Those are fantastic pictures Darren. Thank you for sharing them with us. I would have loved to have seen it in person, but you've helped me to feel that I did after all!

Great photos, I'm very jealous!

I bet those with tickets for Fairford were bitterly disappointed

19th May. Boarded the plane at Sydney and guess what? It was the 380! We were so excited. We were on the main deck. Very comfy, very quiet. It was fantastic. We were sorry to leave her in Singapore to board our 777 to Manchester. Hope I get the chance to fly on one again.

susan shaw wrote:

19th May. Boarded the plane at Sydney and guess what? It was the 380!

All I can say is you lucky It's going to be 2010 before we see them operating out of MAN. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait though.

Darren

I`m sure th A380 flew over us a couple of years ago. We were at Chester zoo and someone said there was a hanger nearby and they were testing it. Maybe it wasn`t but it was a very large aircraft, bigger than a 747.

Would have loved to have seen the display on Saturday. Thanks for pictures Darren.

christine w,

It did a fly past at the Broughton factory near Chester after the inaugral flight to salute employees at the Airbus factory as that's where the wings are manufactured. It could well have been the A380 you saw. That wasn't a public display though, it was purely for Airbus UK employees. The A300 Super transporters are in and out of Broughton all the time transporting parts (wings) to Toulouse so it could have been one of those as well.

Darren

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