Airbus A380 flyover this AM

onewhippedpuppy · 10-04-2007, 06:06 AM

Just got back from watching the A380 fly over Wichita Mid-Continent airport. Supposedly the runway is long enough, but not wide enough for it to land. We had a good spot in a parking lot just north of the west runway, it literally flew right over our heads. Big, but not as overwhelmingly large as I expected. Of course, things normally look smaller at 500 ft. and 150 kts. Still, pretty damn cool. Also very quiet, but europe is ahead of the US regarding noise regulations. The purpose of the flyover was to salute the Wichita aerospace industry, as well as the local Airbus engineering facility that designed parts of the wing.

Sorry for the crappy pics, my good digital camera is broken, so the camera phone was the only option.

Superman · 10-04-2007, 09:11 AM

I think it's not so much US v. Europe regarding noise control. It's 1970 versus 2007. 777's are quiet as mouses, at least from the rear for sure. The loudest things that fly out of Sea-Tac are the MD-80's.

Joeaksa · 10-04-2007, 09:24 AM

Might do well with selected airlines (read mostly European) but there are going to be a lot of places where it will NOT be allowed to fly to. For instance Las Vegas will not be build the special new jetway loading/unloading facility needed to handle the 380, so it will not be flying to Vegas.

I saw it at the Dubai air show last year and it is impressive. What I want to see is their getting all the 5-600 passengers out of the bird in the event of an accident. Hope it can be done.

onewhippedpuppy · 10-04-2007, 09:44 AM

That's probably more like it Supe. I'm on the flightpath for McConnel AFB, so I'm used to KC135s flying overhead every 10 minutes or so, with the occasional C17, F15 or 16 for good measure. None are what I would consider "quiet".

Though I have to say, even compared to the business jets we build at work, it was suprisingly silent. New aircraft, new engine, I suppose it's to be expected.

Joe, I totally agree. I think there's a niche for it, but it's not very big. I get the feeling that Airbus overestimated the demand. Not that they really care, they're government subsidized anyway. Oh well, while they've been struggling to get the A380 out the door, Boeing has been selling 787s like mad. It's good for us, Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita builds the forward fuselage section, as well as other misc. parts.

Superman · 10-04-2007, 10:02 AM

In my humble view, Boeing is hands-down the finest airplane manufacturers on the planet. They have gambled on new designs, and financed those gambles with the future of the company in the balance, many many times over the past several decades. They have never failed to hit the center of the bullseye.

911/914gary · 10-04-2007, 10:49 AM

Joeaksa said:

What I want to see is their getting all the 5-600 passengers out of the bird in the event of an accident. Hope it can be done.

They did it in 77 sec. Kind of scary to watch if you think of this as an actual emergency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weOcrP7u7Y8

fingpilot · 10-04-2007, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

SNIP What I want to see is their getting all the 5-600 passengers out of the bird in the event of an accident. Hope it can be done.

Joe:

Has already been done to the satisfaction of the certification board. That is the vid on YouTube. If you watch closely, there are only two injuries.... the last two people out of the plane..... both crew. One of them 'hops' into the slide but the idiot lands on his butt on the door threshold (ouch). He compressed his lower spine, and needed eleven very personal stitches. The other one went down the slide sideways after hooking his pants belt on the girt bar, and landed at the bottom of the slide head first. In that both of these highly trained crew were French, neither one sustained injuries to a part of the body that a Frenchman would ever use normally anyway.

fxeditor · fxeditor's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

What I want to see is their getting all the 5-600 passengers out of the bird in the event of an accident. Hope it can be done.

What I don't want do be is in the passport control line when one of these birds straight from Europe or Asia offloads 5-600 passengers!

Michael

Joeaksa · 10-04-2007, 04:21 PM

Guys,

The thing everyone is overlooking, is that these people knew that it was coming and were ready for it. Throw in a few exits that do not hope (believe that they block 1 or 2 for the test) and a few screaming mothers, some fire and a landing from hell and lets see what happens.

Supe, "if it aint a Boeing, I aint going!"

FX,

I was just in Montreal at the terminal picking up my copilot. He was in line behind 4 other jumbos that just landed. One hour and 55 minutes to get his bags then clear immigration and customs. Being behind a 380 would not be a good thing!