No A380 demo at Paris air show after incident: Airbus (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110619/bs_afp/franceaerospaceshowcompanyairbusa380)
– Sun Jun 19, 1:47 pm ET
(http://www.avweb.com/newspics/parisairshow2011/a380-embraerbuilding/med/03.jpg)
PARIS (AFP) – Airbus will not hold a demonstration of its A380 superjumbo at the Paris International Air Show after the wing-tip of its test aircraft was damaged in an incident Sunday, the company said.
"During ground maneuvers with the Airbus A380 flight test aircraft MSN 004, the aircraft's right hand wing-tip touched a structure near the taxiway," at Le Bourget airport on Sunday afternoon, Airbus said in a statement.
"Airbus experts are currently inspecting the aircraft, but it is already confirmed that the A380 MSN 004 will not perform the flying display at the Le Bourget Air Show 2011," it said.
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h/t to AvWeb.com (http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/a380_vs_embraer_building_204862-1.html) for the heads up.
Back the last time I was working for Boeing, the discussion between engineering, corporate and the customers on whether to build a 747 with a full second passenger deck, rather than the abreviated one we are all familiar with was hot and heavy at the time. Ultimately, Boeing decided not to go ahead with the full double decker for two primary reasons:
- One: in a pure market economy, the Company needed 150 planes ordered at a minimum to break even on the project. We had commitments for about 50.
- and Two: the necessary expansion/enlargement of fuselage structures, wings, landing gear and other systems in order to accommodate the enlarged size of the plane would have made it a tight fit at existing airport runways, taxiways, service ramps and terminals. The 747-X wouldn't have been able to operate out of any but the very largest airports, therefore the number of potential revenue routes it could take on was limited, in spite of it's increased passenger load.
It was because I was privy to some of this inside debate - admittedly through second- and third-hand sources - that I laughed when I heard Airbus' announcement of it's A380 project. It seems that socialism may have been able to build it where pure market capitalism had no need, but that whole laws of physics - esp. the part about two solid objects being incapable of occupying the same point in space/time simultaneously - is proving a more insurmountable challenge for the French.
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :bigbird:
(http://www.avweb.com/newspics/parisairshow2011/a380-embraerbuilding/med/01.jpg)
BTW: If you read the AvWeb story on the incident (and see the other pics of the incident), you'll find that it isn't the first time this particular airplane has put it's wingtips where they don't belong. Back in April, it clipped the tail of a commuter jet at JFK.
(http://www.avweb.com/newspics/parisairshow2011/a380-embraerbuilding/med/01.jpg)
I gotta say it: That will buff out.