Funkii Munkii

I was chatting to a couple of guys from VS and they were saying they had an A-380 in on May 18/19th to play with, see if it would fit in their hanger etc.

Is the 1st once still coming in this saturday ?? any times ??

Cheers

FlightMan

Sorry all, forgot i was going to update SN on the A380!

Ok, its coming in on Thurs 18th May, scheduled to arrive at 12:00 local. The southern runway ( 09R/27L ) will still be the arrival runway, even if everything else is landing on 09L/27R. If 27L, The Green Man pub, or the general vicinity of Hatton Cross tube should be perfect. I'll give an upgate on its gate when I get more info, but would think it would go direct to the new Pier 6, whcih is in the main terminal area, so not good for viewing once its parked up I'm afraid.

I, on the other hand, will be at the gate, with a camera in hand!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

'see if it would fit in their hanger etc.'

Wont measuring it do that ?

I cant imagine they just drive it in and decide its to big when it lodges ?

FlightMan

Its actually comign to LHR to see if it will fit in the airport. And no, I'm not joking!

FlightMan

Not sure. AFAIK LHR is the only UK airport with taxi-ways strong enough to take it.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

So, does that mean we wont see them at Manchester ?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Got to admit, in this day and age of incompetence, you can't rely on a bloke with a tape measure - best to check it out for real.

FlightMan

Eventually you will, VS will end up using them on their Florida route. Gonna take a few years though, they aint cheap!

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

There is a plan for it to land at Filton on June 10th.....but is yet to be confirmed.

Freak

Hope it doesnt fit

Wont be getting me on one of those things!

Funkii Munkii

Cheers

So do you know that far in advance they will be landing over Hatton X rather than coming in over Colnbrook, I was already to sit in the beer garden at the Golden Cross !!

FlightMan

Hatton X if we're on westerlies, landing 27L. Colnbrook if Easterlies, landing 09R. It will be one or the other. ( Unless Public Affairs have cocked up!!! )

Flatcapdriver

They don't know which RWY they are using until arrival. The main reason for this flight is for certification purposes, not seeing if the thing will physically fit.

Funkii Munkii

Thanks, only got my info from the VS guys, obviously they are not aware of the certification, just the fact they get to play with it in their hanger.

Funkii Munkii

Thanks, I always thought it was down to the wind, fingers crossed for the easterlies then

Flatcapdriver

It is down to wind speed/direction. RWYs are indicated by their magnetic orientation. Subtract 180 degrees from 270L will give you 090R in reverse.

FlightMan

Sorry thats wrong. The main reason for this flight is to see if the new airport infrastructure we've built/bought, will be able to handle the aircraft. Pier 6 is the worlds first ( I think ) double decker gate boarding facility. We have to see if the architects got their measurements right, and whether the new air-bridges marry up correctly. The catering trucks will get their first run out as well. Also, it will be a good test of the new strengthend taxi-ways and wider radius corners.

LHR is way too busy to run certification flights!

KiwiGTI

I thought it didn't really matter with planes of that size.

FlightMan

All aircraft are affected by wind, no matter what there size. At LHR, if we're landing 27R, and the wind is anywhere between 170 and 230 degrees at 15 knots, we change the landing runway to 27L, due to turbulance off the BA hangers. That for all aircraft, inc the A380, when it arrives. Thats crosswind. For an example see here: http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviatio....htm#AIRLINERS
and click on Cross wing landings 3 ( their typo not mine )



Headwind has a double benefit.
1, it helps an aircraft gain altitude.
2, it reduces the noise footprint as the higher an aircraft is, the less noise you hear.

JackClark

Is that strictly true? I can understand it reducing the take of and landing speed but once off the ground all I see it doing is reducing the distance travelled to reach altitude. I could be very wrong.

FlightMan

Yes, its very true. Its one facet of my job, monitoring aircraft performance out of LHR. On a day with strong headwinds, the figures show aircraft are at the same altitude, much closer to the airfield. If you think about it, an aircraft gets lift by air passing over the wings. At the proper speed, say 160 knots, and with a headwind of 0 knots, the aircraft will rise off the ground.
Now with the wind coming at you at say 30 knots, you can be moving at 130 knots, but add the headwind and thats 160 knots over the wings. I should say that using the example above, that doesnt mean they'd rotate at 130 knots. If they did and the wind dropped, it gets a bit messy!

BTW I'm not a pilot, but thats how they explain it to me!

JackClark

It is a messy subject that I'm discussing elsewhere, your comments help, cheers.

I was taught that once off the ground there's no such thing as wind, only turbulence. For the aircraft to get of the floor it needs an air speed of 160 knots and will continue to climb no matter the wind speed felt on the ground... ahhhhgh I'm confusing myself again.

FlightMan

I think your statement isn't fair wrong, if at all. But, all i can tell you is that certain airlines are always bugging me over their 1000ft figures, as we measure windspeed on the ground with our system. But 500ft up it can be completely different and stop them climbing as well as I'd like, and they'd want. "The trouble is they say, the tailwind keeps us down" With something like an A343, that has hairdryers hanging off the wings, they haven't got a hope in making it.

PS, The 1000ft rule is an aircraft departing LHR has to be above 1000ft at 6.5km's down its departure track. Hope that helps.

KiwiGTI

That's not very high really.

FlightMan

Compared to what?

KiwiGTI

I just remember when I did some trial flights years ago that even in a small plane we were higher than that probably less than a kilometre from the runway, would have thought passenger jets would get to a higher altitude a lot quicker for safety reasons.

FlightMan

Depends if the plane you did your trial flights in had a MTOW of 396T I suppose!
Remember hot air is less dense, so an aircrafts climb performance is worse in hot weather, better in cold. Anyway, thats the measure set by the CAA many many years ago, and I aint going to argue with them. Well actually I am, but its not something I want to get into here!

jonnyrex

That red bull race pilot ,"Under the bridge" ,that is just crazy.That is skill..

jonnyrex

From flightmans link above ....That Suhkoi SU-27 crash is amazing ,the first fews secs of it coming through the trees is something else ...