A380 Test Flight

**Snapper** · 26-04-2005, 15:27

Word on the street is that the Airbus A380 is due it's first test flight tomorrow (Wednesday), weather permitting.

26-04-2005, 16:03

Hope they show it on the news??[msnwink]

**pieman790** · 26-04-2005, 16:21

Im sure they will show it on the news, as they need as much media attention as possible. I did notice that Beoing are also launching a new plane the B787 which is smaller (half size of the A380) but uses 25% less fuel.

**Snapper** · 26-04-2005, 16:31

That's the one that's been living under the 7E7 name for the last couple of years, and uses all sorts of advanced materials and technologies to minimise operational costs.

It's going to be interesting to see how the future pans out. Airbus has a very hubs-and-spokes view of the world, with the A380 being the cornerstone of the hub-to-hub market. Boeing are going more towards a more regional route approach where people fly direct from A to B without having to route through a hub.

**domster** · 26-04-2005, 21:54

Do you think if a plane is 25% cheaper to run they will pass this on to the comsumer?

Probably not

DOM

27-04-2005, 00:23

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Snapper
That's the one that's been living under the 7E7 name for the last couple of years, and uses all sorts of advanced materials and technologies to minimise operational costs.

It's going to be interesting to see how the future pans out. Airbus has a very hubs-and-spokes view of the world, with the A380 being the cornerstone of the hub-to-hub market. Boeing are going more towards a more regional route approach where people fly direct from A to B without having to route through a hub.
[/quote]

I suppose for the US the 7E7 makes more sense they have so many regional airports that could accomodate the 7E7, however here in UK/Europe 'hubs' seem to be the way forward although Im not so sure its the way to go - I have a feeling that Boeing make come out of this smelling of roses!

Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner to be called 787

Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner
Boeing's latest jetliner project is a superefficient 200-to-250-seat jet. Though smaller than the 777s and 747s that make up most of today's intercontinental fleet, the Dreamliner employs new engine and materials technologies that allow it to burn significantly less fuel per passenger and fly [edited out]her without refueling. Boeing hopes airlines will use it to open new nonstop links between midsize cities. Its 9,000-plus-mile range would take it from Singapore to Denver without a layover, and those long flights may also be more comfortable. The cabin pressure will be higher (making it feel as if you're 6,000 feet above sea level instead of 8,000), and increased humidity will mitigate the Death Valley dryness of today's air travel.

27-04-2005, 00:25

A380 set for maiden flight before 50,000

LAURENCE FROST

Associated Press

BLAGNAC, France - After 11 years of preparation and $13 billion in spending, the world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, is scheduled to fly for the first time on Wednesday.

Weather permitting, Airbus test pilots will power the four engines on a test model of the 555-seat "superjumbo" to lift its 308-ton frame aloft. About 50,000 onlookers are expected for what some are calling the biggest aviation event since Concorde's first flight in 1969.

The first A380 flight is tentatively set to begin around midmorning and could last for much of the day as the plane circles the region, beaming back real-time measurements of 150,000 parameters to Airbus headquarters from its 20 metric tons (22 tons) of on-board test instruments.

Industry analysts are keeping a close watch on Airbus, which hopes to woo customers away from rival Boeing Co. with the A380 but has yet to prove that it can turn a profit on its superjumbo investment, a third of which came from came from European governments.

As Airbus and Boeing spar over what each calls unfair government subsidies for the other, the rival aircraft manufacturers have staked their success on competing visions of the future of commercial air travel.

The A380, with a catalogue price of $282 million, represents a huge bet that international airlines will need bigger aircraft to transport passengers between ever-busier hub airports. But some analysts say signs of a boom in the market for smaller wide-body planes, such as Boeing's long-range 787 "Dreamliner," show that Airbus was wrong to focus so much time and money on its superjumbo.

Just this week, Air Canada said it had firm orders for 32 new Boeing jets, including 14 787s, with a list value of about $6 billion, and Air India announced plans to order 50 Boeing jets worth $6.8 billion. Air India wants 27 of the 787s, which will carry up to 257 passengers and have a list price of $120 million, boosting total orders and commitments for the plane to 237. The 787, which was launched a year ago, is scheduled to enter service in 2008.

"If the A380 costs Airbus the mid-market then it's the biggest misinvestment in aerospace history since Concorde," said Richard Aboulafia of the U.S. consultancy Teal Group. "The way the market's changing makes this look more like a science fair project every day."

Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., is also planning to bring its own mid-sized jetliner, the A350, into service in 2010 - two years after the Boeing 787, but the United States government is demanding that no European government launch aid be extended for the A350.

So far, Airbus has booked 154 orders for the A380, which it says will carry passengers 5 percent [edited out]her than Boeing's longest-range 747 jumbo at a per-passenger cost up to one-fifth below its rival's.

While plane enthusiasts have lined fences in recent days at the airport in the Toulouse suburb of Blagnac, where Airbus is headquartered, Airbus has warned that the first flight of the A380 - already about a month behind schedule - could be further delayed by any unforeseen weather conditions.

A strong southerly wind from the Mediterranean would mean automatic postponement, since it would require a takeoff over the town - considered too risky for a test flight.

Aviation experts say risks remain very slim on the maiden test flight since a plane's aerodynamic characteristics are already well known before it takes off, thanks to years of computer modeling and wind-tunnel tests.

Problems are more likely, but still very rare, later in the tes***light program, when the pilots deliberately take the plane to its limits. An Airbus A330 prototype crashed here in July 1994, killing chief test pilot Nick Warner and six others as they conducted a simulated engine failure exercise.

Airbus chief test pilot Jacques Rosay, flight captain Claude Lelaie and four fellow crew members will take no chances. They will wear parachutes during the first flight