Countdown to A380 (first delivery arrived, 4 July)....
#121
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Oh, Pucci. You do get bogged down in details...
I don't believe it's as serious as first it sounds. The way I heard it explained is that these cracks on the skin of part of an A380 wing joint is very much like getting a paper cut on your hand. It might be a nuisance but it's not the same as breaking a bone, which would very definitely affect your structural integrity (if you'll pardon the expression!).
Still worth a plaster, though. And a kiss to make it better.
I don't believe it's as serious as first it sounds. The way I heard it explained is that these cracks on the skin of part of an A380 wing joint is very much like getting a paper cut on your hand. It might be a nuisance but it's not the same as breaking a bone, which would very definitely affect your structural integrity (if you'll pardon the expression!).
Still worth a plaster, though. And a kiss to make it better.
#122
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#123
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It is somewhat concerning that two British made bits of this plane - the engines and the wings - appear to present issues.
Better trust the Americans and buy Boeing
Better trust the Americans and buy Boeing
#125
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,190
It is a fantastic piece of engineering, but I would much rather be on the upper deck of a 744. The A380 in anything but first seems like it would be more of the flying dorm syndrome!
It will be a very sad day for me when the 744 disappears from my route.
rb211.
It will be a very sad day for me when the 744 disappears from my route.
rb211.
#126
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Now Boys I am not an engineer - but I hear tell of cracks on the wings.
I have always assumed that wings were rather important to the aerodynamics of any aircraft. It will not matter two tuppeny-halfpenny d*mns if there is a full nightclub on board if the wings and the fuselage part company.
Have I misunderstood something or have all these BA Captains been lying to me all these years?
I have always assumed that wings were rather important to the aerodynamics of any aircraft. It will not matter two tuppeny-halfpenny d*mns if there is a full nightclub on board if the wings and the fuselage part company.
Have I misunderstood something or have all these BA Captains been lying to me all these years?
#127
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Cracks of one sort of another have appeared in just about every make of aircraft made. Most are spotted and corrected without the public even knowing about them. Its just because the A380 is a relatively new, and the worlds largest plane so any small fault gets blown out of all precautions. At least they have found them now and not due to some aircraft crash investigation which would have seriously knocked the A380 programme.
HIDDY - I've flown on it. It's wonderful - truly. It will be a fantastic addition to the fleet.
I can guarantee that this will be doing some CDGs and other short hops when it is introduced to provide take off and landing experience as they did when the 747-400 came along.
#128
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In the Telegraph today:
"Airbus A380 superjumbo hit by another fault
The aircraft's latest issue is with rivets in the fuselage that safety authorities fear might not be able to withstand extreme forces placed upon them"
Oh dear..
"Airbus A380 superjumbo hit by another fault
The aircraft's latest issue is with rivets in the fuselage that safety authorities fear might not be able to withstand extreme forces placed upon them"
Oh dear..
#129
Join Date: Nov 2011
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...her-fault.html
#130
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That's a bit sensationalist if you read the whole article...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...her-fault.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...her-fault.html
#131
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 783
I probably prefer the 747 overall, however the only reason I am eagerly awaiting these to come into service with BA is just the fact that the 747's are in such a dire need of a complete interior refurbishment which never seems to happen.
#134
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: New York
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Nothing dramatically surprising here, but I think it's the first official comment on potential A380 routes:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...perjumbos.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...perjumbos.html
British Airways (IAG) plans to deploy its first Airbus SAS (EAD) A380 superjumbos on flights to New York and three Asian metropolises while using Boeing Co. (BA)’s smaller 787 Dreamliner to develop new destinations in emerging markets.
BA will take delivery of 12 525-seat A380s starting next year and is looking at using the double-deckers on high-density routes from London’s Heathrow airport to Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore, as well as on its busiest trans-Atlantic service.
“We’ll use bigger aircraft for routes with enough traffic density and restriction on slots,” Enrique Dupuy, chief financial officer at BA parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, said in an interview in London. “You can’t increase your frequencies so you bring more and bigger planes.”
British Airways will generally use its A380s on “very well-known routes,” Dupuy told Bloomberg Television. The London-based company will be the third European carrier to employ the world’s biggest passenger plane, after Air France and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which have contracts for 12 and 17 of the jets respectively.
Deployment of the 24 Dreamliners that BA has on order will seek to exploit the carbon-fiber plane’s reduced unit costs, which make it suited to lower-density routes and adding fresh locations, Dupuy said in the interview yesterday.
“The 787 will be about opening new destinations in the east, in Asia specifically,” the executive said. “It’s an under-served market for IAG and we are going to work intensively in recovering our position.”
BA will take delivery of 12 525-seat A380s starting next year and is looking at using the double-deckers on high-density routes from London’s Heathrow airport to Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore, as well as on its busiest trans-Atlantic service.
“We’ll use bigger aircraft for routes with enough traffic density and restriction on slots,” Enrique Dupuy, chief financial officer at BA parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, said in an interview in London. “You can’t increase your frequencies so you bring more and bigger planes.”
British Airways will generally use its A380s on “very well-known routes,” Dupuy told Bloomberg Television. The London-based company will be the third European carrier to employ the world’s biggest passenger plane, after Air France and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which have contracts for 12 and 17 of the jets respectively.
Deployment of the 24 Dreamliners that BA has on order will seek to exploit the carbon-fiber plane’s reduced unit costs, which make it suited to lower-density routes and adding fresh locations, Dupuy said in the interview yesterday.
“The 787 will be about opening new destinations in the east, in Asia specifically,” the executive said. “It’s an under-served market for IAG and we are going to work intensively in recovering our position.”
#135
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Thanks for the update, ian001. As you say, it all looks fairly standard stuff. One thing made me think:
...which is perfectly sensible (LHR to east-coast US seems a good fit in that sense), but doesn't the superjumbo require extra gaps in the take-off and landing space around it to compensate for the additional turbulence, somewhat mitigating the benefits?
“We’ll use bigger aircraft for routes with enough traffic density and restriction on slots,”