First schedule landing of A380 in Heathrow.

Run_to_da_hills

Today is the first schedual landing for the A380 in Heathrow. Anyone over there to watch it? It dose not seem long too long ago when the first Pan AM 747 landed there with total confusion over the baggage reclaiming. I can also remember waiting for the first Aer Lingus 747 to land at Dublin Airport back in 1972. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7301455.stm

Steyr

A380 @ LHR:

http://forums.airshows.co.uk/cgi-bin/ukarboard/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=34;t=45034

http://forums.airshows.co.uk/cgi-bin/ukarboard/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=34;t=45030

Foggy43

Yes! I was there. It surprised us as it landed on 27L as all other aircraft were landing on 27R. It was 1449hrs. The runway switch starts at 1500hrs. We are at the end of Pier 3 the Easterly point of Terminal 1.

Watching it approach it looked like the B747SP but the A380 is a lot longer. In the morning it will be on its regular service with an around 5am arrival and an around 11am departure. I will get a good look at it then but then you cannot guarantee it will be there every morning as Singapore Airlines have 3 A380's to date. Maintenance and Technical issues and the 747-400 will cover.

We didn't get anytime to visit it as we were having technical issues with the BA269 LHRLAX. I hope to visit it internally when all the attention dies down.

highlydebased

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I can also remember waiting for the first Aer Lingus 747 to land at Dublin Airport back in 1972. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7301455.stm

My father was on the first EI 747 into Shannon. Grandfather was foreman of the building project for the new runway (now 06/24).

Thats my claim to fame :D

pclancy

Cool photos...I'm gonna be sitting upstairs on her next Tuesday I'll post a few photos from the inside

Foggy43

Sitting on 175,000kgs of fuel! That how much the final figure was for this mornings LHR SIN sector. A full 747-400 would take 135,000kgs on the same trip.

I have an invite to see the interior tomorrow.

pclancy

Well folks, arrived in Singapore this morning after nearly 13 hours on board. I HIGHLY recommend anyone flying in Economy to book seats on the upper deck, we got to checkin early and were able to get 78A/C which gave us two seats to ourselves and a handy storage bin etc to our left as well as much faster boarding and unloading then the main deck economy passengers. Interior was lovely, it did feel a lot more roomey then the 747/777 especially given that you can stroll between the 4 economy zones via the rear stairs and there are large areas to mill about around the toilets which are also roomier. Seats felt a good bit wider especially for me being nearly 6.2 in height. In flight entertainment very good with about 600 channels of stuff I think though both our screens crashed at different points and had to be rebooted by the crew which took a while. Food and service were excellent as usual with singapore airlines.

I've heard people say its very quiet inside but I would disagree with this, startup was quite loud compared to other widebodies and in flight it didnt feel any quieter at all, perhaps being seated upstairs behind the wing we were just in a noisey spot I dont know. Landing was very smooth, you can really feel the height in her and it looks massive compared to anything its parked beside! I distinctly remember being impressed with the power when we seemed to be holding at around 6-7,000 near hethrow then really climbed quickly once cleared higher. Final cruise height just before SIN was just under 40,000. Also when we were taxing towards the runyway in heathrow we had to hold for 15 minutes as ground staff had seen "something metal hanging off the aircrafts underside@ according to the captain!

Didnt get to see the suites but walked through busienss class which was incredible. Some day with the lotto perhaps! Took some photos but will have to wait a bit to post. Off to Auckland now shortly on a Malaysian 747

Oriel

Thanks pclancy! Thank you and damn you.