Airbus A380 Super Jumbo

This is one heck of a huge plane!

Great picture. Thanks for sharing.

yeah, thanks Xenon!!! :goodjob:
I was trying to persuade my friend to get off his lazy *** to go get a photo for me but no go...

It's all the more bonkers when one realises that that thing travels at over 900 km/h!!!

A nice big fat target for a terrorist, no thanks... YOU RIDE IT!

This is such an awesome plane. Sure would like to see some pictures of it next to a Boeing 737...or maybe a Cessna?!?

Saw the documentary series on the making of this behemoth, it was quite interesting. I remember thinking at the time, about the horrendous toll if it ever crashed.

In this pic it sure looks menacing ...

A380 vs 747

whoa

Wonder how many terminals can handle this plane?

PhotonBoy said:

A380 vs 747

Click to expand...

Wow that's quite a shock! I had no idea it was that much bigger than a 747. In this case a picture was worth a thousand measurements.

The Spruce Goose was the brainchild of flamboyant billionaire Howard Hughes who believed the massive plane could revolutionize long-distance transportation. His creation was the world's largest plane at the time and is still the largest flying boat ever built at a maximum takeoff weight of 400,000 lb (180,000 kg). The enormous craft also holds records for the largest wingspan at 319 ft 11 in (97.5 m), tallest airplane at 79 ft 3 3/8 in (24.2 m), and the largest aircraft ever made from wood.


Larger wing span than the A380 and taller than the A380.

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/design/q0188.shtml

Those comparision pictures look a bit out of scale, see the above link, 2/3rds of the way down.

Thanks NewBie. That's a bit more like what I thought it was.

The difference is that the A380 actually flies.

Hughes H-4 Hercules (It was made of Birch, not Pine, so the Spruce Goose is an inaccurate name) did "fly" once, but it did not get very far off the ground, and critics still argue over wether it truly was flying or was just in ground effect.

Click on the pic of the A380 and the 747 in the following page for a 579 kB Quicktime movie showing the two.

http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/th/3d1th.php

How does the A380 compare to the Antonov monster freighters?

Speaking of flying in ground effect--the former USSR back in the 1960's through the 1980's has done quite a few ground effect "ships", some with gross weights of 400-540 tonnes. These were, back in the 1960's the largest "aircraft" ever "flown".

If you have never heard of them, take a look through the following links. They are some very strange and impressive crafts.

Ekranoplan (Wikipedia)

The WIG Page (with movies of craft in fight)

-Bill

I have watched this airplane for a while. As far as a large capacity transporter, all I can tell you is that the semi equipment industry had max'ed out the 747, so a larger one was needed if nothing else just for that.

Now for the real question on every traveler's mind - how are the seats in econo class ? If only a larger plane = larger seats.

Nice picture, thanks.

I'm going to bet that they will just put in as many seats as possible rather than larger seats.