Introducing The $300 Million Private Jet-an A380

[jon1856]

Superjumbo Jet Coming to America

By MATT MOORE
AP
FRANKFURT, Germany (March 18) - It may trail the historic impact of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic, but the Spirit of St. Louis also did not have a wingspan wider than a football field or space for more than 500 passengers.

For plane builder Airbus and German airline Lufthansa AG, the A380's first flight to North America on Monday is a chance to show off the superjumbo to potential U.S. buyers and to the airports they hope will be flight bases for the double-decker jet.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_...18175309990001

[Tom Earp]

How many Airports are going to be able to handle this big and heavy sucker with out tearing up the runways, taxi strips and tarmac?

The French want to strike as they cannot build it properly and again atre gettting their butts kicked by Boeing.

The Airlines are living on borrowed time with old equipment in flight now.

Granted, the biggest thing I ever flew on was an L-1011, but according to piolets it was one of the bst planes ever made. But the DC - 10 by McDonald won out. Didnt trust a plane when the engine was sticking out of the tail! Especially when the one went down in Chicago!

Bigger isnt always better!

[texas*princess]

Big planes scare me

[PeppyGPhiB]

Wow, I agree with...Tom Earp.

Something else that should be pointed out is that this plane is so big that, like Tom said, many airports will not have runways and facilities capable of handling the A380. So, if for some reason a flight has to be diverted from its intended arrival airport for emergency or other reasons, it could be total chaos.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Wow, I agree with...Tom Earp.

Something else that should be pointed out is that this plane is so big that, like Tom said, many airports will not have runways and facilities capable of handling the A380. So, if for some reason a flight has to be diverted from its intended arrival airport for emergency or other reasons, it could be total chaos.

And a report I saw seems to go against what the French pilots are reporting.
That the plane does not drive/fly like a sports car.
The larger the plane, the harder and slower it is to react to controls.

[jon1856]

Fodor's Travel Wire > News
Onboard the Airbus A380

When the first commercial flight of a 747 took off from Washington D.C.'s Dulles Airport on January 22, 1970, critics carped that the plane was already obsolete. What did they know? The 747 went on to dominate the skies for the next three decades.
http://www.fodors.com/wire/archives/002432.cfm

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by jon1856

Fodor's Travel Wire > News
Onboard the Airbus A380

When the first commercial flight of a 747 took off from Washington D.C.'s Dulles Airport on January 22, 1970, critics carped that the plane was already obsolete. What did they know? The 747 went on to dominate the skies for the next three decades.
http://www.fodors.com/wire/archives/002432.cfm

While the Fodors author means well, he/she seems pretty naive about what this plane will be for the typical traveler. The comfort options mentioned in the article will be standard on the 787 Dreamliner, too, and the 787 will DEFINITELY be more fuel efficient than the 380, not "supposedly."

OH, the Dreamliner surpassed 500 pre-orders last week! Most successful pre-launch sales campaign in commercial aviation to date.

[AlphaSigOU]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Granted, the biggest thing I ever flew on was an L-1011, but according to piolets it was one of the bst planes ever made. But the DC - 10 by McDonald won out. Didnt trust a plane when the engine was sticking out of the tail! Especially when the one went down in Chicago!

Bigger isnt always better!

I've flown in the 'TriTanic' (the L1011 TriStar), the 'Death Cruiser' (the DC-10) and the 'Whale' (the Boeing 747). The Tristar, while a better aircraft than the DC-10, was hobbled by only one engine selection (Rolls Royce RB.211) that nearly killed the program.

AA 191 (the DC-10 that bought it in Chicago that May day in 1979) was a victim of poor maintenance practices and a poor redundant design. When the engine tore off the left wing, it took out the hydraulic system for the wing leading edge slats. While the 'Diesel 10' had better sales, it could never shake off the stigma of AA 191.