A380 TailCam Makes It Look Like Flight Sim

Even Aaron would have to agree that the Europeans got it right on this idea. These are a couple of videos taken from the in-tail video camera mounted 75 feet high at the top of the vertical stabilizer on an Airbus A380. The top one was from a takeoff and the bottom from the recent Emirates tour as the A380 landed in SFO. If you are lucky enough to catch a ride on this behemoth, but are unlucky enough to be crammed in a middle seat, being able to watch the view from this angle on the TV mounted in the headrest would make the trip a lot more enjoyable. That is unless, your flight experiences some sort of in-flight emergency and the whole cabin gets to watch it unfold in real time on the screen in front of them. I've got to imagine the flight crew would turn off the feed right before things got too nasty though. Pretty amazing footage, even if it does look like it came from MS Flight Simulator.

Thanks, Jim.

(Gizmodo)


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Antonov 124 Eats Airbus 380

Remember that GIANT Emirates A380 model that recently went up outside of London Heathrow? Here's a picture of that 1/3 scale model being loaded into an Antonov AN-124 freighter at the Ontario Airport in California. I doubt you'll ever see a sight like this again. Although, it's kind of what Airbus does now for assembly, but on a slightly smaller scale.

Photo Credit: Dmitry Avdeev

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Emirates Wanted To Recycle Shower Water On A380

One week after Emirates received their first Airbus A380, the Dubai-based airline gave the United States its first scheduled service of the super jumbo today...and it did not include drinking recycled shower water. The airline had originally planned to take the water from it's now infamous on board showers and have it recycled while airborne and reused for passengers who partake in this service. The idea, seen as a weight saving measure, was shot down by European regulators even though Emirates president Tim Clark claims he "has seen demonstrations of contaminated water being turned to drinking quality following normal and then ultra-violet filtration." If they're trying to create incentive for buying a $5 bottle of water in the air, they're doing a good job here. All of Emirates' three-class configured A380s will have two of these shower-spa cabinets which seem very nice, although sharing this shower with other people on a flight may be an invitation for athlete's foot. The aircraft will now have to carry about 25% more water which means more unwanted in-flight weight. Clark even conceded that Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum was "not keen" on the idea of using recycled water for showers on their A380s, although he is hopeful regulators will ultimately ease their stance on the issue. Emirates is quite proud of their shower setup that took almost four years to develop this "masterpiece of engineering". But let's be honest now. Who doesn't pee in the shower? Think about that one while you're rinsing off at 37,000 feet.

(Flight Global)

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World's biggest A380 model lands at Heathrow

Construction of the world's biggest model of the world's biggest commercial jetliner is nearing completion at Heathrow Airport just North of Runway 09L/27R. The Emirates Airbus A380 was built by California-based Penwal Industries and is so large it had to be transported to Heathrow on a Polet Antonov AN-124. This bulging behemoth certainly makes the Lego A380 seem a bit diminutive. Some of the finishing touches include installation of the engines and placing the 'M' and 'T' on their respective sides in the word Emirates. These were left off initially as they are in the area where the fuselage barrels were joined. The A380 will now occupy a spot that was for years home to a one third scale British Airways Concorde. When BA decided to drop their advertising budget for the model, Emirates swooped right and took their place. Doesn't quite seem right, but oh well. Now can I get one to put in Aaron's lawn?



(Flight International)

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A380 - Head on

Staring straight into the eyes of the beast! This is one impressive picture of the Airbus A380 flying right towards the camera. Photo taken at the Berlin Air Show last month. Almost looks like an air-to-air shot, doesn't it? Click on the photo for the full resolution.

(photo credit: Mario Serrano via Airliners.net)

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It was only a matter of time: The Lego A380

I can't believe I haven't seen this already, but those crazy Danish have done it again. This time they've created the world's largest Lego aircraft. And it's only suiting if that would be a model of the world's largest aircraft, the Airbus A380. All done up in launch customer Singapore Airlines' colors, this 1:25 scale aircraft uses 75,000 Lego bricks to create a behemoth 220 pound model with a 10.5 foot wingspan. The professionals at Legoland spent an incredible 600 hours constructing this bad boy. Don't expect to see this on the shelf at Toys R' Us.

Eat your heart out, Aaron.

Check out a video of the Lego A380 here at Gizmodo.

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Airbus "Reviewing" Ramp Up in A380 Deliveries

Airbus CEO Tom Enders said Airbus is reviewing its delivery targets for the A380 and they might make it happen -- raising those pesky possibilities of further delays. Airbus' targets called for 13 deliveries of the world's biggest passenger aircraft in 2008 and 25 in 2009.

The bad thing for Airbus is that it builds aircraft that are primarily with European products purchased with the Euro and a large portion of their aircraft are purchased with US Dollars, which puts it at a disadvantage to its US rival Boeing.

We will see if Airbus makes it all happen. Oh yeah, and for those of you who haven't heard, there will be hot showers available for some wealthy first-class passengers aboard Emirates A380s.

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Urinals On Board Airbus A380

The Airbus A380 will soon be an even more unique aircraft as it will be fitted with space saving military-style male urinals.

Speaking at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2008 in Hamburg, Arndt Schoenemann, managing director of Dasell Cabin Interiors let loose that it would be providing two separate urinal/washroom units for use alongside convention lavatories. He did not tell us, however, which A380 customer will be getting the military-style urinals. If I had to guess, I would say Emirates was getting the urinals to go along with their expensive golden showers.

Why don't we just give all the males the Little John and females the Little John tank with the Lady J adapter and call it good.

Please note there is a metal handle above the urinal for those moments when you are caught mid-stream in a bit of light chop or worse turbulence.

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Malaysia Airlines Delays A380 Delivery

Malaysia Airlines has substantially pushed back the delivery dates for the six Airbus A380s it has on order.

MA A380s were originally due for delivery between January 2007 and December 2008, however, delays in the A380 program meant it was no longer able to receive the aircraft as scheduled. MA recently reached an agreement with Airbus for delivery of its A380s between January and August 2011.

There was even some speculation that MA would not even want to continue the A380 order, after it publicly announced that it was having a difficult time filling the 747-400s. Further, MA just ordered 35 Boeing 737-800s, with options for 20 more, due for delivery in September 2010.

In other news, a Cessna 152 was recently scared by a 747-400 landing that was nearly 50x its size.

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Emirates to Offer Hot Showers on A380

Planning on flying from New York to Dubai on an Emirates A380 this fall? Have $18,000 dollars to spend on a first class ticket? Feel a little dirty and would kill for a shower on the flight? If your answer to the above three questions is "yes", you are in luck my friend because Emirates will be offering this service to its first class passengers who pay a double premium (first one is for the seat, second for the shower) for a flight from NY.

No pictures have been released of said A380 first class cabin, but it is reported (by Emirates) to be similar to the experience at Dubai's "seven-star" Burj Al Arab hotel.

Environmental groups are, as usual, up in arms over this amenity. And sure, this might impact the environment negatively due to the extra water weight and carbon emissions from carrying additional fuel to haul that extra load -- but note that, realistically, the majority of people who will be able to take advantage of this unique and expensive amenity are people with oil money, so they could give a crap about the environment to begin with and the cost of the extra fuel needed to carry the water weight is going back in their pockets -- kinda completes the circle if you think about it.

I hope this shower spews gold flakes (not a golden shower) on me as I shower or it comes with a flight attendant (as seen above). And, once again, poor Al Gore has a heart attack.

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Hats off to Europe

Well, they finally did it. After years of production delays and dealing with interal "management issues", the Airbus A380 has finally entered commercial service with Singapore Airlines completing its maiden voyage yesterday. The short hop from Singapore to Sydney Australia ushered in the age of the Super Jumbo.

I have to admit my pride is a little bruised as a red-blooded American. Whether or not the A380 becomes a commercial success remains to be seen, however, the technological achievement here is outstanding. The fact that it did not come from the U.S., where we typically tout our bigger and better everything, is kind of wierd.

So I say "Congratulations" to Airbus and all of Europe on this, one of your finest days in aviation history.

Steve

(photo courtesy of Rueters)