dnoblett Posted October 18, 2011 Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 This has got to be the biggest plane in the world flying a domestic route. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/attachement/jpg/site1/20111018/f04da2db112210070a6c1f.jpg BEIJING / GUANGZHOU - China's first Airbus A380, operated by China Southern Airlines Co Ltd, took off at 10 am on Monday at the Beijing Capital International Airport carrying nearly 500 passengers on its maiden domestic flight to Guangzhou, and made a smooth landing at Baiyun International Airport at 1:10 pm as people inside and outside the double-decker cabin cheered. ... It will be flying daily on the Beijing-Guangzhou-Beijing route from Oct 17 to 26, departing at 10 am from Beijing as flight number CZ3000 and returning from Guangzhou at 6 pm as flight CZ3999. From Oct 27 to 29, it will fly the Beijing-Shanghai Pudong-Beijing route as flight numbers CZ6000 and CZ6999. The ticket price is the same as that of other aircraft flying those routes, and passengers can get a 10 percent discount buying tickets through China Southern's website. The price of an economy class seat between Beijing and Guangzhou is 1,700 yuan ($266). The seat price in luxury first class is 4,760 yuan and 3,910 yuan for first class. According to China Southern, tickets in the top two classes are already sold out and 80 percent of economy class seats have been sold, 30 percentage points more than average. On Tuesday, occupancy for the Beijing-Guangzhou flight exceeded 90 percent, and that for the return flight was 100 percent. Tickets for the eight luxury seats and 70 first-class seats on the round-trip flights were sold out days before. After October, the aircraft will still operate on the two domestic routes until the airline's second A380 is delivered, which is expected to be in December. Then it will begin flying international routes. China Southern ordered five A380s, which will all be delivered by 2013. Liu Qian, chief pilot of the A380 and China's leading pilot with 16,000 flying hours, said he finds the operational system very smart and stable. "The larger the aircraft, the easier to keep it stable and under control," he told China Daily. He led a team of 10 pilots and 10 co-pilots in a more than one-month study in Toulouse of the A380 model. http://www.chinadail...nt_13920864.htm http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/00006372.jpg Link to comment
knloregon Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Great post Dan, At least for me, since commercial aviation is of intrest (sort of like train spotting, I suppose.. ) In 1997, on my first trip to China, I flew the puddle jump from Guangzhou to Hong Kong on a China Southern 777 ---- in service less than one month with that airline (new airplane smell !) Man, was I impressed with Boeing---and the USA! Put you back in your seat on a smooth takeoff----fully loaded.. The 777 remains a favorite, but looking forward to the Dreamliner. Upside is that putting the A380 in domestic service on China's east coast --- with all that capacity ---has got to drive ticket prices down in the long run --- a good thing! Link to comment
Daviation Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 That is an amazing and huge double decker bird. On the other hand, you'll love the Dreamliner Kim. I'm lucky to have had that chance... and it is spectacular. Seeing that long curved wing flex as it lifts... through those new huge windows... is sexy (but have to admit I'm a geek that way). Can't wait until China Southern flies 'em direct Vancouver to Guangzhou. It will truly be a game changer with many new direct long haul routes that will now be economically viable. I will be happy to bypass HK or Beijing on my way to other parts. Link to comment
dnoblett Posted October 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Twice I flew to China by United Airlines Chicago to Shanghai, the plane used is the 777-300ER or 777-200LR, I am amazed by the size of the plane, it is deceptive with it's twin jet config, but when you get in side it, the plane can carry as many as a 747, and cover a range nearly 8,000 miles. Link to comment
Dennis143 Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) Twice I flew to China by United Airlines Chicago to Shanghai, the plane used is the 777-300ER or 777-200LR, I am amazed by the size of the plane, it is deceptive with it's twin jet config, but when you get in side it, the plane can carry as many as a 747, and cover a range nearly 8,000 miles.A340 was Airbus' answer to Boeing's 777. And, it's been a failure. The A340's 4 engines make it an expensive gas hog compared to the 777s dual engines carrying the same amount of passengers. Airbus hasn't been taking orders for the current A340 version and is currently redesigning in hopes to introduce and book orders befor Boeing's new generation 777 that will incorporate much of the 787s design features that will include composite wings. Re the A380, the main drawback that I can see for the passenger is the larger lines and times it will take to get though customs. Edited October 23, 2011 by Dennis143 (see edit history) Link to comment
knloregon Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 "Re the A380, the main drawback that I can see for the passenger is the larger lines and times it will take to get though customs. " excellent point about existing airport infrastructure, and you may remember, that it was almost an afterthought before the A380's release ---gee, I wonder if the world's runways can handle the loads on landing... turns out, most of them can't. Link to comment
Dennis143 Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) "Re the A380, the main drawback that I can see for the passenger is the larger lines and times it will take to get though customs. " excellent point about existing airport infrastructure, and you may remember, that it was almost an afterthought before the A380's release ---gee, I wonder if the world's runways can handle the loads on landing... turns out, most of them can't.Vrty good point, Kim. LAX has to literally shut down all incoming and departing flights when an A380 moves. Airbus A380 is a mixed blessing for LAXThe immense plane causes problems at L.A.'s airport, but in the world of aviation, bigger is considered better, so LAX copes.January 25, 2009 Dan Weikel Every time Qantas lands one of its giant Airbus A380s at LAX, parts of the nation's fourth-busiest airport come to a halt. Service roads, taxiways and runways must be closed to airfield trucks, cars and other commercial aircraft as the world's largest passenger plane -- with wings almost as long as a football field -- arrives, departs and taxis with an official escort of operations vehicles...More than any other airliner, LAX officials say, the A380 requires special procedures because Los Angeles International Airport was not built to accommodate a plane of its size.http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/25/local/me-airbus25 Edited October 25, 2011 by Dennis143 (see edit history) Link to comment
knloregon Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 "..On the other hand, you'll love the Dreamliner Kim. I'm lucky to have had that chance... and it is spectacular. Seeing that long curved wing flex as it lifts... through those new huge windows... is sexy (but have to admit I'm a geek that way). " Wow, David, Do you work for Boeing? Not sure the wing flex is gonna' be that reassuring. Maybe it will dampen bumpy air? (who knows...) --- I'm wondering about the composite affect on air noise at speed, and at elevation. My guess is, that its significantly less than aluminum.. Link to comment
Randy W Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 "..On the other hand, you'll love the Dreamliner Kim. I'm lucky to have had that chance... and it is spectacular. Seeing that long curved wing flex as it lifts... through those new huge windows... is sexy (but have to admit I'm a geek that way). " Wow, David, Do you work for Boeing? Not sure the wing flex is gonna' be that reassuring. Maybe it will dampen bumpy air? (who knows...) --- I'm wondering about the composite affect on air noise at speed, and at elevation. My guess is, that its significantly less than aluminum.. Remember that the wings carry the entire weight of the aircraft Best way to avoid it would be to fly a biplane - shorter wing-span, and cross-bracing between the wings http://www.gregorie.org/gregories/history/pictures/flying/cfs_biplane.jpg Link to comment
Daviation Posted October 27, 2011 Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 "..On the other hand, you'll love the Dreamliner Kim. I'm lucky to have had that chance... and it is spectacular. Seeing that long curved wing flex as it lifts... through those new huge windows... is sexy (but have to admit I'm a geek that way). " Wow, David, Do you work for Boeing? Not sure the wing flex is gonna' be that reassuring. Maybe it will dampen bumpy air? (who knows...) --- I'm wondering about the composite affect on air noise at speed, and at elevation. My guess is, that its significantly less than aluminum.. It is a VERY smooth ride. And I was a skeptic... who doesn't like turbulence (whether I'm drivin' or ridin')... but have to say it's the smoothest ride I've experienced. And very quiet. Link to comment
Dennis143 Posted October 27, 2011 Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 "..On the other hand, you'll love the Dreamliner Kim. I'm lucky to have had that chance... and it is spectacular. Seeing that long curved wing flex as it lifts... through those new huge windows... is sexy (but have to admit I'm a geek that way). " Wow, David, Do you work for Boeing? Not sure the wing flex is gonna' be that reassuring. Maybe it will dampen bumpy air? (who knows...) --- I'm wondering about the composite affect on air noise at speed, and at elevation. My guess is, that its significantly less than aluminum.. Remember that the wings carry the entire weight of the aircraft Best way to avoid it would be to fly a biplane - shorter wing-span, and cross-bracing between the wings http://www.gregorie.org/gregories/history/pictures/flying/cfs_biplane.jpgComposites are stronger than alloy metals. Yes, the major stresses are under the wings. Boeing has experimented and ran many stress and fatigue test to determine the long term strength and durability to pass FAA certification. Google Boeing's wing stress testing and you'll see the tremendous bend and stress that have been applied to these composite wings. Also note that the entire 787 fuselage is composite also. Early wing bending stress test revealed cracks in 787 wings. Boeing had to go back and redesign the side of body chords that connect the wings to the internal wing box. The wing flex overcomes wing tip turbulence where Boeing and Airbus have added winglets on the wing tips of Boeing's 737NG and most Airbus planes. Wing tip turbulence inhibits speed and increases fuel consumption. There's a tradeoff between adding the weight of winglets to having greater economic fuel effeciency. The 787s lighter composite flex wings elliminate this equation. Link to comment
tonado Posted October 27, 2011 Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 Must take a long time to load up the plane. I like smaller private plane. Link to comment
Daviation Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/first-a380-for-china-southern-grounded-two-weeks-after-maiden-flight-20111031-1mr3b.html First A380 for China Southern grounded two weeks after maiden flight Now there's a conundrum... 'ya gotta have several extra birds as backup when it's broken for weeks at a time... Link to comment
dnoblett Posted November 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 http://www.theage.co...1031-1mr3b.html First A380 for China Southern grounded two weeks after maiden flight Now there's a conundrum... 'ya gotta have several extra birds as backup when it's broken for weeks at a time...Yep, to planes on standby. Well these things do happen when things are very new, they have to get the parts to fix the plane from abroad. Here area few photos of that monster from Airbus website. http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/84bb68afcd.jpg http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/83ed25dd47.jpg http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/a51c5d0d19.jpg http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/46d0d48014.jpgFist Class http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/4a4df7ae0f.jpgBusiness Class Link to comment
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