Aviation enthusiasts; The last A380 rolls through French town

[A HERETIC I AM]

(Perhaps a break from the market and virus concerns is due, if not for just a short bit)


Seems I called this about 3 years ago

The biggest passenger airplane in the world, and a TPG favorite, is about to fly into the dustbin of history. But before it does, the Airbus A380 has some spectacular tricks left to show the world. On Thursday night, it performed one of them for the last time.

A convoy of trucks transporting A380 parts ready to be assembled traversed the French village of Lévignac, on the way to the Airbus plant near Toulouse. Since the European planemaker began building A380s in the mid-2000s, it’s been a ritual happening a few times a year, with the entire village turning out to see the giant pieces wheeled through the town, dwarfing the houses. Thursday was when the last full six-truck convoy — including three pieces of the fuselage, the tail, and the wings — passed through Lévignac, with just inches to spare.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/the-airbus-a380-rolled-through-a-french-town-for-the-last-time/

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Here's where Levignac is. If you scroll out, you can see the Airbus facility at Toulouse is not far away.
https://goo.gl/maps/og482PeUHw52YRvp7

For those of you not aware of why they do this, it's because the sections of the aircraft are assembled at facilities in other countries in Europe, are transported by barge to a point as close to Toulouse as possible and then trucked to the assembly facility. If you use the Google Maps link above and move till you see the airport, the Airbus assembly halls are on the north end of the airport property. Airbus spent millions making infrastructure improvements to facilitate the movement of these large pieces, including paving parts of roundabouts so the convoys have a straighter line to travel.

A map giving an overview of the entire network;


Here's the Wikipedia page on this, as the French named it "Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itin%C3%A9raire_%C3%A0_Grand_Gabarit


And just for coolness, a short vid of a B-777 kicking up spray on a takeoff roll;

Link to tweet

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. That didn't last long, at least as airplanes go.

I remember when it first came out, and I was surprised they were able to sell any of them.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. No, it sure as hell didn't.

The first airframe that went into service has already been scrapped.

I saw an article a few days ago where the scrapper was offering parts of it for sale as mementos!

By contrast, the longest serving 747 airframe was just retired a couple years ago, after some 40 years of flying.

Here's an article on that subject;

https://www.airportspotting.com/boeing-747-50-oldest-747s-existence/

Note that one of the planes used as Shuttle Transport aircraft was formerly owned by American Airlines and was converted to carry the Shuttles in 1970. It took it's last flight in 2014.

N905NA 747-123 (20107/86) NASA
Originally flying for American Airlines, this aircraft became a Space Shuttle Carrier in 1970 and was retired in 2014. You can see it at the Johnson Space Center at Houston, TX.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I have a piece of a 747.

When the airline I used to work for retired them, they gave pieces of a scrapped one to the employees. The A-380 was just too big to be practical; some airports couldn't even accept them because they were too heavy for the runways.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. Cool!

There was a TV show a couple years ago about a company that converted airplane parts into furniture!

I remember when Airbus did a Round-The-World-Tour with the 380, landing it a a bunch of different airports it would likely never serve, like Hartford-Bradley in Hartford, CT. They took it to a bunch of places you wouldn't think could handle it. One of the biggest issues regarding airports was simply the space required at a gate, as I'm sure you're aware.

I'm sure airlines like Emirates will wring as much out of them as they can since they have so many, but I suspect many of the other carriers who only had a handful will offload them in fairly short order.

[Happy Hoosier]

4. Too big, too expensive.

With improvements in engine performance and efficiency, carriers can run long routes with smaller, way more efficient planes. Jumbo jets are really the best way to do long hauls anymore.

[brush]

5. I was thinking the same thing. The 747 had a much longer production run...

and is a much sleeker looking plane—if that as anything to do with it.

[DFW]

7. I've flown on the A-380 several times

The thing is so big, I never even saw the whole interior of the plane, just the part that the ramp led to.

What amazes me is the pure callousness of Boeing with their 737 Max8. If Airbus was able to put something as gargantuan as the 380 into the air and fly it over huge distances, how come a short-to-medium haul plane, which was really only a modification and not a completely new line, was put into service without anywhere near the safety measures and design testing needed to ensure its airworthiness? At least the question of whether they saved any money in the long term by their cost-efficiency has now been answered, and the predictable answer was disaster for Boeing. Airbus miscalculated with the 380, but at least they produced an airworthy plane that will remain in service for a while, providing the oil price doesn't double.

[burrowowl]

12. The modification made it a new plane

and not an airworthy one.

[DFW]

13. They have been building 737s in one version or another for over 50 years

This one must have been radically different from the rest. After all, the 737-800 has been flying for over 20 years, and without anything like what has been going on with this version.

[abqtommy]

8. To maintain perspective to this A380 love I'm presenting some search results* for "A380

Disasters."

* https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=A380+disasters&ia=web

disclaimer: I flew a lot in the 90s. Worked with one guy who wouldn't fly on anything but a Boeing
aircraft in China and Russia. I always figuratively kissed my ass goodbye every time I got on a plane, made sure I bought flight insurance to benefit my family and implored the Gawds/Gawdesses
for a safe flight. Of course statistics showed that I'd survive, an exception being made for those who didn't.

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. I read this funny pilot story a few years ago...

Where every time the guy would rotate and start climbing, he would exclaim “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?” For the sole purpose of confusing any crash investigators because that would be one of the last things heard on the cockpit voice recorder!

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Which seems to be 2 engine failures that the planes survived with no injuries

That might raise questions about the engines (you'd need some stats on hours flown etc. to know), but not about the plane itself.

[abqtommy]

16. "List of accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A320 Family...

Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2020, 10:19 PM - Edit history (2)

For the entire A320 family, 119 aviation accidents and incidents have occurred (the latest being Ural Airlines Flight 178 on 15 August 2019),[1] including 36 hull loss accidents,[2] and a total of 1393 fatalities in 17 fatal accidents (the most recent being EgyptAir Flight 804 on 19 May 2016)."

more at link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Airbus_A320_family

sarcasm on: It's heartwarming to see that Airbus and Boeing join together in fighting against world
population growth. sarcasm off

I've learned something today. I don't necessarily like it but there it is.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. I don't think people are talking about this because it's Airbus

It's a thread on the particular model A380 because of its size [edited after edits above and below]

[abqtommy]

18. As far as I know, the Airbus 380 and the Airbus 320 are both made by Airbus. I concede that my

Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2020, 10:21 PM - Edit history (2)

Airbus 320 post may not be technically correct but I will strongly defend my right to post what strikes me as pertinent. Please proceed as you wish... here at DU we have lots of options...

Please see the DU Mail I sent you... I decided that was the best option at this time.

[dalton99a]

9. Kick

[Recursion]

11. I did a long haul on one of those: Dulles to Dubai

Emirates Air, business class (thanks, miles).

I spent 12 hours just looking around thinking "holy crap this is a big airplane"

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. One of the big ones on my travel bucket list....

Is to fly 1st class on an Emirates 380 to Dubai and back. Well, at least one way. I'm saving miles from several sources, the only question I have is whether or not they will still be flying by the time I get around to doing it!

First trip is to Europe, though. I want to see the Alps again (last time I was in Switzerland was 1967!) and drive over Furka Pass

[Recursion]

19. Emirates first class has a shower on the A380

I was hanging out at the bar and one of the first class guys designed to come chill with us and then casually said "well, I'm going to take a shower now".

I only had miles for business class one way, so the flight back was in steerage, but even that is pretty spacious on the 380.