~~A380~~

And every business traveller right now knows this. I'm sick of all of the ads on CNN saying this thing is going to be classy and have space.

Bull$hit.

A380, the ultimate cattle car.

 

Then why would FedEx and UPS have ordered a handful each? I heard that mentioned in a news broadcast on the radio. To carry bulky, but not heavy loads?

 

?

 

....big ol' hydrocephalic noggin....

joke?

Nevermind.

 

It would be interesting to see the specifications of the planes in those contracts. As it stands right now, Spasso is right, they are still working on getting the weight down. When do FedEx and UPS take delivery?

If the plane doesn't meet the specs, you don't have to buy...

 

uh. OK.

 

At least I tried.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

You are correct. In the shipping business the bulk of the cargo is AIR and packing material around the shipped object.

High volume (size), low density (weight). The perfect plane for the x-mas rush.......................................

It also lends itself well to the hub and spoke system of air cargo.

If I am not mistaken, the 747-400 still holds the record for gross ton weight lifted to 30,000 feet, (Jordan?). I saw a video of the plane in flight during this test and the wings were flexed upwards to a point where the wing tips extended ABOVE the top of the fuselage.

 

Come on, read more, open your mind, and don't feel so frustrated...
EUROPEAN
Anyway, please don't fly those plans, regarding your pic I'd be afraid to sit beside you...

 

It will do well in the Asian market.

 

Oh....I get it now.

Sorry for the late response

 

I just saw the piece on PBS on the Concorde last night. Something like 150 orders initially. In the end, 10 were purchased (?) by Great Britian and France combined. All the other orders were cancelled. Probably because they did not meet specs.

We've only flown across the Atlantic in business/first class. Hard to imagine having 500 people in coach class. Yuck.

 

It had nothing to do with not meeting specs. The Concorde came to market at the wrong time. The plane was designed in the 60's but orders were to be filled right around the time of the oil crisis took shape. 14 were delivered but one plane was used for parts.

Then environmentalists caused an uproar in the US and Europe which led to legislation banning the use of supersonic flight over land. This killed the demand for the plane.

If those two things had not occured (oil crisis and legislation) I think they would have sold at least 50 or so.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

Airports are planning for the A380 arrival by spending millions for larger runways and taxiways, strengthening runways over tunnels and adding second floor boarding terminals to accomodate this behemoth. LAX is spending 53 million while JFK is spending 120 million. My own Detroit Metro is conducting a study for needed improvements that enlarge taxiways to accomodate the A380 in case it is diverted from Chicago O'Hare. A lot of fuss so far.

 

Its not listed there because it was a collision on the ground, i think between a pair of 747's, on some island. I'll have to use Google to kick start my memory.

EDIT:
Short version:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/27/newsid_2531000/2531063.stm

Long version:
http://aviation-safety.net/backgrounder/19770327-0/spanish-1.htm

 

AA has a number or Airbus A300-600s in it's fleet...and a bunch of
other birds beyond 777's..

 

Heard that they wanted to put Casino's into those mastodonts, that will generate alot of money.

 

Hey Matt, don't get too upset when Boing Boing gets its a s s whipped again! Airbus ain't French!

 

My bad. I was referring to it's international fleet.

 

Where is the final assembly? France.

 

Not only! .... and you're gonna love this - it's in GERMANY too!!!

And just 'cos you got the BMW Z3 final assembly don't start thinking that BMW is American! LOL!

If you guys behave yourselves, we may let you put some of those Pratt and Whip-me things under its wings!

 

That's the one I was thinking of

 

It's all very well to be proud of your nation's accomplishments, but Jon K hit the nail on the head with this one.

I don't fly biz or 1st class since I own this company and it's $$ outta my pocket... unless I can use FF miles to get upgrades, I fly coach. Can you even imagine the hassle? Going to baggage claim and seeing 500 others there too - forget it more than 1 plane landed. How long will it take to go up and down the aisles and hand out drinks and food? What's the chances of a screaming baby in the cabin? And when they can herd 500 folks onto it at once, they don't need as many flights, which means less deals on the unexpected free seats on more regular flights, as well as less choice of departure time.

I would much MUCH rather fly a smaller plane that gets there quicker with a lot less people. It reminds me of the US/Russia competing over the military cargo plane. The Russians built one so massively huge that they "won" the race - and what did it get them? The standard then became the C130 for our troops.