Don't bother. We've all seen it already.

R.T.O. today. Pictures at
http://www.aeroweb-fr.net/actualites...essais-rto.php

/A

E-mail I received this evening!



Dear XXXXXXXXXX,

The Airbus team is pleased to include you among the privileged visitors who are offered the possibility to watch the live broadcast of the A380 First flight on Airbus.com.

We would like to inform you that there is a strong possibility that the A380 will fly next week. We cannot give you an exact date and time as maiden flights are subject to many conditions that we cannot control such as weather conditions.

Therefore, from Monday 25 April, please consult our web site every morning (GMT+2) for more information.

Just before the day of the first flight, the site will display pages dedicated to the event, including a special A380 lounge reserved for watching the live broadcast of the first flight.
Find below your personal access information to enter the "A380 Lounge":
Login: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Password: xxxxxxxxxxx

Your login and password are personal. They are valid for this event only, and will not allow several simultaneous connections on the day of the event.

Please be aware that your company's firewall may prevent you from watching live broadcasts.

We look forward to sharing this aviation milestone with you.

The Airbus team.

I got exactly the same e-mail! Except my password was shorter :p

latest from Reuters .....

"April 22, 2005
The first flight of the world's biggest airliner, the Airbus A380, is expected next week as final tests are run on the massive doubledecker with room for over 800 passengers.

Secrecy and a slight delay have fuelled rumours of fires, collapsed landing gear and plots to spirit away the plane to a deserted German air base as anticipation mounts among enthusiasts lining the fences at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, southern France.

"We've heard them all. There's no truth in any of it," said an Airbus spokeswoman, who reiterated that plans called for flying the plane by the end of the month.

The most closely watched debut since the supersonic Concorde first roared down the runway in 1969, the A380 will fly straight into the history books as the first airliner bigger than the Boeing's 747 jumbo, which debuted four decades ago.

"It's a great milestone in the history of the project," said a spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic, one of the airlines waiting to take delivery of the plane.

Virgin founder Richard Branson, who wants gyms and private double beds on his A380s, had the words "Mine's bigger than yours" written on the side of Virgin's first Airbus A340-600 in 2002 and is expected to have similar fun with the A380.

Airbus has playfully given the first plane the registration F-WWOW.

The 747 helped change the airline business and marked a step change in size, which Boeing celebrated in TV commercials which showed the Harlem Globetrotters tossing basketballs down the aisles.

Airbus has also been celebrating, throwing a gala unveiling in January attended by heads of state and more than 5,000 guests.

But busy chatrooms and the vigil at the factory reflect what fans of the plane really want, and that is to see it fly.

For test pilot Jacques Rosay it has been eight years of waiting as he prepares to set aside simulators for the real thing, taking the A380 through manoeuvres designed to check its four Rolls-Royce engines, avionics and other equipment.

"Simulators are one thing. I could fly you to the Moon on one and be back in time for dinner. Real planes are different," was the wry comment of one former pilot.

Rosay and Captain Claude Lelaie will be part of a crew of six who, in case of catastrophic failure, would likely blow off the cargo door and parachute to safety.

Some USD$12 billion has been spent by Airbus and its suppliers to ensure no such problem arises, and 11 passenger airlines have laid down money to buy more than 100 of the USD$285 million planes.

Flying the A380 is expected to be like any other Airbus, requiring less than two weeks of additional training.

The plane, with a maximum take-off weight of well over one million pounds, is bigger than three Concordes, yet is the product of an intense focus on saving weight as high fuel costs and falling fares squeeze airlines around the world.

"What the airline is looking at above all is the economic case," said an Airbus spokesman.

Rival Boeing agrees, though it has focused on a much smaller money-saver in the 787 due in 2008.

The Concorde had a flawless first flight but it took almost seven years before air travellers could book a ticket.

Airbus this time plans to wind up a gruelling set of flight tests in just over a year, allowing Singapore Airlines to begin service in 2006.

Airbus is expected to use a handful of A380s in tests that cover the globe, trying it out in baking heat and icy conditions in places such as northern Canada.

Engineers on board will be armed with tonnes of diagnostic equipment to examine their drawing board ideas work at speed.

The flight route is likely to extend from Toulouse over the Atlantic Ocean, though Airbus has not released details."

(Reuters)

EK 1000 pax Stretch!
 

Sure, A380 looks a bit chubby at the moment but as you might realise already now, ofcourse there will be a stretch. After showing off the aircraft on all the prestigious routes the different airlines have they will put it in traffic where it is mostly needed. It will be a real people mover! You will see the first announcement of the first 1000 pax airplane sooner than we all think. It might be EK or it might be someone else, but for sure it is coming.

Sorry guys. I couldn't resist.

Just do it

:p

UPDATE-Airbus sets first A380 flight for Wednesday
 

UPDATE 2-Airbus sets first A380 flight for Wednesday
Mon Apr 25, 2005 05:19 AM ET

PARIS, April 25 (Reuters) - The world's biggest airliner, the Airbus A380, is set to make its maiden flight on Wednesday morning depending on the weather and the absence of last-minute problems, aircraft maker Airbus said on Monday.

The massive double-decker plane has room for more than 800 passengers and airlines have spoken of equipping it with cocktail bars and gymnasiums.

It is the most closely watched new airliner since the supersonic Concorde first flew in 1969.

The flight will mark the start of just over a year of testing before Singapore Airlines begins service.

Engineers are conducting final pre-flight tests on the debut aircraft at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.

Eleven passenger airlines have already laid down money to buy more than 100 of the $285 million planes.

Heck I'll be in TLS on Wed. Argh to sleep or to go watch and I havent brought my camera.:{

So what was that in a similar related thread last week saying rwy isnt long enough at TLS for this? was that a rumour as well?
Something to do with a major set back..

AllDayDeli,

Bit of an oversight if they've only figured that out now!!

My understanding is that all the long-range deliveries will be out of TLS and all the shorter-range deliveries out of Hamburg, as TLS's rwy is longer. One would hope that, with all the long-range A340-500 & -600 deliveries going on, the strip is reasonably useful.

Given the investment made in putting the factory at TLS, I'd be rather surprised if the strip length wasn't checked!!

I also seem to recall some mention of ferrying off to Istres for at least part of the flight-test programme - maybe that's strip-length related??

Also, is the first flight being made by 001 or 002?

TD67

Rwy lengths at Toulouse are 3000 and 3500m, can't find the ones for Istres now........
at least at MTOW it might be a little bit short I guess...

.......12303ft.

Cheers,
mcdhu

Konkordski, if this was true election coverage would be even duller than it is!

Of course the Times could have supplied some balance - by quoting published, available Airbus estimates on A380 sales.

A simple bit of homework, and a simple sentence 'Airbus however estimate they will sell XXX aircraft' would have done the job.

Simply phoning Airbus up & asking for a response is not providing 'balance' -its lazy, sloppy journalism.

Will it be televised live?

If you register on airbus.com you get to watch a live webcast of the first flight.

It's on Wednesday!
 

From the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4481733.stm

:ok:

Funny picture 747FOCAL! :ok: :)

Aviate1138 heard at around 05:30.... Tuesday 26th

Good old BBC!
On Radio Five Live this morning they managed a News Item about Air Canada upsetting Airbus by ordering 30+ "new mid sized airliners" instead of the Airbus A 370!!!! Whatever that is?

They really should be more professional than that IMHO.

Granted they altered the item later but two broadcasts were made with the incorrect data. I guess they must have got confused with all the 777 and 787's for Air Canada. :)

Aviate 1138

In the news today...
 

Air Canada in $6bn Boeing order

and

Lockheed wins $1.1bn Turkey deal

Good for them. However, just got to love the pre-emptive timing of both announcements.:rolleyes:

Me cynical? Never!:} :E

Its official! A380 First Flight this Wednesday
 

article just released from the Associated Press at Marketwatch.com:

A380 Set for Maiden Flight Before 50,000
4/26/2005 2:48:00 PM


BLAGNAC, France, Apr 26, 2005 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- After 11 years of preparation and $13 billion in spending, the world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, is scheduled to fly for the first time on Wednesday.

Weather permitting, Airbus test pilots will power the four engines on a test model of the 555-seat "superjumbo" to lift its 308-ton frame aloft. About 50,000 onlookers are expected for what some are calling the biggest aviation event since Concorde's first flight in 1969.

The first A380 flight is tentatively set to begin around midmorning and could last for much of the day as the plane circles the region, beaming back real-time measurements of 150,000 parameters to Airbus headquarters from its 20 metric tons (22 tons) of on-board test instruments.

Industry analysts are keeping a close watch on Airbus, which hopes to woo customers away from rival Boeing Co. with the A380 but has yet to prove that it can turn a profit on its superjumbo investment, a third of which came from came from European governments.

As Airbus and Boeing spar over what each calls unfair government subsidies for the other, the rival aircraft manufacturers have staked their success on competing visions of the future of commercial air travel.

The A380, with a catalogue price of $282 million, represents a huge bet that international airlines will need bigger aircraft to transport passengers between ever-busier hub airports. But some analysts say signs of a boom in the market for smaller wide-body planes, such as Boeing's long-range 787 "Dreamliner," show that Airbus was wrong to focus so much time and money on its superjumbo.

Just this week, Air Canada said it had firm orders for 32 new Boeing jets, including 14 787s, with a list value of about $6 billion, and Air India announced plans to order 50 Boeing jets worth $6.8 billion. Air India wants 27 of the 787s, which will carry up to 257 passengers and have a list price of $120 million, boosting total orders and commitments for the plane to 237. The 787, which was launched a year ago, is scheduled to enter service in 2008.

"If the A380 costs Airbus the mid-market then it's the biggest misinvestment in aerospace history since Concorde," said Richard Aboulafia of the U.S. consultancy Teal Group. "The way the market's changing makes this look more like a science fair project every day."

Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., is also planning to bring its own mid-sized jetliner, the A350, into service in 2010 - two years after the Boeing 787, but the United States government is demanding that no European government launch aid be extended for the A350.

So far, Airbus has booked 154 orders for the A380, which it says will carry passengers 5 percent farther than Boeing's longest-range 747 jumbo at a per-passenger cost up to one-fifth below its rival's.

While plane enthusiasts have lined fences in recent days at the airport in the Toulouse suburb of Blagnac, where Airbus is headquartered, Airbus has warned that the first flight of the A380 - already about a month behind schedule - could be further delayed by any unforeseen weather conditions.

A strong southerly wind from the Mediterranean would mean automatic postponement, since it would require a takeoff over the town - considered too risky for a test flight.

Aviation experts say risks remain very slim on the maiden test flight since a plane's aerodynamic characteristics are already well known before it takes off, thanks to years of computer modeling and wind-tunnel tests.

Problems are more likely, but still very rare, later in the test-flight program, when the pilots deliberately take the plane to its limits. An Airbus A330 prototype crashed here in July 1994, killing chief test pilot Nick Warner and six others as they conducted a simulated engine failure exercise.

Airbus chief test pilot Jacques Rosay, flight captain Claude Lelaie and four fellow crew members will take no chances. They will wear parachutes during the first flight, in accordance with Airbus policy. A handrail leads from the cockpit to an escape door that can be jettisoned if the pilots lose control of the plane.

The test-flight program is likely to finish soon before the A380 enters service for Singapore Airlines in mid-2006, Airbus said - about three months behind the previous schedule.

Part of the delay is down to the superjumbo's struggle with a weight problem that consumed months of engineering time and most of the program's $1.88 billion in cost overruns. Competitive pressure on airlines to offer plusher business-class seating tightened the squeeze - compounded by the A380's sheer scale.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press, All rights reserved

what time is the 380 flight?
 

Does anybody have a flight time for the A380 first flight? I don't want to sleep in and miss it !!! Obviously a zulu time would be useful I'm too lazy to work out the time difference :O

I just read in airliners.net that the flight is sceduled or better expected for 10:30 GMT +2

just had the following from a normally reliable source:-

That seems to contradict what's been posted above, sorry, I can't confirm this, other than to say that my source is usually reliable on things like this

Hiya, Steve,

news travel fast!!! ;-)

Additional info: the broadcast is scheduled until 10:10 GMT

(in Central European Time: 09:25 til 12:10)

Simon

i think this is not contrary to the information on airliners.net, because when orf is starting the broadcast at 7:25 gmt (9:25 gmt +2, about thesame time german tv starts with their broadcast), a takeoff at about 10:30 would fit to the structure of those broadcasts (interviews, history of the A380 etc, and after one very long hour the show will begin)

maybe this link helps:

http://www.airliners.net/discussions....main/2072333/

however, best wishes to the crew members!

:-)

A380 First Flight
 

Im desperatly trying to find another Website thats going to broadcast the A380 first flight other that Airbus as ive gota be in school?!?!Any ideas?!?!
BOH

According to the Network News, Tolouse will be closed to non authorised flights between 0730-1330z.

I would imagine it will be within this window and the airport will be closed the whole time the aircraft is airborne.

G-MANN

Details (from Pegase):

Tomorrow:

- crew on board at 08h45

- doors close 09h15

- taxi to end of runway 10h00

- 10h26 Corvette departure. When the Corvette does a low pass
perpendicular to the runway MSN1 will open its throttles to perform a

- takeoff at 10h30.

Flight time is 4h to 5h depending on success (could be much shorter if
problems). Hence following timings subject to change but

- 14h00 low pass over runway with go-around (if weather and aircraft
condition permits)

- 14h15 landing then taxi up and down the runway and taxiways on the
Airbus side of the airfield

- 14h45 press ceremony

- 16h15 aircraft towed back to the Abreuvoir for drinky-poos.



Alexandre
(who wasn't there 50 years ago - minus 1 month - to the day for the Caravelle maiden voyage)

1401
Wheels up landing due to body flexing from having too much
metal removed to save weight.
1405
Final admission of basically flawed design.
1410
Transport arrangements begin for hull removal to park beside
Spruse Goose.

Good luck to the test pilots, did you pack your own shutes?

Notams for today for Toulose Blagnac:

LFBO AD LIMITED:
NON BASED VFR AND NON REGULAR AND NON SCHEDULED IFR:
PPR 2HR TO CCIT: PHONE. 33(0) 561 42 44 58
FOR THE 27TH OF APRIL, COMPLEMENTARY RESTRICTIONS FOR VFR AND IFR
FLIGHTS ON LFBO AD AND ASSOCIATED AIRSPACE WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER
BY NOTAM.
VALID FROM 1555 25-APR-2005 TO 0730 27-APR-2005: (A1163/05)

LFBO AD LIMITED:
- FROM 0730 A 1530, HOURS CONFIRMED ON ATIS 118.025MHZ.
. RWY 14R/32L CLOSED TO ALL TRAFFIC EXCEPT FOR MANUFACTURER ACFT.
. VFR PROHIBITED WITHIN CTR 1 AND 2, FRANCAZAL S/CTR AND
TOULOUSE TMA 1 AND 2, EXCEPT FOR STATE ACFT, AIR DEFENSE ACFT,
SANITARY FLIGHTS IDENTIFIED BY AUTHORITIES, ACFT ESCORTED THE
FIRST FLIGHT.
- FROM 0730 A 1330, HOURS CONFIRMED ON ATIS 118.025MHZ
. IFR TRAINING, (INSTRUCTION OR TEST FLIGHT) COULD BE REFUSED
WITHIN TOULOUSE TMA.
. IFR FLIGHTS ONLY AUTHORIZED AT LFBO AND WITHIN TOULOUSE CTR AND
TMA:
- SCHEDULED REGULAR COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS
(LISTED BY CCIT PHONE. 33(0)561 42 44 58)
POSSIBLE HOLDING AT ARRIVAL
- ACFT LISTED BY AIRBUS PHONE 33(0)561 93 31 89
EMAIL PHILIPPE.DUPRE AT AIRBUS.COM
- STATE AND AIR DEFENSE ACFT
- SANITARY FLIGHTS IDENTIFIED BY COMPETENT AUTHORITIES
- FROM 1330 TO 1530: NON BASED VFR AND NON SCHEDULED NON REGULAR
IFR: PPR 02HR TO CCIT PHONE. 33(0) 561 42 44 58
FLIGHT LEVEL FROM SFC TO FL115
VALID FROM 0730 27-APR-2005 TO 1530 27-APR-2005: (A1162/05)

I see that the French people see this aircraft as a French aircraft and not an aircraft that just happens to be bolted together in France. With the UK’s content at around 60% some people know better:ok:

Ummm, Airbus "nationality" seems to change with target markets in my limited experience. Sometimes it British, sometimes French and sometimes its the second cousin to a Mercedes Benz.

Chutes
 

Yes, according to the long article just posted in "Spotters corner", the team will all wear parachutes, apparently standard practice.

Momo

Ahh come on LTNman! What else do you expect? Airbus is the heart of Toulouse and a source of pride (and livliehood) for so many people in the Toulouse region.
Remember, head office is here, the R&D (bureau d'étude) is here in TLS... so yes, the French, especially the Toulousains, have great pride in this company.
BTW... I'm not French!

Anyway, glorious morning here in Toulouse. Heavy traffic and thousands of viewers already around the airport.

For those of you abroad, for TV viewing, this is form an Airbus internal memo yesterday:

"TV COVERAGE
> You may wish to inform your friends and family that the event will be broadcast live on the following TV channels:
> - In France on France 3 Midi-Pyrénées, TLT, France 2, Canal+/ITV and possibly TF1
> - In Germany on ZDF and ARD (starting with Morgenmagazin)
> - In the UK on the BBC
> - In Spain on Telecinco, TVE informativos, Antena 3
> - And on CNN+, as well as CNN international
> In Toulouse, the take-off will also be broadcast on a big screen at
> the Place du Capitole"

Anywayn Best of luck to the crew today and all Airbus staff (no matter what nationality!) today.

I'm off shortly to see if I can still find a good spotting point...


:ok:

To absoutely clarify

BBC World states lift off due at:

07:30 GMT
08:30 BST
09:30 FT

ie less than 1 hour.....

BBC expecting it at 0800 GMT/0900 BST at the moment.

However I just got a rather excited call from Toulouse telling me it was due imminently...

Guys,

Here is a stream feed for the flight from the BBC website. It doesn't have anything on it yet obviously except a time screen. Just click on the "Watch the Flight" tab and wait till 0800GMT!!!!!

CLick here to watch A380 First FLight

Good luck to all involved

The Reverand

Live on www.bbc.co.uk

Sitting here in the media centre at Toulouse. WX perfect, crew on-board aircraft. All set for about 08:00GMT.

Thousands of spectators on the airfield boundary, people camped overnight for a decent view, flight being screened in Toulouse city square. Great fun.

(And Boeing announced two major orders and the 787 revisions in the last 48hrs. Interesting PR strategy.)