NEW EU Aibus A380!!!

[Kuang_Grade]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/science_news/4213543.html

Popular Mechanics has a video of what it was like on the inside during a test flight for journalists. I know that plane wings can wobble a bit in flight, but the wing is so large, that wobble looks really disconcerting

[Tsuru]

You ain't seen nothing yet... these look like very calm conditions, wait until it hits some chop at low speed on the approach

[cliffy]

You ain't seen nothing yet... these look like very calm conditions, wait until it hits some chop at low speed on the approach

Do the wings fall off? No, then I am more worried about the decorative qualities of the flight crew and quality of food/booze served. Any landing I can walk away from is a good one, the plane can twist like a pretzel in flight for all I care, provided I don't get anything spilled on me because of it!

[Tsuru]

If the wings didn't bend like this they would break off a lot sooner, not to mention spill your drink!

The earthquake-proof skyscrapers in Shinjuku are designed in much the same way

Airbus even has a special set of subroutines in its flight control software to help alleviate turbulence for the passengers and the airframe using the bending of the airframe, instead of trying to work against it. Boeing doesn't have a system like this as far as I know... another reason to fly European

[Adhesive]

That thing is so beautiful.

[Charles]

That's strange. I would have thought they would have put on Charles's Logo!

I oppose Airbus selling this aircraft to Qantas, they will just use it to help ozzies escape into the world.

[kurohinge1]

. . . they will just use it to help ozzies escape into the world . . .

There's more than one Ozzie???



[SIZE="4"]"They must've cloned me"[/SIZE]

[Greji]

There's more than one Ozzie???

Only one?

[FG Lurker]

Any landing I can walk away from is a good one

I don't mind landing usually, but when I had to fly to Seoul last year I think KAL must've been training an orangutan to land the plane. One gawd-awful spine bending THUD onto the runway followed by a bunch of bounces. Thanks for the wakeup jolt, I really needed that!

[kurohinge1]

[Buraku]

Superjumbo Airbus jets arrive at JFK, LA

http://www.localnewswatch.com/benton/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=85045

[Buraku]

First customer A380 in the paintshop
http://iagblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/first-a380-in-paintshop.html

Airbus released two images of the first customer A380 for Singapore Airlines entering the paint shop today. The other image is on Flight Global.com if you want to see it.

The job takes 3 weeks - there is a lot of skin to cover, 3100 square meters. A funny line (unintended for sure) in the PR piece is - "Following timely completion of the cabin installation of the first A380 for Singapore Airlines". Uh huh.

Jokes and digs aside, it is really good to see this event. We have been waiting for two years to see this. It is a sign of progress in the program - may Airbus only start to get this program humming soon.

[Tsuru]

[Kuang_Grade]

While not 380 related, this seems like the right place for it.

Boeing's 787 Bidet's
Two Airlines to Add Bidet on New Boeing
By J. LYNN LUNSFORD and YUKA HAYASHI
Wall Street Journal July 11, 2007; Page B2
With their wet floors and overfilled waste bins, airplane lavatories can make an interminable transcontinental flight especially unpleasant. Now, two Japanese airlines hope to make them more of a cleansing experience by introducing a new in-flight amenity: bidets.

In a first for commercial air travel, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines will outfit their fleets of new Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners with a combination toilet and bidet built by TOTO Ltd. of Japan. ANA will install the devices in both premium and economy classes, while JAL will install them in lavatories used in premium seating areas.

ANA has 50 Dreamliners on order and will be the first airline in the world to take delivery of Boeing's hottest-selling new plane ever in May 2008. JAL has 35 Dreamliners on order and is scheduled to receive its first planes later that year.

It isn't the first time Japanese carriers have demanded improvement in the bathroom experience on jetliners. During the planning for the widebody 777, which entered service in the mid-1990s, officials at JAL urged Boeing to get rid of the jarring noise that airline toilet seats made each time a passenger slammed one down. The problem became known around Boeing as the "big bang," and engineers ultimately solved it by installing an air shock that lowers the seat in blissful silence. "It's become one of the hallmarks of the 777," said a Boeing spokeswoman.

Boeing said that ANA and JAL have been asking the jet maker to offer bidet-style toilets for years, but previous models wouldn't have stood up to the daily abuse of long-haul flights. Working with TOTO, one of the largest manufacturers of bathroom and plumbing products, the airlines and Boeing finally developed a model that will be sufficiently robust. Boeing says the Washlet (TOTO's trademarked name) is now listed as an option in the 787 catalog.

In Japan, two out of three househoulds own bidet-toilets, according to government statistics. They are also increasingly common in public toilets, and most new office buildings and hotels install them as standard functions. But the devices present a challenge to both Boeing and the airlines: explaining how to use them so that even the most unfamiliar passenger won't be scared to sit down.

The Washlet comes with a control panel next to the seat that enables passengers to operate it. A sample panel at Boeing's customer design center depicts a stick figure of a person sitting down, with water spraying upward from different directions, depending on which button is pushed. "It's very accurate," said Hiroyuki Ito, ANA's executive vice president in charge of maintenance and operations.

For any passenger who has traipsed to the lavatory on a long-haul flight only to find a wet floor, the Washlets might seem likely to compound the problem. But Boeing said the bidet part of the toilet won't work unless a passenger is seated on it, lessening the likelihood that it will be misused. An ANA spokeswoman added that the bidet has an automatic self-cleaning function.

[Tsuru]

Part of the wet floors problem is with discipline on the part of the cabin crew. If no-one is designated by the purser to toilet tidying duty that's what you'll find.

[madfuku]

I am so going to avoid flying the A380. Its an amazing machine for sure, for like FEDEX/DHL and perhaps the military, neither going to happen though, but it just ain't for me.

I hate lines, I hate crowds and I just can't imagine deplaning with 853 other passengers which is where this aviation monstrosity is going and is certified to carry.

Imagine the immigration line after one of these things lands, you better hope your the first one out or it will take you three hours just to get through customs only factoring the other passengers on the plane who deplaned with you.

Not to mention it will undoubtedly be the most attractive aircraft to hijack or bring down and the hardest to secure.

I am looking forward to the Dreamliner its more my style. I also wanna see smaller and much faster. Rather than lumbering giants of the sky.

[Greji]

Part of the wet floors problem is with discipline on the part of the cabin crew. If no-one is designated by the purser to toilet tidying duty that's what you'll find.

I wonder if we can get the bidet in your assigned seat? Hmmm....

[Tsuru]

I am so going to avoid flying the A380. Its an amazing machine for sure, for like FEDEX/DHL and perhaps the military, neither going to happen though, but it just ain't for me.

I hate lines, I hate crowds and I just can't imagine deplaning with 853 other passengers which is where this aviation monstrosity is going and is certified to carry.

Imagine the immigration line after one of these things lands, you better hope your the first one out or it will take you three hours just to get through customs only factoring the other passengers on the plane who deplaned with you.

How is that different from the current situation at major US airports when a 747 arrives? I don't see how this problem is unique to the A380 or how the A380 is the cause of this. Airline passenger traffic is bound to increase year after year and the A380 is quite simply necessary to cope with the demand when you're talking about the number of flights going into airports. The point of the A380 is having an increase in pax traffic that can go into and out of airports without the increase of flights that comes from flying same-sized of smaller aircraft. I reckon the queues are likely to get bigger at smaller airfields once the Boeing model of having more smaller planes flying to smaller fields and not using airports effectively that were designed to handle this huge amount of traffic effectively and efficiently in the first place. I think I'd rather be in a 500-strong check-in queue at Frankfurt than be in a 200-strong queue at El Paso. ]Not to mention it will undoubtedly be the most attractive aircraft to hijack or bring down and the hardest to secure.[/quote]That's not a question of size but a matter of who the aircraft belongs to, where it's flown to and who's on it. A 777 belonging to El Al full of Jewish Americans on Shabbas will still be a much, much more attractive target than an A380 full of Germans or Chinese.

I am looking forward to the Dreamliner its more my style. I also wanna see smaller and much faster. Rather than lumbering giants of the sky.

Having been on Boeing's as well as Airbus' latest creations I would definitely say the latter is the better choice in terms of passenger comfort, even when you're talking about the 777. Boeings have always been pilot's aircraft, while Airbuses are quieter and roomier for its passengers. I look forward to flying on both the 787 and the A380, but if precedence is anything to go by I know which one I'll prefer to fly on in the end.

Besides, both the 787 and A380 cruise at M0.85, so no difference there. The option of Washlets is just about the only thing I can think of that really gives the 787 the edge. But I hate to think of the lines that will appear outside of the loos once people start needing 3 minutes for a thorough cleansing

[ketchupkatsu]

I'm just hoping that they won't be using that blue water that airlines normally use in the lavatories.

I would hate to be a lady wearing white on the plane.

[Greji]

I know which one I'll prefer to fly on in the end.

Al Gore has picked one of Tsuru"s designs!

[Tsuru]

Patents pending

[Adhesive]

[quote="Tsuru"]I think I'd rather be in a 500-strong check-in queue at Frankfurt than be in a 200-strong queue at El Paso. ]

Well, some of us don't live very close to Frankfurt, and would prefer not to travel an extra 300 miles to fly out of an airport that supports the A380.

I love the A380 myself, but I think it was a Concord-like mistake. Amazing aircraft, bad business practice. I think spoke-and-hub travel will begin to fade away as global travel increases and the focus will be on fast, effecient, point-to-point travel. I hope I'm wrong and Airbus can "catch up" to Boeing sooner than 10 years from now. Nothing like competition to improve product.

[Tsuru]

Airbus will have a 787 aircraft of its own, the A350, which is to enter service about 2012. It seems to me neither really knows what will be the best system as Boeing also did something they said they'd never do: they built a bigger 747 to carve off a piece of the A380 market.

I just expect both systems and aircraft to operate alongside as they (the 787 and A380) complement each other perfectly. Some people will prefer speed, some people will prefer a lower ticket price, and any of these might be fond of more comfort. Nothing really new

Meanwhile, Lufthansa is pondering the possibility of offering flat beds for economy prices on the A380.

[IkemenTommy]

ANA is going to be ordering a fleet of A380... in Japanese.

Reason: The delay of B787

[Kuang_Grade]

The A380 would actually make alot of sense for their US destinations given fuel prices being what they are and the US airports they fly to...I think all of their airports in the US are A380 ready or almost so....but it is not all or nothing deal....The 787 probably makes more sense for many of their Asian routes

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080704/japan_ana_airbus.html

Japan's ANA may purchase Airbus A380
Friday July 4, 5:51 am ET
Japan's ANA sets up panel to study purchase of Airbus A380, other aircraft
TOKYO (AP) -- All Nippon Airways Co. is studying buying about five Airbus superjumbo A380s or other aircraft for long-haul routes, the Japanese carrier said Friday.
...
If the airline selects the A380, it would need about five jets for long-haul routes such as round-trip flights between Tokyo and New York, she said.
All purchases will be for long-distance flights to the United States and Europe, in time for a planned runway expansion at Tokyo's Narita International Airport set for 2010, Kon said.


Major Japanese business daily The Nikkei reported Friday that ANA's panel is expected to decide to buy five A380 jets at about 100 billion yen (US$940 million).

[Jack]

ANA is going to be ordering a fleet of A380... in Japanese.

Reason: The delay of B787

That's a lame reason. You don't go out and make a $300 million per fin, 30-year decision just because you have a two-year delay on an aircraft. Totally different equipment from the 787 that serves very different missions.

[Tsuru]

Actually, yes you do. When the A380 was suffering its major delays Airbus offered airlines not just cash payments as contract non-fulfillment penalties but also new aircraft as "stopgaps" as they put it, to help the airlines fill the 18-month hiatus in planned seat capacity . In Airbus' case, these were A330 aircraft which are in the same class as the 787. Qantas and Emirates were just some of the recipients. And when you don't want to use them, just sell them as capital.

But I don't think this is the case here... whether the 787 would be delayed or not, they were getting the A380 all along. They just didn't want to be a launch customer for two new aircraft types at the same time, and very understandably waited with ordering theirs until after EIS.

[Jack]

Actually, yes you do. When the A380 was suffering its major delays Airbus offered airlines not just cash payments as contract non-fulfillment penalties but also new aircraft as "stopgaps" as they put it, to help the airlines fill the 18-month hiatus in planned seat capacity . In Airbus' case, these were A330 aircraft which are in the same class as the 787. Qantas and Emirates were just some of the recipients. And when you don't want to use them, just sell them as capital.

But I don't think this is the case here... whether the 787 would be delayed or not, they were getting the A380 all along. They just didn't want to be a launch customer for two new aircraft types at the same time, and very understandably waited with ordering theirs until after EIS.

Tsuru, will you, by any chance be in London next week?

[kurohinge1]

ANA is going to be ordering a fleet of A380... in Japanese.

Reason: The delay of B787

What colours do they want? There might be quite a few A380's to pick from.

[SIZE="4"]Futuristic jets put on hold by recession[/SIZE]

. . . Qantas's decision yesterday to defer buying four of the $350 million superjumbos has raised questions about whether the planes it once described as an aviation revolution would survive the economic downturn.

Having crowed last year about being among the first airlines to buy the A380s, Qantas has now become the latest in a long line of carriers - others include Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates - to defer, cancel or reduce the role of the aircraft.

Qantas will also defer orders for 12 Boeing 737-800s and is discussing with Boeing a delay in the delivery of the first batch of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

The A380s are so large it has become difficult to fill them in today's economic environment, where the number of business-class travellers has dropped dramatically. "It's a large aircraft and it needs a very high-density route to reap the maximum benefit," Derek Sadubin, from the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, said. . .

Qantas said yesterday it was having no difficulty filling the London and Los Angeles flights serviced by its three A380s, and it will still take the three new aircraft it has already paid for.

But the airline is clearly forecasting bleak times ahead, slashing the capacity on its international and domestic routes by 5 per cent. . . more

. . .

[Greji]

There might be quite a few A380's to pick from.

I was told it was simply because the crews refused to fly them to Kansai because of rumors of an Ayers Rock goat herder wannabe, hanging out in Nara....