Behind the '8' number

The number ‘8’ on Airbus A380 represents a lucky number in some Asian countries where the aircraft was being marketed. Boeing did not use number ‘8’ on their Jumbojet B747 to resemble the double-deck cross section. Boeing uses number ‘8’ on Boeing B787 Dreamliner which is single deck aircraft to replace 7E7 designation.

 The A380 cabin cross section, showing economy class seating

Lenght vs wing span of A380

The length of A380 body is 72.73 m (238.6 ft).
The wing span is 79.75 m (261.6 ft).
So the wing span is longer than the length of the A380 body.
Please look at the following picture.

Airbus A380 vs Giraffe

Airbus A380 height is 24.45 meters.
Giraffe height is approximately 5 meters.
Look at this picture below for illustration.

A380 Models

Type	Type certified	Engine	Manufacturer	Max T/O thrust	Engine certified
	EASA / FAA				EASA	FAA
A380-841	12-Dec-06	Trent 970-84	Rolls-Royce	334.29 kN / 75,152 lb	29-Oct-04	4-Dec-06
	12-Dec-06	Trent 970B-84	Rolls-Royce	348.31 kN / 78,304 lb	29-Oct-04	4-Dec-06
A380-842	12-Dec-06	Trent 972-84	Rolls-Royce	341.41 kN / 76,752 lb	11-Aug-05	4-Dec-06
	12-Dec-06	Trent 972B-84	Rolls-Royce	356.81 kN / 80,213 lb	11-Aug-05	4-Dec-06
A380-843F	NA	Trent 977-84	Rolls-Royce	359.33 kN / 80,781 lb	29-Oct-04	4-Dec-06
	NA	Trent 977B-84	Rolls-Royce	372.92 kN / 83,835 lb	29-Oct-04	4-Dec-06
A380-861	14-Dec-07	GP7270	Engine Alliance	322.44 kN / 74,735 lb	19-Apr-07	29-Dec-05
A380-863F	NA	GP7277	Engine Alliance	357.15 kN / 80,290 lb	19-Apr-07	29-Dec-05
A380-941	NA	Trent 980-84	Rolls-Royce	374.09 kN / 84,098 lb	29-Oct-04	4-Dec-06

A380 Variants

Variant	(Basic)	(Light)	(Heavy)
	A380-8XX-000	A380-8XX-001	A380-8XX-002
MRW (Maximum Ramp Weight)	1,239,000 lb	1,239,000 lb	1,258,800 lb
MTOW (Maximum Take-off Weight)	1,234,600 lb	1,124,400 lb	1,254,400 lb
MLW (Maximum Landing Weight)	850,980 lb	868,620 lb	862,010 lb
MZFW (Maximum Zero Fuel Weight)	795,870 lb	820,120 lb	806,890 lb

AbsInt Enhances the Safety of the A380

Saarbruecken, Germany — 27 April 2005. AbsInt contributes to guaranteeing the safety of the A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

On April 27th, 2005, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, landed safely in Toulouse, France, after completing its maiden flight.

A key contribution to the A380’s safety was made by AbsInt, a German software developer located in Saarbruecken. The AbsInt team has succeeded in developing a software tool which guarantees that the flight control computer system always performs fast enough under all circumstances.

Today’s airplanes no longer feature a direct hydraulic link from the cockpit to the aircraft’s steering components. The hydraulic steering stick has been replaced by a digital steering stick. A flight control computer reads the input from the pilot and computes appropriate values for the steering components, taking the current situation, physics and aerodynamics of the aircraft into account.

It is critical that the flight control software always works within fixed time bounds. The lives of the crew and passengers alike would be at risk if the program couldn’t be depended on to always respond in time.

AbsInt’s solution to this is the aiT WCET Analyzer, a software program specifically developed by AbsInt to check timing behavior. The Analyzer is able to verify the proper response time of the control software of all components by computing the worst-case execution time (WCET) of all tasks in the flight control software. This analysis is performed on the ground as a critical part of the safety certification of the aircraft.

aiT’s potential is not limited to the avionics industry. Consider airbag control in today’s cars: triggering of airbags is controlled by software that is executed by a microprocessor integrated in the car. Deploying the airbag too late in an accident can have disastrous consequences. Static software analysis tools like aiT enable the safety of such critical applications to be improved.

The development of the aiT WCET Analyzer resulted in AbsInt being awarded the 2004 European IST Prize, the European Union’s most distinguished technology award for “groundbreaking products that represent the best of European innovation in information society technologies”.

About AbsInt

AbsInt was founded in 1998 as a spin-off of the Department for Programming Languages and Compiler Design chaired by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Wilhelm at Saarland University. The company is located in Saarbruecken, Germany, and currently has a 23-strong team.

source:www.absint.com

The A380 hits the stage

24 October 2007

Click Here to view the photo

On 15 October, Singapore Airlines officially took delivery of its first Airbus A380 in Toulouse. Long anticipated, the ceremony was a significant event, marking as it did the service launch of the biggest commercial aircraft in the world. Certain analysts would deem it as important an event as the entry into service of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet, 37 years ago.
With the Airbus A380, “a new chapter is opening in the history of commercial aviation,” underlined Chew Choon Seng, the boss of Singapore Airlines, at the ceremony in Toulouse. It also marks a key stage in a program that has amassed superlatives throughout the course of its development. Measuring some 240 feet (73 m.) long and with a wingspan of over 260 feet (80 m.), the A380 is a giant capable of carrying 853 passengers in a “high density” configuration (fitted with the maximum number of seats). The development of the aircraft presented a formidable technical, industrial and financial challenge. The A380 will now provide an exceptional showcase for the airline companies that have ordered it, as well for Airbus itself and, through the reflected glory, for all the subcontractors and partners involved, at the forefront of whom are many of the companies of the SAFRAN Group.

The technical excellence of SAFRAN
Following a stringent selection process, the Group companies succeeded in winning contracts in many technical areas, all of which contributed to providing the aircraft with its exceptional performance characteristics (see panel opposite). The solid basis of this success for SAFRAN was its technical excellence allied with its cast-iron guarantees in terms of after-sales and technical support. The engine is the most emblematic element of this participation. The A380 is today available with two engine types: the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or the GP7200 from Engine Alliance. On the latter, Techspace Aero (SAFRAN Group) produces the low-pressure compressor. This component is situated just ahead of the high-pressure compressor, the main part of which was entrusted to Snecma (SAFRAN Group) by General Electric. In all, the SAFRAN Group’s contribution to the GP7200 comes to 17.5%.

Another major contribution was the development of the nacelles by Aircelle, designed to meet the needs of both engine types. Made entirely of composite materials, these nacelles are the biggest ever made for a commercial aircraft: over 13 feet (4 m) in diameter at fan disk level. They also incorporate powerful soundproofing which helps make the Airbus A380 the quietest aircraft in its category. Add to this the low fuel consumption of the engines and pollutant levels far below the levels required by the strictest of standards, they help justify the A380’s nickname of the “Green Giant”. To date, there have been 189 firm orders for the A380 from 16 clients. The company behind the inaugural launch, Singapore Airlines, has scheduled its first commercial flight on 25 October, for a return flight between Singapore and Sydney, Australia, with a configuration of three classes and 471 paying seats. Needless to say, every last seat is likely to be filled!

Contribution of Safran Group companies

Engine

Click Here to view the photo

Snecma: design, development and manufacture of the main part of the high-pressure compressor for the GP7200, in collaboration with General Electric.
Techspace Aero: design and manufacture of the low-pressure compressor and the bearing supports for the GP7200, in collaboration with Pratt & Whitney.
Hispano-Suiza: supplying Snecma with the order for variable stators. Development of the FADEC, in cooperation with British Aerospace.
Aircelle: design and manufacture of the nacelles (for the two engine types of the A380) and for the thrust reversers on the inside engines.
Sofrance: supplying the engine filtration and lubrication components.

Landing gear

Messier-Dowty: design and manufacture of the front landing gear.
Messier-Bugatti: manufacturing the braking system, the steering system for the front and main wheels and the various monitoring systems (tire pressure, brake temperature, hydraulic pressure of landing gear).
Technofan: production of the brake cooling fans.
Click Here to view the photo

Hydraulic circuits

Messier-Bugatti: design and manufacture of the hydraulic circuit distribution and filtration system.
Sofrance: production of the filtration components and hydraulic circuits (main, brakes, flight controls).

Others

Technofan: supplying the ventilation systems for the avionics and the cockpit.
Labinal Wiring Division: production of around 80% of the aircraft’s wiring harnesses.
Labinal Engineering Division: 640,000 hours of study for the wiring layout and the mechanical systems and calculations for the primary structure of the cockpit.
Messier-Bugatti: design and manufacturing of the electro-hydraulic micro-pumps for powering the flight controls in backup mode
Sofrance: production of the avionics air filters

Sources: www.le-webmag.com

Nickname of A380

The nickname of Airbus A380 is super jumbo. Jumbo jet already used for the nickname of Boeing 747.

Some unofficial nicknames of Airbus A380 are flying forehead, mammoth jet, Whale Jet flying.

Green Giant is also unofficial nickname of Airbus A380. Low fuel consumption of the engines and pollutant levels far below the levels required by the strictest of standards are behind the justifying of this name.

A380 Production List

cn	Aircraft	Operator	Reg.	Delivery	Status
1	A380-841	Industrie	F-WWOW	April 27, 2005	Active
2	A380-841	Industrie	F-WXXL	Nov 3, 2005	Active
3	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-SKA	Oct 15, 2007	Active
4	A380-841	Industrie	F-WWDD	Oct 18, 2005	Active
5	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-SKB		On Order
6	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-SKC		On Order
7	A380-841	Industrie	F-WWJB	Feb 19, 2006	Active
8	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-SKD		On Order
9	A380-861	Industrie	F-WWEA	June 12, 2006	Active
10	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-SKE		On Order
11	A380-861	Emirates	A6-EDA		On Order
12	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-SKF		On Order
13	A380-861	Emirates	A6-EDB		On Order
14	A380-841	Qantas	VH-OQA		On Order
15	A380-841	Qantas	VH-OQB		On Order
16	A380-861	Emirates	A6-EDC		On Order
17	A380-861	Emirates	A6-EDD		On Order
18	A380-841	Malaysia Airlines	9M-		On Order
19	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-SKG		On Order
20	A380-861	Emirates	A6-EDE		On Order
21	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-		On Order
22	A380-841	Qantas	VH-		On Order
23	A380-861	Emirates	A6-EDF		On Order
24	A380-841	Malaysia Airlines	9M-		On Order
25	A380-861	Emirates	A6-		On Order
26	A380-841	Qantas	VH-		On Order
27	A380-841	Qantas	VH-		On Order
28	A380-861	Emirates	A6-		On Order
29	A380-841	Qantas	VH-		On Order
30	A380-861	Emirates	A6-EDG		On Order
31	A380-841	China Southern Airlines	B-		On Order
32	A380-841	Malaysia Airlines	9M-		On Order
33	A380-861	Air France	F-HPJA		On Order
34	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-		On Order
35	A380-861	Korean Air Lines	HL		On Order
36	A380-841	China Southern Airlines	B-		On Order
38	A380-841	Lufthansa	D-AIMA		On Order
39	A380-861	Korean Air Lines	HL		On Order
40	A380-861	Air France	F-		On Order
41	A380-841	Lufthansa	D-AIMB		On Order
42	A380-861	Emirates	A6-		On Order
43	A380-861	Air France	F-		On Order
44	A380-841	Lufthansa	D-AIMC		On Order
45	A380-841	Singapore Airlines	9V-		On Order
5000	A380-800	Industrie	-		Scrapped