can if you pack em in. The 747 has a domestic version that runs domestic routes in Japan that can seat 500-600 people.

[der bastler 0]

My new T630 just got delivered and receives much attention atm, but here's a quick'n'dirty smaller-than-100kB animation of the landing action (N24 screenshots):

(made with Imagemagick)

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

"Jojo!" I need privacy when flying. Ordered my own A380!