Monday, October 29, 2007

Airbus 380: A Reporter's Account

Stephen Bleach, a British reporter with the Times was one of the many who sat inside Singapore Airlines' historic A380 flight. Here's the blow by blow account of his eight hours in the world largest passenger plane. From Times Online:
Takeoff: it just shouldn’t. It doesn’t seem credible that something this size should get into the air at all. Our takeoff weight today was 468 tonnes, which is the equivalent of 12 very surprised sperm whales. And when it finally comes, 50 minutes after we started boarding today’s 455 passengers (they’ll need to speed that up a touch), takeoff is a revelation.

Where other planes crank up the engines to a mighty howl and go for a death-or-glory charge to get airborne, the A380 feels more like an inter-city train leaving a station: silent, gentle, almost imperceptible. There’s a moment of anxiety when the lack of any roar, or bumping, makes you think something is terribly wrong. Then finally, after 40 seconds of smooth, quiet acceleration, this unlikely behemoth leaves the ground with a whisper and drifts quietly into the skies as if it were the most natural thing in the world. After a moment’s collective sigh, everyone breaks into applause. Taking to the air with the A380 does, genuinely, feel like a miracle.

Previously:
Landing Videos of Singapore Airlines A380 in Sydney
Take a look inside the new Singapore Airlines Airbus A380

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