95
votes
Accepted
Why is the lower deck of the Airbus A380 curved like a single deck airplane?
The cabin interior is curved to accommodate, among other things, the brackets holding the upper deck floor beams.
These brackets are a structural feature that transfers the weight of the upper deck ...
- 18k
74
votes
Accepted
Why couldn't the A380 secure any orders for two straight years?
Several reasons:
A380s are really expensive. Unit cost for an A380, depending on interior appointments, is about \$375 million. The 747-8 is about \$357 million. The 777-300ER is about \$320 million, ...
- 22.6k
47
votes
Accepted
Can the A380 ferry an extra engine, like the 747?
One of the main reasons the 747 was given the ability to ferry an engine was due to the lack of large cargo aircraft available at the time.
Don't forget the 747 was a major game changer when it came ...
- 1,068
39
votes
Why is the lower deck of the Airbus A380 curved like a single deck airplane?
Consider this photo of the cross-section of the A380 and the illustration below. You can see the cargo deck on the bottom, the lower deck (where you sat) in the middle, and the upper deck on the top. ...
- 8,288
36
votes
Accepted
What are the "lumps" in the A380 flight-deck?
They are a different design of computer mouse:
As far as I can tell, the front disk is a track pad and the model in your picture has the mouse buttons on the front instead of the sides:
- 476
35
votes
How many flight hours do the first retiring A380s have?
The A380 that was being scrapped was the 3rd aircraft on the production line. After being used for a short time in the test fleet of Airbus, it became the first line number that was delivered to a ...
- 77.1k
35
votes
Why is the A380's fuselage designed with a flat bottom?
There are 2 main reasons:
The wing spars run through that area. If you wanted to keep the wing spar within the oval cross-section, you'd have to install the wing much higher on the fuselage which ...
- 10.2k
33
votes
Accepted
Is there any particular reason for the cockpit of the 747 being on the upper deck?
Boeing actually never expected the 747 to be so successful. They thought supersonic aircraft were the future. But Boeing knew that an aircraft the size of a 747 would be great for the cargo market. So ...
- 13.5k
31
votes
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How many flight hours do the first retiring A380s have?
No they are nowhere near being worn out. These aircraft are normally designed for anywhere from 40-60,000 cycle lifespans, and more on shorter haul a/c (depending on how long each cycle is), perhaps ...
- 118k
29
votes
Accepted
Is the entire length of a B747 or A380 wing used as a fuel tank?
Fuel tanks take most of the space in aircraft wings, but not all. There are other things on wings too. They are ailerons, flaps, slats, air brakes. On most airliners, the engines are attached to the ...
- 29.3k
29
votes
Accepted
Why is the A380’s with-reversers stopping distance the same as its no-reversers stopping distance?
In all Airbuses auto-braking system aims for specific deceleration. Once the design target has been reached, the system does not apply more brake pressure although there usually is more available. So, ...
- 3,049
28
votes
Why couldn't the A380 secure any orders for two straight years?
It's not as fuel-efficient as a twin engine aircraft and doesn't offer as much scheduling flexibility.
Comparing the 747 in 1969 to the A380 today isn't really a good comparison. A better comparison ...
- 19.2k
27
votes
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Why Is This Tyre Square On The BA A380?
According to this document about the landing gear system, the wheel dimension of the main lading gears is 1400x530 R23. This is not the standard notation known from car tires, but it says that the ...
- 7,197
27
votes
Accepted
Is turning off engines before landing "Normal"?
There's virtually no chance of the pilot deliberately switching off all 4 engines, and even less chance of all 4 engines failing at the same time. It's not entirely impossible for it to happen, but it ...
- 10.4k
26
votes
Would increasing the number of wheels of a Jumbo reduce the braking distance?
Typically, a little gain is obtained.
Larger airplanes use anti-skid technology. Anti-skid works by modulating brake pressure to ensure the tires never skid. It's important to understand the relation ...
- 758
25
votes
Why does the wing root of the A330 have a pronounced twist?
Short answer:
To create a funnel for all the air streaming towards the fuselage.
Slightly longer answer:
Air approaching a swept wing will be accelerated towards the area with the lowest pressure and, ...
- 225k
25
votes
Accepted
Why are the largest civilian aircraft not adapted for military use?
There are several angles to this question, so I'll try to address what I think is important. My so-far short career has so far involved working almost exclusively with 747 derivatives, so I don't have ...
- 3,367
24
votes
Accepted
What was used instead of the failed engine when ferrying the Air France Flight 66 aircraft back?
Here's another article from Oct 15th. They flew out a spare A380 engine. As of the 15th, it wasn't clear yet if this engine will be connected and running during the flight, or if it'll just be there ...
- 10.2k
22
votes
Why does a Boeing 747-8 take more runway length to take off, compared to an Airbus A380?
This table compares some relevant numbers for the two aircraft:
Aircraft
Airbus A380
Boeing 747-8i
MTOW
575 000 kg
447 700 kg
Wing Area
845 m²
554 m²
Wing Loading
680 kg/m²
808 kg/m²
Thrust
4x ...
- 51.6k
21
votes
How many passengers can an Airbus A380 carry?
Wikipedia lists three basic configurations for the A380-800:
407-526 (3-class)
644 (2-class)
853 (1-class)
However, different airlines have different configurations. The lowest number of seats is ...
- 70.6k
21
votes
Can the A380 ferry an extra engine, like the 747?
The A380 does not appear to have the capability to transport an extra engine under the wing. Higher engine reliability combined with widespread availability of air cargo transport makes this option ...
- 99.4k
21
votes
What is this little door on the upper deck of the A380?
It's for the emergency slide.
You can see it deployed here:
Source: Airliners.Net
- 30.9k
20
votes
Accepted
Why was the A380 built with a gull-wing design?
The wings are designed like that. You can see them in the picture below.
Image from airliners.net
The A380 wings are designed to be the most efficient while still inside the 80m 'box' for efficient ...
- 99.4k
19
votes
Do the A380 ailerons act as air brakes on landing?
Yes the ailerons deflect upwards after main wheel touchdown to dump as much lift as possible: they work as lift dumpers, together with the spoilers which are deployed first.
Source: an A380 pilot ...
- 60.7k
18
votes
Accepted
Would increasing the number of wheels of a Jumbo reduce the braking distance?
Increasing the number of wheels with brakes will decrease the braking distance as there's more sources of friction to convert the kinetic energy. Doubling the number of wheels per brake (I think what ...
- 52.1k
17
votes
Why do some A380 main wheels have no brakes?
Because they are not needed (for the passenger variant). Addition of brakes increases the weight and complexity of the system, which is undesirable. Why add something that is not required?. If it is ...
- 99.4k
17
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to convert a passenger A380 to carry cargo?
Airbus originally planned on a freighter version and UPS and FedEx both ordered some of them. Production delays with the passenger version resulted in the freighter version being delayed and both of ...
- 1,765
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible