A380

Pookeyhead

Pookeyhead

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Flew back from Singapore in this yesterday.....

NAoo8IK.jpg



It is..... MASSIVE! I was sat right over the wing, and the wing filled my entire field of view. It's like an optical illusion. While I'm well versed in the theory of what keeps aircraft in the sky... the fact that this thing can leave the ground still seems a little like witchcraft :)
 
BA have one at Manston at the moment for pilot training. Up and down like a tarts knickers
 
I saw one by chance in Manchester a few weeks ago. I was surprised how small the other 'planes looked when parked alongside it. :LOL:

Managed to get a snap of it taking off in the rain.


Airbus A380 by Box with a button, on Flickr
 
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Smooth ride? Biggest I've been on was a Delta Air bus,not sure which model. But it was very roomy. And though we hit mad turbulence [apparently] - and I'm a bad flier - I barely notcied bar the odd little rumble.

I find the bigger the plane, the much less ear-popping too.
 
I spent 2 years building em, not only enormous but the technology used inside them is amazing.
 
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wisemen said:
I spent 2 years building em, not only enormous but the technology used inside them is amazing.
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No kidding! After seeing that one in Manchester I found this video of a pilot's eye view of an A380 approaching San Francisco in real-time. The technology inside the cockpit is like something out of a sci-fi movie!

[YOUTUBE]k3HKN-FWNq0[/YOUTUBE]
 
I liked how the computer was shouting out retard.. retard after the pilot had successfully landed the plane! :bonk:
 
prefer smaller planes... used to go norwich to edinburgh and back regularly on a little ****y 18 seater thing with a curtain instead of a door between the pilots and passengers... some of the landings were.. erm... interesting, but never bothered me..
 
I recently flew on an Avro RJ85, lovely little plane. Much prefer the calmness and intimacy with smaller planes
 
Lynton said:
prefer smaller planes... used to go norwich to edinburgh and back regularly on a little ****y 18 seater thing with a curtain instead of a door between the pilots and passengers... some of the landings were.. erm... interesting, but never bothered me..
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I hate when I'm heading somewhere and we get to departure and see this dinky little thing with propellers :D

My ears go mad, I feel every shake like it's going to do a barrel-roll, the landings, well ... it's as close as I'd like to feel like a human bowling ball!

Gimme a biggy anyday! :D
 
When I was about 8 or 9ish I went up in a very small (6 or 8 seater?) 'plane in the RAF Valley air show. Fair play, they even sat me up-front in the co-pilot's seat but I wasn't prepared for it and sat there open-mouthed for the whole trip. :LOL: The only thing I said the whole flight was "My....." (I was trying to say something about how my stomach felt funny but my poor little brain was struggling with the overload and I couldn't quite manage the sentence). :LOL:
 
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When I was 13, my first ever plane trip was to London. I remember being all over excited, and shouting near landing "Look ma! it's like the intro to Eastenders!!" :D My mother refused to look out. Now, it's my kids do that, and I won't look out, haha. As we get older, we think way too much on these things.
 
Cagey75 said:
Smooth ride?
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Mainly. Hit some turbulence over India. Was at 38,000 and was still in weather. The mother of all storms. We were over it... but only just. It put on a great lightshow down below though.

Bigger=Smoother doesn't seem to apply to aircraft :) It was bumpy as hell for about an hour. I enjoy turbulence though. Pity it was dark, as I bet the wing was flexing away quite nicely :)
 
I used to be a very nervous flier, I'd sit there gripping my seat the whole time. Then slowly I started to read up about flying and turbulence etc and now I'm much better. I think you have to put yourself in the plane a few times a year to beat the nervousness. I used to 'tick off' all the little bumps and noises in my head to keep myself calm.
 
The beauty of the A380 is that each airline can really make it bespoke. I flew to New Zealand and back on (several) Emirates A380's and have to say it is the first aircraft that felt like the passenger really mattered. Plenty of room to sit, get up for a walk. I even laid out reading a book in the landing/ foyer area near the front. Fantastic plane.

Flying as a whole is great fun. I have never been a nervous flyer. But since I flew a glider for the first time a few years ago i have never even had a slight worry. Being in the cockpit a few thousand feet in the air and NO ENGINES focuses the mind on the science of flying!!
 
Pookeyhead said:
...While I'm well versed in the theory of what keeps aircraft in the sky... the fact that this thing can leave the ground still seems a little like witchcraft :)
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The triumph of brutality over mass and drag. :D
 
Oggy said:
The triumph of brutality over mass and drag. :D
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I don't know, those wings look very niftily designed - they seem much broader where they attach to the fuselage, and have a very pronounced curve when viewed from the rear.
 
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I flew to/from Dubai with Emirates on one. Was lucky to be on the top deck in Business class and can honestly say that it's the only way to fly when going long haul. Luxurious, unparalleled service and super smooth. The bar at the back was also nice to use/abuse!

When taking off and climbing the wings flex up and down quite a lot - kind of gives the impression the plane's trying to give itself some extra lift to get up to cruising altitude.
 
Love the A380...friend of mine is going to Singapore on Monday in one...first class...Me...jealous..Nooo.:razz:
 
Oggy said:
I do. :cool:



Not a wholly unique feature in aviation design. :)
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I always had the a380 down as one of the most efficient 'planes by utilising all the clever designery-pokery tricks in the book?
 
Pookeyhead said:
Bigger=Smoother doesn't seem to apply to aircraft :) It was bumpy as hell for about an hour. I enjoy turbulence though. Pity it was dark, as I bet the wing was flexing away quite nicely :)
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Not in my experience. The smaller planes, you can feel every bump, swerve, rise, drop magnified. And the pressure on sensitive ears is a lot more severe.
 
Not flown in one yet, but having been in a A340-300 of Air Namibia I was pleasantly suprised how smooth it was compared to the B747-436s of BA. You just do not notice the take offs or landings.
 
Going to be flying to China for a month long relatives visit.

Anyone know any good website/brokers that allows me to search by plane? Then allow me to add a day to stopovers and return via a different location?

eg. Outbound through Dubai with more than 24 hr stopoever, Return through Istanbul.
 
wuyanxu said:
Going to be flying to China for a month long relatives visit.

Anyone know any good website/brokers that allows me to search by plane? Then allow me to add a day to stopovers and return via a different location?

eg. Outbound through Dubai with more than 24 hr stopoever, Return through Istanbul.
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Expedia are usually good at telling you the plane type - more reliable if you're going on a biggy then you can be sure that you're on A346/A388/77W/744...if you're on a european flight then the airline might swap from a A320 to A319 or A321.:geek:
 
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