Airbus A380 - my experience

Owen

I'm just back from a 3 day visit to Australia, and the surprise for me, was that my London-Dubai leg was on the A380. It seems like a bit of a walrus from the outside, and while they were prepping it for flight, there was a little village setup around it supplying fuel, food, luggage, etc. Inside, while it is a bit bigger than a 777 for example, it doesn't seem massively larger.

I did notice that it's a very quiet plane, you really have to struggle to hear vibrations, etc. The onboard entertainment systems are also fantastic, with touch screens and eMail/SMS/Phone capabilities. Landing and Take-off were supremely smooth, but I did notice that on rotation, it seemed to have a very high take off angle.

PhoenixRising

Long way to go for 3 days!

Barname

PhoenixRising wrote: »

Long way to go for 3 days!

:pac:

perhaps the poster is 'like 13' and enjoys boasting ! :pac::pac:

you really have to struggle to hear vibrations

visions of poster with his ear to the floor as other passengers stare at his strangeness...... ' I am trying to detect vibrations, its a struggle!!' :pac: :pac:

bobcar61

You must have spent almost as much time traveling as you did when you actually got to Australia.
Glad you had a good experience on the A380,I'm still waiting to get on it.

Owen

Barname wrote: »

perhaps the poster is 'like 13' and enjoys boasting !

No, the poster is the Mod of this Forum, and is getting sick to death of you having no positive input, despite being banned twice, and not learning your lesson.

The whole 3 day ordeal wasn't by choice, I'd used all my holidays this year, but managed to wangle an extra day or two for a mate's wedding which I wouldnt have missed for the world.

Fabio

What airline was that with Ned?

Any pics?

Sounds like a cool trip, fair dues for heading down for a mate's wedding anyway!

Owen

It was with Emirates. I have some pics, but they're at home today. I'll get working on editing them, and pop them up shortly. Emirates btw are a fantastic airline to fly with!

bobcar61

I'd say it was Emirates seeing as he was on the A380 from London to Dubai.

What class did you fly in OP?

Owen

I had economy in the A380 as it's the shorter of the 2 legs, but I had business class from Dubai to Perth which was on a smaller airbus but a much longer journey.

Owen

Forgot I'd a picture on my iPhone :

mikedragon32

A colleague was bragging a couple of weeks ago that he would be taking the A380 from Frankfurt to Singapore. Very jealous.

Turns out he was on something else (he didn't say what, don't think he knows!) and was gutted!

tracker-man

ned78 wrote: »

Forgot I'd a picture on my iPhone

had to put in the "i" didn't you :pac:
Nice pic, I don't fly on airliners regularly but I would love to get on one again soon just to feel that raw power on take off and the view on a clear day cruising at 30000ft... nice

Barname

Barname banned for 3 months for trolling again

Tenger

Barname wrote: »

On a side note and as a friendly suggestion, I doubt your friends decision to wed was either last minute or spontaneous, perhaps you should spend less time attempting to bully on boards.ie and more time better organising your time management / life.

Strange, because last year my wedding was organised in under 3 months. a mate of mine was in Oz and without telling me turned up in Italy for it. All the way from Sydney for 2 nights.

Fabio

Looks like a whale of a plan from that pic!

youtheman

Apparently it's so quite in the A380 crew rest room (in the centre of the aircraft) that the off-duty piots are having trouble sleeping. I suppose a pilot likes the reassuring drone of the engines to lull him to sleep. I've heard that Airbus are proposing to pipe in some backround noise to help sort the problem. I kid you not.

pclancy

Yeah i read that somewhere too. Mad.

Fabio

You're not serious?! Fecking hell! Now that is cool!

Still though the old 747 beats it in the cool stakes even now I think. Maybe in a few years though that'll change.

Biro

Fabio wrote: »

You're not serious?! Fecking hell! Now that is cool!

Still though the old 747 beats it in the cool stakes even now I think. Maybe in a few years though that'll change.

The 747 still looks cool. The A380 was ugly from day one.

andy_g

no no ugly is not the word to describe it, its fugly :P 747 still looks great think it always will

Davidth88

Last time I flew out of LHR we were lining up on 27R and the SQ 380 was waiting to take off so I could take a good look.

Ugly !

The wing roots are huge, seem about 6 ft thick.

It would look better if it was about 30 ft longer , more in proportion.

It actually looks like the super guppy.

pclancy

Yeah not exactly a sexy bird, more like a cross between an a340 and a guppy

They're a much nicer experience then the 747 on the inside though and quite quiet as ned says. I'd love to try business class one day but will have to wait till im a lot better off

Owen

I got bumped to business class from Perth to Dubai on the return leg on an a340. Nice plush experience inside in a little pod, electrically reclining and heated seats with massage, noise cancelling headphones, plenty of champagne and food, and a small touch screen next to you in case the big touchscreen is too far away

andy_g

ned78 wrote: »

I got bumped to business class from Perth to Dubai on the return leg on an a340. Nice plush experience inside in a little pod, electrically reclining and heated seats with massage, noise cancelling headphones, plenty of champagne and food, and a small touch screen next to you in case the big touchscreen is too far away

yeah but then again the A340 is a better looking bird in all fairness unless your on one of GF's aircraft they are in bad shape dispatched the one they had in dublin a few years back befor i put my licence to some better use hehe

pclancy

ned78 wrote: »

I got bumped to business class from Perth to Dubai on the return leg on an a340. Nice plush experience inside in a little pod, electrically reclining and heated seats with massage, noise cancelling headphones, plenty of champagne and food, and a small touch screen next to you in case the big touchscreen is too far away

Aw I thought the days of bumping were over. The flights home from NZ next year will be lovely if i could only just get bumped.

mle1324

are they able to land in dublin? the a380

pclancy

Runway 28/10 is 2637m long and the A380s max takeoff run is 2,750 give or take so in theory it could operate from Dublin at a somwehwat reduced capacity or range. Its been marketted as being flyable from any runway that a 747 can run from with some width, seperation and weight restrictions.

The airport itself would need a lot of extra work done on strengthening and widening taxiways and changes to the terminal airbridges to take it though, I guess in the future its something that will be done but right now can you imagine a full A380s worth of 500-800 passengers being processed through an already very busy terminal?

CaptainSkidmark

good point.

plus i seen the A380 air bridges in Schiphol. they are massive rig's!

AlekSmart

I guess in the future its something that will be done but right now can you imagine a full A380s worth of 500-800 passengers being processed through an already very busy terminal?

I would`nt see Collinstown as having any particular problem with an A380 or two.......just as long as somebody gives the Garda Immigration people a tip-off first.......