The A380 is an aircraft developed by Airbus S.A.S. It is the world's largest passenger airliner. The vessel reaches 24.08 m in height and 72.75 m in length. The wingspan of the aircraft is 79.75 m. In a single-class configuration, it can carry 853 passengers, in a three-class configuration - 525. The maximum distance non-stop flight- 15 thousand 400 km.

The work of the creators

According to the developers, the greatest difficulties had to be faced in the process of searching for options to reduce the weight of the A380 aircraft. It was possible to make the aircraft lighter due to its wide application in the creation of not only power structural elements, but also auxiliary units, interior and much more. In addition, the most advanced technological solutions and modified aluminum alloys were used for these purposes. So, 40% of the mass of an eleven-ton center section is carbon fiber. Glare hybrid material is used for the production of the side and top panels of the fuselage. Laser welding of the skin and stringers of the lower fuselage panel made it possible to significantly reduce the number of fasteners.

The Airbus A380 is an aircraft that took about ten years to build. The cost of the grandiose project amounted to twelve billion euros. According to representatives Air company bus, in order for this amount to pay off, it is necessary to sell four hundred and twenty copies of the aircraft. Based on this information, you can calculate how much the plane costs. The amount is impressive - 28 million 571 thousand 428 euros for one copy.

How it all started

The A380 is an aircraft that began to be developed with the following goals: to expand the range of Airbus S.A.S. and remove the Boeing-747 from the leading position. Debates on the final configuration of the aircraft ended in 2001. The first components of the A380 wing were produced in January 2002. According to initial estimates, the cost of the program varied between 8.7 - 8.8 billion euros. After assembly, this amount increased to 11 billion (subsequently it was further increased).

It should be noted that the employees of the Airbus ECAR Moscow Engineering Center made an invaluable contribution to the design of the A380F model. Thanks to the efforts of Russian designers, a large amount of work was done on the design of individual parts of the fuselage, strength calculations were made, on-board equipment was placed and support was provided for serial production of the aircraft.

Where are the components manufactured and how are they transported?

Specialists in France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain are working on building the main sections of the airliner. Due to their large size, these components were delivered to Toulouse by water and land transport. Some parts still fit in the An-24.

The tail and nose elements of the fuselage were horizontally loaded onto the Ville de Bordeaux (owned by the Airbus concern) in Hamburg to go to the UK. Wing consoles made in Broughton and Filton were brought to Mostyn by barge. There, these elements were loaded onto the aforementioned Ville de Bordeaux. In Cadiz, the ship received tail components and lower fuselage sections. Everything was unloaded in Bordeaux. From there, the constituent elements were transported to Langon, and then delivered by land to Toulouse. The already assembled aircraft were sent to Hamburg for the final equipment. A380 is an aircraft that requires 3,600 liters of paint to cover (total skin area - 3,100 square meters).

Tests

Modern aircraft before the direct release on flights, they undergo the most serious tests. The A380 is no exception in this regard. Five were built specifically for versatile testing. aircraft. The first board was presented in Toulouse in January 2005. On April 27 of the same year, the first flight was made. The flight team consisted of six people, led by Jacques Rossi, an experienced test pilot. A successful landing occurred after 3 hours 54 minutes. after takeoff.

A series of test flights started on December 1, 2005. It was then that the aircraft reached an impressive speed of 0.96 max during a gentle dive.

A380 - an aircraft (see photo above), which made its first transatlantic flight on January 10, 2006. The beginning of the same year was marked by the first unforeseen situation: during a static test at the Toulouse aircraft factory, the wing of one vessel unexpectedly cracked, unable to withstand a load of 145% of the nominal . As defined by regulations aviation security, no integrity change should occur at 150% load. As a result, the leadership of the Airbus consortium decided to make changes to the design of the aircraft's wings. Due to the addition of reinforcing elements, the total weight of the structure increased by thirty kilograms, fourteen of which were mounting bolts.

The first flight test of the A380 model with passengers on board was successfully completed on September 4, 2006.

Design features

A 380,800 is a modification designed to carry 555 or 583 passengers (depending on configuration). In 2007, Airbus began to offer customers a vessel with a smaller capacity (525 seats) in exchange for an increased flight range (it was possible to increase it by 370 kilometers). This transformation has made it possible to achieve maximum compliance with the trends of premium transportation.

There is another modification of the considered airbus. This is the cargo version of the A380-800F. capable of transporting up to one hundred and fifty tons of cargo. The maximum flight range is 10,370 kilometers.

In the future, it is planned to produce jet passenger aircraft modifications A380-900. They will have a larger capacity (656/960 passengers) with a similar flight range.

Pilot's workplace

In order to reduce the cost of additional crew training, all Airbuses are built with the same cockpit layout and flight characteristics. The A380 features an improved quality glass cockpit. The rudders can be manipulated remotely using electric actuators that are connected to the side control stick. The most modern information display devices are installed in the cockpit. These are nine interchangeable LCD monitors measuring 20 by 15 centimeters. Two of them are indicators of navigation data, two display basic information about the flight, two more inform about the operation of the engines, one provides data on the current state of the entire system. The remaining two monitors are multifunctional.

To refuel the aircraft in question, a mixture of natural gas and GTL can be used.

Materials used

How much does a plane cost More than twenty-eight million euros. The hefty price tag per aircraft is largely due to the use of advanced composite materials of construction, including plastic and metal reinforced with quartz, carbon and fiberglass. In addition, aluminum alloys are actively used in the manufacture of aircraft. In combination with laser welding, this eliminates the need for rivets.

Ensuring a comfortable flight

Experts have established that the noise level in the cabin of the A380 is half that of the Boeing-747. In addition, inside the considered aircraft, the air pressure is maintained at a higher level. Both of these factors are designed to provide less passenger fatigue during the flight.

Two ladders, located in the tail and bow parts of the aircraft, connect the upper and lower decks. The A380 has impressive customization options. That is why, as noted in the Airbus concern, the growth in production rates is not as high as previously thought. The aircraft can be equipped with a shower cabin, a bar counter, a lounge, a shop duty free. Due to the presence of a satellite channel for passengers organized telephone communications or wireless Internet connection (Wi-Fi).

Currently, air transportation in Russia using the A380 is not performed. An order has been placed for four sides, but so far none of them have been built.

Unexpected situations

The first incident occurred on November 4, 2010. On that day, the A380 board, company-owned Qantas, en route from Singapore to Sydney. One of the aircraft's engines failed just a few minutes after takeoff. The plane was forced to return to the airport in Singapore. None of the 433 passengers and 26 crew members were injured, Australian authorities said. In addition, landing gear tires burst at the emergency side during landing. After this incident, the company's management decided to suspend the flights of all Airbus A380 belonging to it for two days until the completion of their detailed check.

The second incident occurred on April 12, 2011. Then the board belonging Air France, caught the tail of a CRJ 700 aircraft with its wing. There were no casualties.

Conclusion

Airbus A380 is the result of hard work of developers and manufacturers. This aircraft outperforms its closest competitors in many ways. How much does an aircraft cost, what are the features of its design and the process of creation? All these questions are answered in the above article.

Airbus A380 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world. In a single-class layout, it can take 853 passengers on board, there is also the A380-1000 project, which can accommodate 1073 passengers in economy class.

2. The Airbus A380 made its first flight on April 27, 2005, and began operating on October 25, 2007. This month we will celebrate our 10th anniversary.

3. Several countries are involved in the production of the liner. The main sections of the airliner are being built at factories in France, Great Britain, Germany and Spain. Russia also did not stand aside. The design of the A380F was attended by employees of the Airbus ECAR Engineering Center in Moscow, the first design bureau established by the concern in Europe outside the territories of its member countries in June 2003. Russian designers perform a significant amount of work on the design of fuselage parts, strength calculations, placement of onboard equipment and support for serial production of aircraft.

4. Airbus is very open and often organizes events for aviation enthusiasts. On October 1, together with Domodedovo Airport, another spotting was held. To get to spotting, follow the accounts of Airbus and Domodedovo Airport. But if you don't want to wait, you can take a picture of the Airbus from behind the fence, now you can do it during daylight hours and every day.

5. Wingspan Airbus A380 is 79.75 m, and the wing area is 845 m². The wing size of the A380 is designed for a maximum takeoff weight of over 650 tons. The flight range for the A380-800 model is 15,400 km.

6. The length of the takeoff run of the airliner is 2050 m, the length of the run is 2900 m.

Cruise speed is 900 km/h and top speed is 1020 km/h.

7. Domodedovo Airport became the first airport certified to receive the A380. For this, special equipment had to be purchased. For example, the height of the aircraft is 24.09 m - this is an eight-story building. You need to get to such a height, for example,.
By the way, the equipment is delivered because of the large size.

8. Currently, Domodedovo Airport remains the only airport in Russia that receives Airbus A380 on a regular basis. From 1 October Airbus A380 Emirates airlines flies on the route Dubai - Moscow - Dubai.

9. There are known cases of manufacturing A380 by special order of individuals. The first to order a personal Airbus A380 Super Jumbo was the Saudi prince Al-Walid ibn Talal, the nephew of King Abdullah. The price of the order is $488 million US dollars.

10. Now 215 Airbus A380 aircraft have been produced in the world, orders have been received for another 100 aircraft. On average, Airbus now produces about 30 A380 aircraft per year.

Thanks to the staff of Airbus and Domodedovo Airport for the invitation to spotting. It was very cool.

The creation and start of production of the double-deck wide-body airliner Airbus A380 put an end to the undivided monopoly of the aircraft, which lasted for several decades. The machine is the largest passenger liner in the world.

Reliability and reduced operating costs provide a good demand for the machine, despite the high cost. The most expensive option was delivered to the king's family Saudi Arabia, and cost the customer 488 million US dollars.

History of creation

The beginning of work on a new large-sized airliner "Airbus" started in the late 80s. The aircraft was created as a competitor to the Boeing 747 airliner, which had monopolistically occupied the niche of such aircraft since the 70s. In parallel, a similar aircraft was developed by McDonnell Douglas Corporation, but its project was a failure.

The management of Boeing and Airbus was aware of the limitations of the aircraft market large capacity, therefore, in 1993, attempts were made to conclude a partnership agreement that allowed for the division of the market. In parallel, the development of projects that received the names "Airbus" 3XX and "Boeing" 747X.

For the Airbus machine, several variants of the fuselage were worked out, including a fuselage doubled in length from the model 340. The Boeing aircraft was supposed to be equipped with a fuselage with a nose increased in height.

The development of the Boeing project was halted in early 1997 due to the onset of an economic crisis in East Asia, which reduced the market for large-sized liners.

Airbus decided to continue developing the project, focusing on reducing operating costs while increasing capacity. It was then that the decision was made to use a double-deck fuselage design, which ensured the maximum capacity of the aircraft.

The designation A380 appeared at the end of 2000, when the project was approved by the then management of Airbus. The assembly of the first aircraft began in 2002. A feature of the manufacture of the A380 aircraft was the use of the production capacities of several dozen enterprises scattered throughout Europe.

The first flight of the Airbus A380 took place in the spring of 2005, and already in early 2006, the first test flight across the Atlantic Ocean was completed.

Fine-tuning the design and solving problems that arose with suppliers shifted the start of aircraft production to 2007, in which only one copy was commissioned. Actual deliveries did not begin until the following year, in which 12 A380s were assembled.

At the beginning of 2017, 207 Airbus A380 liners, which belong to twelve airlines, were in active operation. During the operation of the aircraft, several minor flight accidents were registered.

In particular, in the fall of 2017, on one of the Air France airliners, elements of a turbojet engine separated in flight. The cause of the accident was a manufacturing defect in the fan hub of the GP7200 engine.

Fuselage and cockpit

The fuselage of the Airbus A380-800 is equipped with two decks to accommodate passenger seats. Between the decks there are ladders located in the bow and tail of the passenger compartment. When arranging the stairs, it was possible to provide a width sufficient for the free movement of passengers towards each other.

Carbon fiber composites are widely used in the fuselage design.

The end section of the fuselage is entirely made of composite. A tail horizontal and vertical stabilizer is attached to it. Inside there is a service compartment and an auxiliary gas turbine unit with a generator.

In the forward part of the fuselage is the cockpit, equipped with two seats. To display data in the cockpit, liquid crystal monitors (the “glass cockpit” concept) are installed with a unified design that allows you to replace devices.

Pilots do not have a traditional steering wheel. The steering wheel is replaced by joysticks located on the outside of the seats. Joysticks are connected with electric drives controls. There are more than 100,000 wires in the cockpit connecting various electronic and electrical components.

There is a folding table with a keyboard in front of the pilots. Between the seats there are controls, including four throttle levers for controlling engine operating modes.

The Airbus A380 wing was created based on a take-off weight of at least 650 thousand kg, which is considered achievable on future versions.

In addition, this weight was planned for the cargo version of the A380-800F, which never went into production.

Engines

Depending on the modification, the Airbus A380 can be equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or GP7200 family turbojet engines developed by Engine Alliance.

The GP7200 powerplant is a collection of components developed by several of the world's largest engine manufacturers. Both types of engines meet modern requirements for noise during takeoff and landing.

The table shows some characteristics of the engines.

Parameter	Trent 900	GP7200
Type	Turbofan three-shaft	Turbofan twin-shaft
Combustion chamber type	Single	Single with a reduced level of emission of harmful substances
Turbine design	One stage each for high and medium pressure, 5 stages for low pressure	Two stages of high pressure and 6-stage low
Compressor	One fan wheel, 8-stage medium pressure and 6-stage high	Fan, 5-stage low pressure and 9-stage high pressure
Length, mm	5478	4920
Diameter, mm	2950	3160
Weight, kg	6246	6712
Takeoff thrust, kN	310-340	311

To reduce the run distance, two engines have a thrust reverser (one under each wing). The engines use aviation kerosene as fuel.

Search work is underway to operate power plants using a mixture of kerosene and natural gas converted into liquid fuel. The fuel supply is located in 13 caisson tanks located in the wings and horizontal tail.

The fuel system has 41 pumps that constantly pump fuel between tanks to maintain centering and reduce drag.

Passenger compartment design

The pressurized passenger cabin of the Airbus A380 aircraft has improved sound insulation. The width of the fuselage allows you to place 11 rows of passenger seats.

All places are connected to communication lines built on the basis of optical fiber.

Embarkation and disembarkation of passengers is carried out through two doors located in the forward part of the fuselage on the lower deck.

First grade

Seats are located in the bow lower deck. There are 14 seats in total, 4 of them are located singly on the sides, the remaining 6 are placed in the central row in pairs. A feature of the first class seats is the ability to convert into a full-fledged berth.

At the beginning and at the end of the compartment there is a bathroom and a kitchenette. In addition, a shower unit is installed in the first class (not available on all Airbus A380s).

Business Class

Seats for business class passengers are located immediately behind the first class. The seats are arranged in eight rows at a sufficiently large distance from each other. The design of the chairs allows you to lay out the backs, forming a sleeping place.

In total there are 20 rows of seats, the total capacity of the business class cabin is 76 seats.

At the beginning and end of the salon there are mini-kitchens and a bathroom. There is a bar in the area of ​​the first emergency exit. Second emergency exit located closer to the tail of the Airbus A380 aircraft.

Economy class

Economy class seats on the Airbus A380 are located on the upper deck in three rows. The side rows have three seats, the central row has four. There are two aisles between the rows. There are bathrooms in the bow, stern and middle parts.

The cabin is designed for 399 passengers. Passenger seats are equipped with an individual screen mounted in the back. The economy class cabin has two mini-kitchens and three bathrooms.

At emergency economy class passengers can leave the Airbus A380 cabin through 10 emergency exits.

It is possible to expand the economy class cabin to the second deck. In this case, the capacity of the Airbus A380 reaches a record 853 passengers.

Chassis

In the scheme for extending and retracting the landing gear on the Airbus A380, a combined drive is used - from hydraulic systems (duplicated) and from executive electric drives (also duplicated). Electric drives drive the chassis through hydraulic systems.

Thus, it was possible to install four independent control systems, which increased the safety of aircraft operation and reduced the risk of dangerous situations. The landing gear niches are closed with landing gear doors made of composite materials. The design of the valves is monolithic.

Flight performance compared to competitors

Parameter	A380	A380 Plus	Boeing 747-8F
Wingspan, mm	79 800		68 450
Length, mm	73 000		76 250
Height, mm	24 100		19 350
Empty weight, kg	276 800		191 100
Maximum takeoff weight, kg	560 000	578 000	442 000
Fuel reserve, l	325 000		-
Total takeoff thrust, kN	1244-1360	At least 1244	1188
Maximum speed, km/h	1020		988
Cruise speed, km/h	Before 945		908
Flight range, km	15 200	15 756	14 100
Ceiling, m	13 115		13 000
Crew, people	2
Number of places, people	853	933	581

prospects

In mid-2017, Airbus announced the creation of an improved A380 Plus machine. The main direction of improvements was to reduce the cost of the machine, which in theory should increase the demand for the aircraft.

At the same time, the redesigned cabins are designed to accommodate a record 933 passengers. Capacity has been improved due to a closer layout of the cabin and a reduction in the area of ​​service compartments.

Externally, the A380 Plus does not differ much from its predecessor - the main changes affected the design of the wing, which should have reduced drag.

Modified power plants Rolls-Royce and Engine Alliance have reduced fuel consumption and increased traction by 7%, but there is no official data on them in the public domain.

Video

Passengers enjoy flying the Airbus 380-800, no matter what class they fly. This wide-body double-deck monster is used not only on long-distance routes, but also on regional routes with high traffic density. The capacity of the liner is from 400 seats to more than 800 passengers. The aircraft can fly 15,000 kilometers non-stop, but fully loaded for 12,000 kilometers.
It seats 42% more passengers and uses 22% less fuel per passenger than the Boeing 747-400.

Airbus A380-800

The double-deck wide-body airliner appeared on airlines in 2007, setting a high bar for competitors, which no one has yet been able to overcome. Airbus flies higher, farther and quieter, requiring low fuel consumption and operating costs per passenger carried. The main thing is that the flight is fully loaded.
Russian design bureaus and enterprises also take part in the development and production of the A380. More than half of the concern's needs for ultralight titanium are provided by the VSMPO production association in Verkhnyaya Salda.

The price of the aircraft is about 400 million dollars.

This is the world's first aircraft with two independent decks, named " upper deck" (located on the upper level) and "main deck" (located below the upper deck)
Unlike the Boeing 747-400, the A380 provides direct access through two or three doors to the lower and upper decks.

The liner is equipped with four GP7200 or RR Trend 900 engines with a thrust of 311 kN.

Airports for A380

To understand what airports wishing to receive the A380 have to prepare for, just look at the landing gear alone: ​​the aircraft needs a parking space of 80 by 80 meters. It is necessary to expand the waiting rooms, as well as rebuild the terminals so that hundreds of passengers can go to boarding on two decks at once. The runways also need improvement: for this aircraft, their width must be at least 45 meters, and the ledges - 7.5 meters on both sides.

Airports that accept A380 in Russia: Domodedovo Moscow, Pulkovo St. Petersburg. In Dubai, for the world's largest fleet of double-deck Airbuses, Emirates built a separate terminal in 2012 with the ability to serve twenty aircraft simultaneously.

Specifications A380

The table shows the main specifications liner. Interior dimensions, noise level can be found in the articles dedicated to this.

Cockpit A380

The cockpit of the largest wide-body aircraft has been further developed with the latest advances in display technology, navigation and flight control systems. The main instrument panel contains 8 large liquid crystal displays. Traditional paper documentation is becoming a thing of the past and has been replaced by an electronic library. In the cockpit there are no familiar steering wheels. Joysticks appeared instead. The crew workplace is almost identical to the cockpits in other Airbus aircraft of the A320, A330, A340 and A350XWB families. This unification allows airlines to save significant funds on retraining and payroll. The conversion course for A320, A330, A340 takes 15 days, and the transition to A350XWB is a record low 5 days.

Salon Airbus A380

Comfort for all passengers - whether they are premium customers in first and business class, or tourists in an economy class cabin.

Airbus has gone to great lengths to make passengers feel more natural on long-haul flights on board the A380 - with wider seats, more personal storage hand luggage and wider stairs and walkways.
The air in the cabin is completely renewed every three minutes to keep the atmosphere fresh, and natural light is provided by a large number of portholes. There are two hundred and twenty.

The noise level in the cabin of the 380th is lower than that of the A340-600 and significantly lower than that of the Boeing 777-300ER, 747-400.

Operators

Emirates' largest fleet of 380s. A separate terminal was built especially for him in Dubai.

There are no direct flights from Russia to the A380. Only during transfers at other airports, such as Dubai.

The giant double-deck Airbus A380 is the largest passenger aircraft in the history of world aviation, with a maximum capacity of 853 passengers in a single-class configuration. The first copy was handed over to the customer in 2007, more than 110 machines have been built to date! Today I want to show the A380 assembly line at the factory in Toulouse, the scale and dimensions of what I saw are impressive ... Well, for a large aircraft - large photos in the report!

Many spotters, and not only them, consider the aircraft aesthetically unattractive. I categorically disagree with this statement, moreover, I consider it especially beautiful and elegantly heavy. The slowly taking off A380 is beautiful!

Now let's go to the factory...

This is a layout of production facilities at a factory in the town of Balagnac near Toulouse, orange is the A380 assembly shops.

Each A380 consists of approximately 4 million individual components and 2.5 million parts, manufactured by 1,500 companies in 30 countries

The main elements of the A380 fuselage cannot be transported by air, so they are transported by sea and by river on specially adapted barges, and then twice a month by cars - this is called the "night convoy".

Especially for this Airbus aircraft developed a unique logistics system that involves sea, river, air and road transport. From the town of Lisle-Jourdain, about 30 km from Blagnac, at exactly 22:00, the night convoy begins to move at a speed of 15-20 km / h, so as not to interfere with traffic - six trailers, which accommodate all parts of the aircraft, depart in a two-hour way to the final point - the final assembly line in Blagnac.

Fuselage sections with a diameter of 7 meters are driven straight through the narrow streets of the town. But this is the only possible and most optimal point for delivering the elements of the liner to the plant.

At the first station, the fuselage sections are assembled and connected to each other

Then the wings and vertical stabilizer are mounted:

The wing area of ​​the A380 is 845m2, which is 54% more than that of the Boeing 747-400!

And it's not just a tail... it's FIVE giraffes! :)

Preparation of engine pylons:

The aircraft is assembled, the passenger cabin and cockpit are being installed at the following positions:

Each of the main landing gear is capable of withstanding loads of up to 260 tons, which is equivalent to the weight of 200 Golf cars.

And finally, the last assembly station, where the installation of engines and passenger seats is carried out:

The A380 can be equipped with two types of engines: Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or Engine Alliance GP7000. Only two of the four engines are equipped with thrust reversers.
Noise reduction was an important requirement in the design of the A380, which was partly reflected in the design of the engines. Both engine types allow the aircraft to meet the QC/2 departure and QC/0.5 arrival noise limits set by London Heathrow Airport.

The A380 is the most economical aircraft in its category. This is the only long-haul airliner that consumes less than 3 liters of fuel to transport a passenger per 100 km (typical layout of 525 seats)

The total area of ​​the A380 cabin is 554 m2. Two full-fledged decks: the main deck - the widest passenger cabin in the world (6.5 m); the upper deck is a full-fledged cabin for a wide-body aircraft (5.8 m). The air conditioning system of the aircraft is equipped with the most modern filters that provide uniform air supply to all parts of the aircraft. The air in the aircraft cabin (volume 1570 m3) is completely replaced every three minutes! The A380 has the quietest passenger cabin in the history of world aviation, I was convinced of this personally on the way from Frankfurt to Singapore.

This A380 is expected to be handed over to a private customer. And behind it, the A300B is the first aircraft produced by Airbus. This plane made a coup in civil aviation 70s, becoming the first wide-body twin-engine aircraft.

The circular structure on the right is the static engine test area, with barriers around the circle that limit the distribution of the sound wave.

To date, more than 110 A380 aircraft have been produced, and an average of 2.5 aircraft are produced and handed over to customers every month. The order backlog is 160 more boards! AT this moment The A380 is operated by 20 airlines.
Here are some interesting B777/B747 replacement statistics on some flights:

And the occupancy of the A380 is also not lower than 80%:

Emirates has the largest A380 fleet:

Five A380s were built for demonstration and testing purposes. The first A380, serial number MSN001 and registration F-WWOW, was presented at a ceremony in Toulouse on January 18, 2005, and first flew on April 27, 2005. Here is the very first A380:

The assembly shops of the Airbus plant can be visited by everyone! 2-3 hour tours are organized both in Hamburg and Toulouse at a cost of 10-15 euros. Reservation is required (!) especially if it is important to get into a group with an English-speaking guide, read the links for additional and current conditions.