Sneak Peek at the Airbus 380 Prototype

[Kellanved]

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,425159,00.jpg


http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,336483,00.html

:bounce:


Edit: Prepositions, I hate 'em.

[Eurobabe]

1. that is one BIG ASS plane!

cool!

[physioex]

2. But I am sure then airlines....

Would be more than happy to cramp in economy class....

[Pab Sungenis]

4. Last time I flew....

...I was on AirTran.

I think I flew "Steerage" class.

[KitchenWitch]

5. are all of Air Tran's seats so damned uncomfortable

I felt like I spent 4 hours sitting on cinderblocks!

[physioex]

11. You spent....

$80 for a ticket and youre going to complain. You didn't think you would get something for nothing. Same applies when a person shops at Wally World. BTW Air Tran used to be Value Jet.

[KitchenWitch]

12. no I spent $300 for the ticket

because I live in a hub city that has virtually no competition, so our prices are jacked up! And yes I will complain, the seat literally had no padding whatsoever - and I have an artificial hip joint, and could barely walk after sitting in the seat.

[mcscajun]

23. Big Ass, nothing! It's got a Big, Freakin' NOSE!

:)

[XNASA]

3. Gee, the plane is bigger, but..........

Are they gonna make the baggage carousel bigger to in order to accomodate the extra passengers?

:shrug:

[Kellanved]

6. actually yes.

Bigger baggage carousels are part of the A380 compatibility guideline.

[dr.strangelove]

7. The tail is held on with brown tape

Like I would fly a plane like that. There are no engines, just big red disks. This think is going to crash. They better use something stronger on the tail. I usually use bubble gum and model glue, but nail glue works good too.

[Worst Username Ever]

8. Even if they replaced the brown tape with duct tape, that would be

stronger. I would also paint the red disks blue, so when it crashes people don't get alarmed that the engine is red and on fire, and instead see that it is blue like the sky and everything is ok.

[dr.strangelove]

10. Very True - Duck Tape is stronger.

After all, it can prevent bio-terrorism, or at least keep you safe. The blue disks might not work becaus eit will be harder to see the plane after it sinks in the water. Maybe they should just try to put engines in those spots, nah, the disks are btter. What about dayglow disks?

[Worst Username Ever]

13. Day glow disks!

Brilliant, better to see in the water. Plus maybe people would think they are jets, and think the plane can go faster. I bet that would help to sell tickets, plus get people's attention off the tail. I think they should wrap the plane in plastic in case of an anthrax attack, the passengers would be safe.

[dr.strangelove]

19. We should redesign this thing.

At least we know enough to try to keep attention off the taped on tail. These guys need help in design, engineering and marketing.

You get to head up marketing. I like your idea of marketing it as a terror-proof plane by wrapping it in saran wrap and duck tape. We will put all other airlines out of business. Why didn't United think of this, because they did not hire us.
I want to run duck tape development. I'll come up with better ways to save money in the plane by replacing traditional items with duck tape. For example, those damn sliding seat belts could easily be replaced with rolls of duck tape.

[Worst Username Ever]

38. ha ha those guys don't get it

they think we don't know what we are doing by redesigning this thing. We'll show them. Also I think you can replace a lot of the oxygen hoses and fuel lines my rolling up duct tape into tubes. That would save big $$ IMO. That would increase our PROFIT MARGIN.

It looks like the windows are made of plastic or something. Lets cover them in metal to make them stronger.

[Guaranteed]

9. deleted for stupidity nt

[billyskank]

14. What kind of a reason for deletion is that??

:shrug:

[Guaranteed]

21. No, seriously.

:P

[dr.strangelove]

16. I agree - My posts are all stupid and I don't delete them

[Guaranteed]

22. No, SERIOUSLY.

:P

[dr.strangelove]

25. Okay, I guess it was a SERIOUSLY stupid post.

Anyway, I had fun with this thread. Sorry to partially hijack it with our little fun. It made a boring day go smoothly. Thanks.

[Guaranteed]

26. Well, hell, I damned near destroyed the thing with my

stupid-ass post. :) Phew!

And it was fun. B-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. Yeah, and I suppose that coach will have a seat pitch of

30" and have seats 16" wide so that they can pack 1,000 passengers in. Or maybe they'll just have straps hanging from the ceiling and we'll all have to stand all the way across the ocean.

[LeftCoast]

17. Does anyone know if this plane can land/takeoff on a standard runway?

I'm betting there aren't a lot of places this thing can land.

[Kellanved]

28. no, they need to be modified:

here is the list:
http://www.airbus.com/pdf/a380/a380airport_compat.pdf

[ps1074]

18. I actually think A380 will be great

555 seats, can you believe?

But I read that it will be luxurious and the free space will be much more too...

"The main deck of the A380 is the widest in the world. Its floor area has 49 percent more floor space and 35 percent more seats than the 747-400," says an Airbus spokesman. "So airlines can make their seats wider and provide each seat with its own separate armrest--a frequent passenger demand."

And the price? $280 milion

Here is a good link to read more about A380 (have some pics and graphics too):

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/aviation/1280631.html

[Taverner]

24. Me too

Unlike cars, the airlines plan on filling every seat so to have a plane like this means less impact on the environment, and (hopefully) cheaper seats.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. That's the way Airbus is promoting the 380.

But the airlines that buy them can configure them any way they want to -- they can either have fancy lounges and huge seats, or they can put in more seats and carry more passengers. You can't make money flying an enormous four-engine airplane full of empty space...

[DemoTex]

20. Maximum takeoff weight 1,235,000 pounds - 555 passengers.

[Briarius]

29. 1,235,000 pounds shouldn't be able to fly

that seems like such a huge amount. I know it probably will, but it still seems like a lot to get airborne

[DemoTex]

30. To paraphrase my friend Mohammad Ali ...

Floats like a butterfly .. stings the airline's wallet like a bee."

[DemoTex]

27. This is the #1 question posed by airline pilots regarding the A380-800:

How much does it pay?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. So far, no U.S. air carrier has ordered them.

Most runways are not stressed for the weight, and the airports don't have the kind and number of jetways that would allow for the efficient loading and unloading of 500+ passengers. The trend is actually toward smaller airplanes for domestic operations, and wide-bodies smaller than the B-747 (like the Airbus A-330 and the B-777) for international flights. The A-380 will be used mostly by Asian carriers, like Singapore airlines, where they rely on massive passenger loads. I doubt we'll see them in the U.S. any time soon.

[Kellanved]

32. UPS isn't a US carrier?

But yeah, as long as LAX is not willing to make the necessary changes, it is too risky. Especially considering that the US passenger carriers are used to pay the subsidies for Boeing - naturally they're not interested in enraging the lobby.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. It's not a passenger carrier --

I should have been more explicit. If UPS uses them it will be limited as to where it can land them because of their weight.

[B Calm]

33. Why is it so fat?

[Schema Thing]

36. I wonder how soon till they start using airtransport like ferries?

Wait in line, drive your car on in NY, drive your car off in Paris.

[AlCzervik]

37. Jeebus, that is one big bus, does it have an upstairs?

[Worst Username Ever]

39. yep

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,425161,00.jpg