Airbus 380's Massive Structure.
A few years ago a young Japanese man sailed a 12 foot sailboat across the Pagific Ocean from Japan to the United States. Due to the minimum mass of the boat, it bobbed up and over the waves and accelerated with the wind gusts.
Now we are considering the mass of the Airbus 380, which will be subject to the wind shear forces of weather and aircraft wake turbulence. The inertia factor of this massive structure will limit the acceleration of the aircraft, and therefore, a high percentage of the kinetic energy in these forces will be absorbed in the structure!
This phenomena is illustrated by the TWA 800 accident. The Boeing 747, another high mass structure, was struck, broadside, by aircraft wake turbulence, and started to break up eight seconds prior to the explosion of the fuel tank! Both cockpit clocks stopped eight seconds after the National Safety Boards's, "End of Data Line", on the FDR Chart. (A 13.5 foot section of the aircraft's keel beam fell out of the aircraft, before the explosion, into the initial debris area.) There was no evidence of fire or explosive damage to any of the many items found in the initial debris area!
The designed mass of the Airbus 380 exceeds the weight at which the aircraft can be accelerated, in sufficient motion to dissipate a high percentage of the kinetic energy in the applied forces.
This inertia factor must be considered in aircraft designs and in Air Traffic Control Standards.
Last edited by wsherif1; 9th September 2003 at 14:01.