That inaugral flight that Darren is referring to took place in May 2006 and Chester Zoo is roughly on the flight path for Broughton. I should know - I used to live close by and depending on the wind direction we would hear the the tranporters coming in. Broughton has been the 'wing' factory for Eurobus and the Euro fighters for some time. And being sent into the wing tanks as part of the testing inspections was one of the least liked jobs for the junior apprentices. I used to take this with a pinch of salt until one lad who used to come to the youth club I ran was complaining bitterly about his aching back and claustrophobia!

Around 25 years ago I used to live on the north Manchester/Rochdale borders slap bang in the then BAe triangle of the Broughton, Preston and Chadderton (Oldham) factories. Regular as clockwork, every Friday morning the latest Nimrods would fly over as part of the testing of the surveillance equipment being built into them. They were based at the Preston airfield but were flown over the Chedderton factory which would be transmitting 'test' communications supposed to simulate Soviet 'chatter'. They were suppposedly top secret but any Soviet agents wanting to take photographs just needed to make sure they did their shopping on a Friday morning at Middleton market!

SM

So annoyed I missed this! I didn't know it was coming - the first I heard was on the evening news that night Would it have flown over my house (east Manchester/Stockport area)? I think it would probably have been too cloudy to see it on Saturday even if it had gone right over my head

cyberspacekadette,

She flew right past you on approach! She joined the ILS approach at 9.5 miles out so about 2,500ft. It would have been in cloud at that point but the base was at about 1,900ft. You would have had a hard time hearing it though, very quiet on descent. It came in from the Dane hold (south of Manchester) with the callsign Airbus-400. Not sure why, should have been Airbus-380 really
Darren

There are so many planes going over my house every day, if I had seen the 380 going over I would probably have thought it was just a rather low 747 anyway! Such a shame I didn't know it was coming. Oh well, it'll be around again sometime I suppose.

cyberspacekadette,

A China Airlines Cargo 747-400 landed immediately infront of the A380 which provided a good comparisson between the two. You would have noticed the difference in size and the sound footprint between the two. I didn't think there'd be much difference but having observed things first hand, there's a big difference. Emirated and Singapore are possibly going to operate them out of MAN, and PIA in the future, but we'll probably not see one at MAN again until 2009 now for proving. It'll be 2010 at the earliest before they are put in to service at MAN.

Darren

2009/10 isn't too far away, I'm sure I can wait - it'll be a lot longer than that before I'll be able to afford to travel on it! It'll be good to see it flying over my back garden, although I'm not sure about PIA using it - they come in low enough in a 747, if they fly the 380 that low it'll go dark...

Here's the 380 cockpit, use your mouse and zoom in and out.
All the best
gc

http://www.gillesvidal.com/blogpano/cockpit1.htm

I was having a look at the seating plan for the A380, the other night - out of interest how much would a seat be, right at front of plane (suite seats)? Compared to economy? would it be a difference of hundreds of £ or thousands of £ ?
Denny

denny.53,

If you have to ask, you can't afford! It depends on the airline, the flight and demand. You're looking at many £1,000's. For example, a return flight from LHR-SIN with Singapore Airlines in October, the suites are around £6,800 return. Economy seats on the same flight (dates) are around £720.

Darren

Darren, WOW!! you are right I can't afford it!! Well - not unless my Lotto numbers come up!! I can dream though!!
Thanks for the info !!
Denny

I am confused that plane flew over New Brighton on JUly 12th for a appearence at the Wirral Show, I thought if a huge plane like that flew too low, it's engines would stall ? It flew over my house, I could have shook hands with the pilot it was so low ???

colette1 wrote:

I thought if a huge plane like that flew too low, it's engines would stall ?

Why would they stall? They are designed to work at over 40,000ft where oxygen levels are pretty low. They run perfectly fine at altitudes between sea level and 6 or 7 miles up!

Darren

Trio of A380s land at Heathrow

Three Airbus A380 super jumbos touched down at Heathrow for the first time on the same day over the weekend.

Qantas joined Singapore Airlines and Emirates in making its' maiden A380 flight to the UK.

Qantas is initially to run three A380 flights a week to Sydney via Singapore - Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays - with each aricraft offering 450 seats in a four-class configuration.

The Australian carrier expects to take delivery of a further four A380s this year, with the next aircraft due in May. This will bring the fleet up to seven.

Colin Matthews, chief executive of Heathrow owner BAA, said: "Qantas' A380 arrival is a momentous occasion for Heathrow Airport. It is a highly visible indication that airlines are committed to introducing cleaner, quieter aircraft to their fleets.

"Heathrow Airport has a challenging set of environmental targets to meet in order for the third runway to go ahead.

"Technological advancements in engine design are central in enabling us to ensure that air quality and noise will meet the limits set by the government.

"In the short term, aircraft such as the A380 provide some capacity relief as more passengers will be able to use the airport without increasing aircraft numbers."

SIA became the first airline to use the double decker aircraft from the London airport last March.


With permission from Travelmole

I flew in on the inaugral Qantas A380 flight which landed at Heathrow on Saturday, 17th January 09. I can say that the flight was great and the plane was lovely, but the airports are not set up to receive in and check out all the extra people for the plane!!

I see in the news that Airbus are going to offer Barack Obama an A380 to use as Airforce One and replace the 747. I can't see it being accepted though as Obama's home state is where Boeing have their facilities, he may get a lot of backlash if he was to accept it.

Dave

We flew on the A380 with Singapore Airlines in the summer. I was quite excited as I did not realise until online check in on the way home that we were on it

in the news that Airbus are going to offer Barack Obama an A380 to use as Airforce One and replace the 747

More chance of seeing a cow jump over the moon than seeing an A380 in service as Air Force One!!! There's too much political and national pride at stake to have a european jet flying the American President around. Look at the tanker debacle when they selected the Airbus A330 over the Boeing 767, nearly started a civil war! The media also forget the A380 is such a large aircraft that it can't land at most airports, whereas the 747 can land at a good proportion. It's just a PR exercise and part of the ongoing Airbus V Boeing contest.

Darren

Airbus A380 on tour around the UK

The Airbus A380 is due to make approach-and-go fly-throughs this Saturday 5 September at Edinburgh Airport, Prestwick Airport, Belfast City Airport, the Northern Ireland Airshow at Portrush, Birmingham Airport and the Airbus plant at Broughton in North Wales.

David

Further to David's post, the aircraft scheduled to perfom the approach / go-arounds is F-WWDD (one of the development aircraft) with timings as follows:

Edinburgh 1340
Prestwick 1400
Port Rush Airshow 1420
Belfast City 1440
Broughton 1508
Birmingham 1540

I watched her perform the same in Manchester on 12th July 2008. She's such a graceful and impressively quiet aircraft.

Darren