Category: Airbus

Last Airbus A300 built

This is a sad day. In Toulouse the last Airbus A300 ever has been built. It’s F4-605R MSN 878 F-WWAT, a freighter for FedEx.
It was shown at Toulouse in primer with a sticker all along the fuselage reading “I’m the youngest of the eldest Airbus Family” with the flags of France, Germany, UK and Spain.

Last Airbus A300

The Airbus A300 was the first aircraft produced by Airbus. The first A300 went to service on March 15 1974. First customers were Lufthansa and Air France.

The last Airbus A300 F4-605R MSN 878 F-WWAT was delivered to FedEx on 12th of July 2007. Over the life of the programme a total of 821 A300/A310 have been ordered and to date there are more than 630 A300s and A310s in service with about 80 operators. Airbus’ long-term fleet support programme will continue to enable their operation until the very last aircraft is retired from service, with half of the current fleet expected still to be in service beyond 2025.

With more than 120 A300s and A310s aircraft currently in service, FedEx is a long-standing operator and the largest customer for these aircraft types.

The Airbus A300, launched in May 1969 and entering service with Air France in May 1974, was the very first wide-body, twin-engine aircraft ever brought to the market. It set totally new standards in the industry. The innovative two-man glass cockpit was implemented on the A310, launched in July 1978 and entering service in April 1983 with Lufthansa and Swissair.

The History: http://www.airbus.com/en/corporate/people/company_evolution/a300/index.html
Read the whole story about the Airbus A300: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A300

Airbus starts painting first A380 for Singapore Airlines

Following timely completion of the cabin installation of the first A380 for Singapore Airlines, Airbus has started the paintwork on this aircraft. The A380 will stay about three weeks in the company’s paint-shop in Hamburg/Germany. In addition to the actual painting, most of the other work in the paint-shop is cleaning, grinding, masking and unmasking the 3,100 square metres of surface of the A380.

About 3,600 liters of chromate-free paint is used for three layers of paint (primer, customer-paint, top-coat) for an A380. Only 600 to 1,000 kg of paint stays on the aircraft. Each layer is only measuring about 0.120 mm and is able to withstand differences in temperatures of about 100 degrees Celsius.

Airbus is applying the most modern and environmental friendly techniques for the A380 painting process. Electrostatic pistols are used to minimize paint mist. Used air is cleaned and washed through a multi-stage cleaning process to ensure that paint particles are disposed separately.

A380 launch customer Singapore Airlines is to take delivery of its first A380 in October this year.

Singapore Airlines New Cabin Design

Since Airbus announced yesterday the cabin furnishing for the first Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 is completed, you might be interested in seeing this newly designed cabin.

UPDATE: Visit SIA A380 Cabin Interior Revealed – Pictures

Unfortunately there are no photos out yet, but I found a page featuring the new cabin design concept.

Link: http://www.dexigner.com/design_news/7984/

Cabin Furnishing For First Singapore Airlines A380 Completed

Cabin furnishing of the first production A380 was completed in early April and is being tested prior to final delivery to Singapore Airlines.

The first production A380 – MSN003- due to enter service with Singapore Airlines later this year, reached the end of the cabin systems test phase on 4 April. Installation of the aircraft’s cabin at the A380 final assembly line in Hamburg was finished on 21 March and since then Airbus’ engineers and systems specialists have been performing a range of tests on the newly installed systems to check that they are working as expected.

The A380 programme team has been working with Singapore’s three on-site representatives throughout cabin furnishing to ensure that they are closely involved in decisions at every stage. And from 5 to 10 April, 30 representatives of Singapore Airlines including senior management are visiting the FAL to gain a comprehensive overview of the aircraft and its cabin systems as part of the customer pre-acceptance phase.

This phase of production has run very smoothly and, while details of the cabin remain secret, those working on the FAL are excited by the results achieved. “We are entering a new world of cabin furnishing,” said Peter Hahn head of the A380 FAL in Hamburg. “This cabin interior looks fantastic and brings a brand new dimension to the onboard experience that Singapore Airlines can offer its passengers.”

Once the pre-acceptance phase has been completed, the aircraft will be painted in the Singapore livery and undergo more systems analysis on the ground before its cabin first flight in the summer to test cabin system performance in the air.

Source: airbus.com

Photo of the day – The huge A380 Engine

See also my own photos of the enormous Airbus A380 Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine:

a380-engine.jpga380-engine3.jpga380-engine2.jpg

The Trent 900 family is designed to power the Airbus A380, for which it is the launch engine. It comes in two thrust ratings, 70,000 and 76,000 lbf (311 and 338 kN) but is capable of achieving 84,000 lbf (374 kN). It features a significant amount of technology inherited from the 8104 demonstrator including its 2.95 m diameter swept-back fan which provides greater thrust for the same engine size, and is also about 15 per cent lighter than previous wide-chord blades. It is also the first member of the Trent family to feature a contra-rotating HP spool and uses the core of the very reliable Trent 500. It is the only A380 engine that can be transported on a Boeing 747 freighter.

In October 2000, the Trent 900 received its first order when Singapore Airlines specified the engine for its order for 10 A380s, quickly followed by Qantas in February 2001. The Trent 900 made its maiden flight on May 17, 2004 on Airbus’ A340-300 testbed, replacing the port inner CFM56-5 engine, and its final certification was achieved on 29 October 2004.

More information about the Trent 900 on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Trent