Pulaski

We allowed the Planespotting thread to lapse.

Airbus is ending the A380 program.

civilservant

Can't say I'm surprised, it has been on death row for awhile with only Emirates staying the execution. Airbus introduced it far too late (like over a decade) and at far too high a price for it ever to work. The 777 and A330 already proved that quad jets were irrelevant in the era of long range ETOPS ratings.

Hotscot

Heard supersonics were coming back, the other day.
We'll see...
(Or rather, hear...)

Pulaski

I agree, it would have had to have been launched significantly before, say five years before, the 777 to have had any chance of long-term survival, which would have meant a launch almost 20 years before its actual launch. That said, I think in any case he program was unlikely to last much beyond 2020.

Ironically I suspect that stopping making new ones may lead to the ones that are already flying being maintained in revenue earning service much longer. If you have one that you have owned for several years, and would like to replace it with a new one but can't because they no longer make them, refurbishment may be an attractive option.

There are a number of examples of such aircraft that remained in service long after they ceased production, in some cases for decades, with the DC3 Dakota being a classic example. In the world of military aircraft they are currently talking of ongoing refurbishment of B52's, that are currently expected to remain in service into the 2040's being further extended into the 2050's, meaning that they will be approaching 100 years old! The A10 Warthog is on a similar trajectory only 20 years behind the B52.

civilservant

I seem to recall reading recently that the a couple of the original airframes are sat somewhere being stripped for cheaper second hand parts then getting new parts from Airbus.

I suspect that they have a long long career ahead, even if only as freighters. I know that Fedex couldn't afford to buy one new, but imagine what they can haul across their trunk routes with a converted A380??

Pulaski

Here's a report about a B-57 Canberra that NASA refurbished after 41 years in the boneyard! I heard that NASA pulled another one out of the boneyard as recently as a year or two ago, making three that they now have in service. I guess they don't make 'em like they used to.

The USAAF also pulled a B-52 out of the boneyard in the last year or two, to replace one they had lost. Among the items to attend to before it was airworthy again, was to bolt the wings back on!

MidAtlantic

Yes, here it is. I'm not sure that calling it BOOM is the best PR strategy.
https://boomsupersonic.com/

The Grudian is already spreading alarm about it:

Heathrow could get sonic boom 'every five minutes' from fast jets

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...from-fast-jets

Pulaski

That would be some serious acceleration if sonic booms generated by departing aircraft could actually be heard at Heathrow! …. What do they envisage, aircraft launched by some sort of nuclear-powered rail gun?

I would guess that Swindon or Oxford might have more to worry about.

MidAtlantic

Or maybe they will be arriving at supersonic speed.. I would love to watch those landings!!!!

No better sight than watching Concorde landing at LHR.

Pulaski

Maybe. saw it fly from LHR when the rooftop public observation area was still open, I also used to see, or should I say "feel" it fly overhead on its landing approach when I lived at Kew, and later saw it take off over Wimbledon when the winds were from the east. I was also lucky enough to see several of them in flight tests at Fairford, where they used to publish the testing schedule for those who wanted to see it.

All that said, I enjoyed even more seeing Concorde's RR Olympus engines flying in another aircraft.

SultanOfSwing

Impressive as that would be, at least there'd be no sonic boom, as they'd already have crossed the sound barrier before they get there.

Are we even at the stage where efficient and affordable supersonic travel is close to being on the cards though? That Concorde (as much as I love it) lasted as long as it did was something of a fluke, surely. Don't get me wrong, the idea of a 4hr flight from North America to the British Isles makes me tingle in a funny way, but I'd hate to see some kind of poorly implemented program fall on its arse again.

My inner 8 year old would say seeing it land at Aldergrove during the 1987 Ulster Air Show, but that's the only time I've ever seen a Concorde landing (or indeed takeoff) in person so I'm not exactly being objective here

civilservant

XH558?

Pulaski

And her sisters.

I would have loved to see the Argies when one appeared over Port Stanley. Surely that was about the last thing they expected to see flying over the Falklands, though just 30 days earlier, neither did anyone else on the planet!

BenK91

Only got to fly on a A380 once. Can't say it felt particularly special. If anything it was a nightmare with the boarding and departing procedures due to the sheer volume of the thing.

Much prefer the 777 and 787's I've been on lately.

Pulaski

My thoughts exactly on the 787s I have flown on (probably the same one twice) - totally underwhelming, if anything with less leg room than planes like the A330 and 777, and I hated that the "blinds" remained forcibly closed long after it became daylight.