For all you AvCanada junkies on the early shift, this will happen in about an hour.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4990780.stm
Airbus A380 making its UK debut
Airbus A380 in flight
Aviation history is about to be made in London as the world's biggest passenger jet prepares to touch down at the world's busiest international airport.
The 555-seat Airbus A380 is making its UK debut as it flies from Berlin to Heathrow via a minor detour.
The giant plane has dipped its wings as it flew over the UK Airbus sites that designed and made them, at Broughton in Flintshire and Filton, near Bristol.
It is now due to land at Heathrow at about 13:20 BST.
The plane and its crew will test facilities at Heathrow before flying out on Friday.
Aviation milestone
Heathrow operator BAA is spending £450m so that it is ready to handle the A380 when it starts making commercial flights later this year.
It's an efficient and clean and environmentally friendly aircraft, and it has lower fuel consumption per seat, and produces less noise and emissions than older aircraft
David Gamper
Airports Council International
The plane is due to be met at the airport's new £105m pier 6 at Terminal 3, and money has also been spent resurfacing runways, upgrading lighting and building new taxiways.
During the visit airport officials will test whether the plane does indeed fit the airport.
Developed by the European Airbus consortium for about £6bn, the A380 has been heralded as a major milestone in aviation history.
The jet maker has taken 159 firm orders for the plane from 16 carriers, including Singapore Airlines, which will make the inaugural commercial flight on its route between Sydney, Singapore and London later this year.
A spokesman for the world's airport operators, told BBC Radio Five Live that the A380 was more environmentally friendly than older aircraft.
"It's an efficient and clean and environmentally friendly aircraft, and it has lower fuel consumption per seat, and produces less noise and emissions than older aircraft, and for airports it should increase their ability to handle passengers," said David Gamper of the Airports Council International.
Rival plan
Airbus sees the giant A380 as the future of aviation, responding to airline calls for a bigger plane to meet increasing passenger numbers flying between major hubs.
Its great rival, US giant Boeing, is taking a different track, predicting that the future growth sector will be for additional medium-sized planes that can service more of the smaller airports that cannot handle the A380.
For that reason Boeing has developed a new medium-sized plane called the 787 Dreamliner.
Environmental campaigners argue against both planes, saying that the world needs to move towards less air travel as a means to help combat global warming.
A380 to land @ Heathrow today - will it fit?
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, I WAS Birddog
Singapore's great. Great place to live. We're talking about moving there at some point.N2 wrote:Who wants to go there anyways?
I have absolutely zero interest in flying on an A380. The 787 will be a great machine.
Seeing that Emirates, Singapore and Qatar Airways will all operate them, Terminal 3 at Heathrow will be the last place on earth you would want to be at 0900 in the morning when three of those suckers deposit 1,800 passengers in the immigration hall.
bmc
BMC was not my intent to slam singapore by any means. I have traveled to all 4 corners of north america and I can enjoy myself just as much staying right here in good ole Canada. I don't fly commercially unless I have no other choice.
Putting money into aviation is like wiping before you poop....it just don't make sense!
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http://travel.howstuffworks.com/question192.htm
A plane like a Boeing 747 uses approximately 1 gallon of fuel (about 4 liters) every second. Over the course of a 10-hour flight, it might burn 36,000 gallons (150,000 liters). According to Boeing's Web site, the 747 burns approximately 5 gallons of fuel per mile (12 liters per kilometer).
This sounds like a tremendously poor miles-per-gallon rating! But consider that a 747 can carry as many as 568 people. Let's call it 500 people to take into account the fact that not all seats on most flights are occupied. A 747 is transporting 500 people 1 mile using 5 gallons of fuel. That means the plane is burning 0.01 gallons per person per mile. In other words, the plane is getting 100 miles per gallon per person! The typical car gets about 25 miles per gallon, so the 747 is much better than a car carrying one person, and compares favorably even if there are four people in the car. Not bad when you consider that the 747 is flying at 550 miles per hour (900 km/h)!
Just like trains or any other mass transit device... the Jumbo is more fuel-efficient than the person automobile in terms of people moved per unit of energy.
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0502/et0502s8.html
A plane like a Boeing 747 uses approximately 1 gallon of fuel (about 4 liters) every second. Over the course of a 10-hour flight, it might burn 36,000 gallons (150,000 liters). According to Boeing's Web site, the 747 burns approximately 5 gallons of fuel per mile (12 liters per kilometer).
This sounds like a tremendously poor miles-per-gallon rating! But consider that a 747 can carry as many as 568 people. Let's call it 500 people to take into account the fact that not all seats on most flights are occupied. A 747 is transporting 500 people 1 mile using 5 gallons of fuel. That means the plane is burning 0.01 gallons per person per mile. In other words, the plane is getting 100 miles per gallon per person! The typical car gets about 25 miles per gallon, so the 747 is much better than a car carrying one person, and compares favorably even if there are four people in the car. Not bad when you consider that the 747 is flying at 550 miles per hour (900 km/h)!
Just like trains or any other mass transit device... the Jumbo is more fuel-efficient than the person automobile in terms of people moved per unit of energy.
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0502/et0502s8.html
