New A380 Fuselage, Nose & Landing Gear Photos

Ants · Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:43 am

Hi,

Yesterday I came across some new photos of various sections of the A380 on the Airbus webpage. They are similar to three photos of the fuselage that showed up on this site last month that were quite spectacular. The photos are impressive just because of the share size of the sections. First time I've seen a proper photo of the nose as well. What do you think?

They're quite large, and can take a while to load so I'll simply paste the URL's.

1) The nose

2) The central fuselage

3) The central fuselage outside

4) The front section

5) The front section again

6) The front section being lowered down

By the way, Airbus seems to have made unavailable a photo of the landing gears, so although I have downloaded it myself, I don't know how I could link it here for you all to see. Any suggestions on how I could make it available? Anyway, if any one wants to see it, let me know your e-mail address and I'll send you it.

[Edited 2004-02-07 02:01:06]

nudelhirsch · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:04 am

Holy cow, this thing is pretty big...seing it "real" and not on computer graphics...

anyone can tell, which weight this beast will have? MTOW?

DLKAPA · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:07 am

Has the fuselage been assembled? Have the sections been put together?

Mark_D. · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:24 am

Thanks for the these pic links Big thumbs up

That's one big plane --even the wingbox looks huge. And kind of interesting how the main deck windows are ever-so-slightly angled downwards too, just because of where they lie on the bottom half of the fuselage cross sections.

MakeMinesLAX · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:26 am

I'm trying to imagine a passenger's perspective from the inside. The upper deck windows are on the verge of being skylights. Those on the lower deck are canted downward slightly - that might provide an interesting view.

I'm curious to see how the trapezoidal upper deck is outfitted. I'm sure most PAX have a nearly rectangular cross section in mind as the norm.

Mark_D. · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:29 am

DLKAPA
Has the fuselage been assembled? Have the sections been put together?

I guess it's only one or two months away now at most, if they want to get first flight in before the end of the year.

airxliban · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:29 am

It is indeed bigger than I expected it to be. Is this thing really going to fly by April 2004? Thats only two months away...

solnabo · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:36 am

Geeee, whatta beast!!!
U sure it isn´t a Carnivalcruiser? *lol*
Big thumbs up

Michael//SE
*great shots*

trnswrld · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:38 am

I wouldnt mind seeing a picture of the landing gear.
[email protected]

Thanks

KLM777 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:39 am

Thanks for the picture links Ants! And welcome to A.net by the way!

Nudelhirsch: the MTOW is 560.000 kg , typical operating weight empty is 280.700 kg.

Kind regards,

Jeroen

[Edited 2004-02-07 02:41:17]

rg828 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:42 am

That nose sure looks hideous, I thought they would change it from the conceptual drawings. Too 'droopy."
Otherwise its quite large, scary to tell you the truth!

nudelhirsch · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:44 am

thx for the MTOW...it's incredible!

But also, man, Ants, thank You so much for linking! Awesome to se new pix of this tube!

Which engines will this thing have, to move these 560 tons???

Even 4 Trent seem to be too small as they're choice for the small 345/346...560 tons...geeee....

[Edited 2004-02-07 02:46:46]

Espion007 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:49 am

I was on the airbus site-how long until the mid section/cockpit are joined togeather? I cant believe its acutally being built. The bar has been raised again. Just whats next?a THIRD deck?

cwapilot · Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:56 am

Refresh my memory...who gets the first one? Will it be this one, or will this one remain in-house?

cancidas · Sat Feb 07, 2004 11:04 am

that nose section makes it look hungry. could you email me the picture of the landing gear?

Olympic A-340 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 11:11 am

The second I saw the nose section, it reminded me of those fake planes that they use for airplane's such as Airplane and such like that. Almost looks like a poorly engineered child's toy from that perspective. HUGE AIRPLANE though!

Espion007 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 11:18 am

Theres a question running through my mind-what do 8 emergency slides look like on one side of the A380?

My god! were building a monster! I cant wait to fly on this thing Big grin

Altho it helps if the A380 would somehow fly to IAD.

brons2 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 11:29 am

I hope this one fares better than that last Titanic thingy they put together over there in Europe.

B6A320 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 11:34 am

I would hate to be the one to slide down the top deck chutes!!! What a slide!!

Justin P.

syncmaster · Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:05 pm

That thing is HUGE!

It almost looks to big to be able to fly, I'll hold my comments until I see that. Big thumbs up

theflcowboy · Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:07 pm

UGLY NOSE!!!!

Id like to see the gears if you wouldnt mind e-mailing it to me too.

MD

Akumas · Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:07 pm

Its really hard to put in perspective on how big it will be.

Scaling, it looks absolutely massive.

fuffla · Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:14 pm

Thanks for the pictures! That plane is bloody huge. I can't wait till QANTAS gets theirs so I can fly on one! Who is getting the first one? Could you please e-mail me the photo of the nose gear.

AC345 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:03 pm

Thank you for the pictures. It looks amazing and huge, hard to believe it will fly soon.

Fuffla, I think SQ is the launch customer.

CanadianNorth · Sat Feb 07, 2004 2:43 pm

3 things i thought about that...

#1. its BIG
#2. that was the uglyest nose i've seen all week
#3. I'll give em $5 if they let me sit on the upper deck and take the slide down...

CanadianNorth

kalakaua · Sat Feb 07, 2004 2:52 pm

Eeek. That nose section reminds me of something... Oh yeah...

Thrust · Sat Feb 07, 2004 2:54 pm

I'm astounded by the distance between now and the A380's gigantic appearance in the air! That will be the day much sooner than I realized Big thumbs up

HUGE aircraft already! The A380 will be to us in some respects what the Titanic was to the world in 1912! The biggest transport machine in the world!

transswede · Sat Feb 07, 2004 2:57 pm

SQ and EK will be getting their first A380 at about the same time.

scbriml · Sat Feb 07, 2004 2:59 pm

Is this thing really going to fly by April 2004? Thats only two months away...

No! I think first flight is scheduled for late 2004/early 2005. Airbus has always said that the A380 will be flying at the Paris Air Show in 2005. Form an orderly queue behind me please! Big grin

AASilverbird · Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:01 pm

Ants,

Thanks for posting links to the photos. All I can say is WOW! I would really like to see the landing gear photo...so if not too much trouble, please email to
[email protected] Thanks!!

-Sainath

scbriml · Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:03 pm

I would hate to be the one to slide down the top deck chutes!!! What a slide!!

Well I assume it's not very different from the evacuation slide from the top deck of a 747. No?

rg828 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:09 pm

Kalakaua,
My God, you are so right! I can already see that nose singing away....
Anyway, I once saw a CG shot of an A3XX with a nose that looked like an enlarged A340 nose, very well-proportioned and looked MUCH better than the real thing.
Wonder why they abandoned that.

Thrust · Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:09 pm

The A380 can be compared to one of the full-double decker 747 designs Boeing considered when it was beginning the 747 project with Pan Am, except it will have more powerful and fuel-efficient engines, a more fuel-efficient wing, and many more advanced devices and technology. How many wheels is the A380 supposed to have? Could it break the 747's record of being an 18-wheeler? Big grin

MD-90 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:16 pm

I think that emergency slide picture is REALLY impressive. Now imagine what it would be like when the nosegear and right main landing gear collapse, tilting the aircraft to the right. And you're sitting on the upper deck on the left side and can't get out on the right. That would be quite a ride.

I'm wondering about friction burns from the slides. Anyone know if this can happen (rule number one is always wear pants on an airplane for safety anyway)?

But wow that's big. I'm quite sure it's going to break the 747's record. Aren't the outer landing gear bogies 6-wheel units and the inner pair 4-wheels each? 24 tyres in all, I believe.

MTChemNerd757 · Sat Feb 07, 2004 7:19 pm

brons2 - hilarious! i agree! Big thumbs up

transswede · Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:18 am

Thrust,

The A380 will be a 22-wheeler.

a3xx900 · Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:31 am

Man, I'm getting anxious!
Hm, if I started pilot training now, I could be one of the first pilots to fly it! Big grin

FlyCaledonian · Sun Feb 08, 2004 2:33 am

For some reason that nose section picture, without the cone, reminded me of Darth Vader! Mind you, the way some people go on about Airbus on here they could be on the dark side Big grin

Thrust · Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:10 am

My gosh, the A380 will be a 22 wheeler! Wow!

Wonder how many wheels on each bogey. How many undercarriage legs is it supposed to have?

N243NW · Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:21 am

Thrust, the landing gear will consist of two nosewheels (one strut) and four maingear bogies, not unlike the 747. The only difference is an extra axle of wheels added to (I believe) the inside two bogies, therefore making them six-trucks. 2 nosewheels + 8 outside wheels (under the wing) + 12 inside wheels (retracting into the middle of the fuselage) = 22 wheels total.
-N243NW Big grin

ka · Sun Feb 08, 2004 8:49 am

And for further increased gross weight versions and I believe even the freighter version already (which will have a MTOW of 590t) the A380 will have a 5th main gear leg with 2 wheels (not unlike to the A340).

KA.

Klaus · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:01 am

Ka: And for further increased gross weight versions and I believe even the freighter version already (which will have a MTOW of 590t) the A380 will have a 5th main gear leg with 2 wheels (not unlike to the A340).

Okay, nice joke... Wink/being sarcastic

ka · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:10 am

Klaus:
It is no joke. Better check FlightInternational 20-26 May 2003 Supplement page XII and XX.
But I have to admit that it will not be used for the 590t freighter version yet, after just checking the report again. It is planned for a proposed 650t version.

KA.

Klaus · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:15 am

Hmmm.. that´s the first time I´ve heard of it. Is that information based on any official source or is it just conjecture on the part of the journalists?

Not that it would be obviously impossible technically; The question is just if it´s really necessary before the -900 stretch version...

ka · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:20 am

I for my part very much respect FlightInternational. I don´t think they make things like that up, especially not when showing detailed drawings (as in this case).

KA.

Klaus · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:30 am

I don´t claim to have better information. A fifth MLG leg was just never mentioned in any of the publicized information I´ve seen.

But having the option to add it whenever necessary would certainly make sense in order to keep the wheel loading within limits despite increased gross weight... They´ve got the space between the body gear bays and they could probably re-use the concepts for the A340 center gears, if not the parts themselves.

Any further info on the proposed version? Was a time frame indicated?

ka · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:34 am

No new word on the -900. Airbus will wait and see what the market demands. But the design of the A380 is definetly geared to have all options open for further growth.

KA.

Ryan h · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:41 am

Looking at the photos this aircraft is going to be very big.
It will be interesting to see one take off in hot and high conditions at max MTOW

KaiGywer · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:51 am

On the freigher version of the 380, will there be two floors? Or will there be one floor over OVERsize cargo?

QantasA332 · Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:53 am

For those of you who asked about various A380 specifications, the following are various figures for A380-800 (the main pax version, as you know)...

Operating weight empty: 276,800 kg. (610,240 lb.)

MTOW: 560,000 kg. (1,234,580 lbs.)

Max. landing weight: 386,000 kg. (850,980 lb.)

Engines: four RR Trent 970s or four Engine Alliance GP7270s (both 70,000 lb. thrust)

Takeoff field length: 2,987 m (9,800 ft.)

Max operating speed/economic cruise speed: Mach 0.89/0.85

Service ceiling: 42,980 ft. (13,100 m)

Typical range: 14,816 km (8,000 nm)

Wing span/length/height/wheel track: 79.56 m (261 ft. 4 in.)/72.75 m (238 ft. 8 in.)/24.08 m (79 ft. 9 in.)/14.33 m (47 ft. 0 in.)

Max cabin width upper/main deck: 5.92 m (19 ft. 5 in.)/6.58 m (21 ft. 7 in.)

Bulk/total hold volume: 18.4 cubic metres (650 cubic feet)/171.0 cubic metres (6,039 cubic feet)

Pax accomodation (nominal): 555

Landing gear arrangement: 1 X two-wheel nose gear, 2 X six-wheel main body bogies, 2 X four-wheel wing bogies

Other info: the A380 will be quieter and burn 20% less fuel per passenger than the 747.

Hope that helps. If any of you need specs for the A380-800F, I have those figures too. All of the above info is from the November 2003 issue of the U.K. publication "Air International".

qantasA332

Who is online

Popular Searches On Airliners.net