Fri, Apr 08, 2005
Next Public Event For Behemoth: Paris Air Show
The world's biggest passenger plane
-- the Airbus A380 -- began its first full day of ground tests
Thursday, but probably won't make its maiden flight until later
this month.
That could come between April 14th and 19th, according to
company officials. In the meantime, the flight test crew is
conducting acceleration and braking tests, determining the
aircraft's performance on the runway before taking to the air.
The world got a brief look at the A380 in
January as it was rolled out of its hangar for
photographers. The next public display comes this
summer, when the super-jumbo goes on display at the Paris Air
Show.
“I can only tell you that this plane
will be at Le Bourget. It won’t make a flying display,
despite what some people have said, simply because this isn’t
an aerobatic aircraft,” Airbus operations chief Gerard Blanc
told Reuters. "It will be at Le Bourget from June 11 for a static
presentation, but it won’t stay until the end of the (June
13-19) air show for the simple reason that it will be in
test-flight mode, which is a period when every hour of work
conducted on the plane is precious."
The A380 was reportedly scheduled to fly
early this month. But developmental issues held up the taxi tests,
setting the whole schedule behind a bit.
When the A380 enters service next year, it
will be capable of carrying between 555 and 853 passengers,
depending on the cabin layout. Some airports are rushing
construction to accomodate the behemoth. Other airport officials
say they just don't have the money to widen runways and change
terminal configurations as required by the huge aircraft.
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