World's largest airplane unveiled (Airbus A-380)

[MIKE BURN]

Quote:

---

Airbus unveils 'superjumbo'



Tuesday, January 18, 2005 Posted: 8:22 AM EST (1322 GMT)



TOULOUSE, France -- The world's biggest-ever passenger plane has been unveiled in France at a ceremony attended by the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Spain and 5,000 VIP guests.



The A380 superjumbo, made by the European company Airbus, was revealed at a lavish presentation at its hangar in the southwestern city of Toulouse.



French President Jacques Chirac called the A380 "a veritable liner of the skies" and said its debut "is for all of us a moment of emotion and pride."



"Your adventure is a great success for Europe," he told Airbus workers.



British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the aircraft "would change the way we travel."



The show began with music, clouds of dry ice and dancers in the hangar where A380s are assembled -- one of the largest enclosed spaces in Europe.



Hailed as a "European success story" by the European Union, the massive plane can seat up to 840 passengers on its two full decks, and its size easily eclipses the Boeing 747 that has ruled the commercial skies for decades.



Also attending were British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.



France, Britain, Germany and Spain all invested heavily in the 10-year, €10-billion-plus (U.S. $13-billion-plus) program to make the plane.



Various ministers and the senior executives of most of the world's major airlines were also in attendance, prompting police to throw a security cordon around Toulouse and deploy more than 2,000 officers, including bomb squads and bodyguards.



CNN's Richard Quest said the unveiling of the new aircraft is the type of event that happens only once in a generation.

---

Here are some pics (also from the interior) and btw.... the airplane consumes only 3 liters of Kerosine 100km/passenger and therefore is more economic than any known car.

[Cybernetic Organism68]

3 liters of kerosene?



Wow...

[MIKE BURN]

Some more statistics:



The A380 is 15 metres wider, 4 metres taller, 2 metres longer and 118 tonnes heavier than the Boeing 747 jumbo, which has reigned as the largest airliner for four decades.



The Airbus double-decker is the length of eight London buses and has enough room on its massive wings to park 70 cars.



The A380 will seat 555 passengers in first class, business and economy cabins. A 747 laid out the same way seats 416.



An all-economy class A380 could seat 853 passengers versus 568 for a 747.







Cocktail bars, billiard rooms, showers, libraries and sleeping quarters for staff tucked under the floorboards are among the novel ways airlines could use the A380's space.



A wingspan of 79.8 metres (261 ft 10 in) means the A380 is too large for most airport docking bays. UK airport operator BAA Plc alone has budgeted 450 million pounds ($842 million) to build larger facilities to handle the planes.



At take-off, the A380's four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines will generate as much thrust as 3,500 cars.



The A380 has 16 passenger doors and escape slides on both decks, with the upper slides standing 8 metres high.



The A380 lists for about $260 million each, versus about $210 million for the smaller Boeing 747-400.



Airports gearing up for the plane include London's Heathrow, New York's John F. Kennedy International, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Frankfurt.

[DreamTone7]

...you mean worlds largest PASSENGER plane, Mike...as the article originally claims. Tsk-tsk...more false advertising from the would-be reporter from Germany.



The largest was, of course, the HK-1...otherwise known as the "Spruce Goose". It had a wingspan of 320 feet...quite a bit more than the A380 at only 260 feet.



Of greater import is the economy possible with such a large plane...but we (Boeing) will beat it when we come out with the 7E7.

[Jorn Lavoll]

how do the seats that i can afford look like? economy class pictures?

[MIKE BURN]

Quote:

---

DreamTone7



...you mean worlds largest PASSENGER plane, Mike...as the article originally claims. Tsk-tsk...more false advertising from the would-be reporter from Germany.



The largest was, of course, the HK-1...otherwise known as the "Spruce Goose". It had a wingspan of 320 feet...quite a bit more than the A380 at only 260 feet.

---

For sheer size, the A380 is larger than almost any plane ever built. Howard Hughes' ill-fated Spruce Goose flying boat, which flew once in 1947 and was designed to carry 750 troops, had a wider wingspan to incorporate its eight engines but was shorter than the A380.



BTW.... the A-380 has a reduced noise emission of 50% compared to a Boeing 747!

[MIKE BURN]

Quote:

---

Jorn Lavoll



how do the seats that i can afford look like? economy class pictures?

---

[markhewer]

Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike!!!



840 passengers!!!!! Wow...that should speed things up at the airport security check points. LOL

[DreamTone7]

Word on the street is that the A380 will sell for about $160 (vs $260) due to the discounts required in order to sell this aircraft to other countries...who must now revamp their airports in order to take it. Currently, there are less orders on the books than are required to hit the "break-even" point as far as costs for design are concerned (which I believe is about 250 aircraft for this model.)



...and as for noise, the 7E7 will be more quiet than the A380...as well as being more efficient.



Note: For those not in the know, I work for Boeing...so there is a bit of rivalry going on here.

Melody and Instruments for the soul...

[Jorn Lavoll]

i like to watch airplane shows on discovery hehe. boeing always seems like an interresting company in those shows. what kind of work do you do for boeing?

[DreamTone7]

Industrial Engineer...used to work on the 737-NG (next generation)...models -600, -700, -800 and -900. We were putting out 2 of them every three days, and still are to my knowledge. Most widely used passenger aircraft of its size in the world...with over 5,000 in service.



Now I work on the CH-47 line of helicopters. Most widely used helicopter of its type in the world...been being built for over 40 years now in different variations. We recently supplied Egypt, Spain, Taiwan, Italy, Great Britain and, of course, the US with these birds. Used extensively in the recent disaster.

Melody and Instruments for the soul...