Ive seen it all today, A388

[HeathrowAirport]

SIA321 just returned to LHR as SQ321R, It made the biggest racket over my house - Must have been due to the weight?

Any reason for the return?

[42ongo]

Almost a 4 hour delay ex LHR
but seemed to make up time en route

08th August 2009 - Saturday - Flight Number SQ321 / Aircraft (A380-800)
Airport Scheduled Time Actual Time Estimated Time Status
Departure From London (LHR) 22:05 02:02 (+1) Departed
Arrival In Singapore (SIN)
Terminal 3 17:55 (+1) 21:18 (+1) Delayed

I wonder is it the first time the A380 has had to take a Night Jet Movement at LHR

Long time since I had to do it but I remember that if a 747-200 had to take a night Jet movement the payload decreased drastically

How about in the A380 case does anybody know what the variation between the usual max allowable take off weight and a max allowed take off weight for an A380 during the night time curfew would be ?

tks

[silly walks]

If I remember correctly, the Trent engines on the A380 are classed as QC 0.2.
As a result of being so quiet, the A380. does not suffer payload penalties, if it departs during the curfew period.

The last time a Trent A380 departed during the curfew period it didn't even trigger the noise monitoring sensors.

I'm not sure what the QC classification on the GE A380 is.

[Musket90]

For night movement quota purposes the Trent powered A388 is categorised as QC 0.5 for arrival and QC 2.0 for departure so it can be scheduled during the night quota period provided there is sufficient quota available for the operator. As yet no QC rating is published for GE powered A380's, maybe this will be included in the next AIP supplement.

[HeathrowAirport]

Well the A380 when It returned to Heathrow sounded more like Concorde than anything, Im guessing due to the weight?? More thrust and it was like a take-off on approach?

I wonder is it the first time the A380 has had to take a Night Jet Movement at LHR

The early morning SIN A380 lands between 4-6 depending on delay and enroute winds. Thats a Night movement i believe (23:30-6)

[Skipness One Echo]

Well the A380 when It returned to Heathrow sounded more like Concorde than anything, Im guessing due to the weight?? More thrust and it was like a take-off on approach?

Or the fact it was late and the ambient noise level is missing....

[Rush2112]

One of my staff was on the flight, returning from a week's training at HO. She said that there was a problem in closing the under-carriage doors so had to return to LHR to get it fixed.