The A380 Airbus - a big boy in the skies!

This is a big big plane, the Airbus A380.  The Airbus A380 is a double-decker, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus.  This largest passenger airliner in the world made its maiden flight April 2005 in France. 

Depending on how you put in seats the A380 provides seating for 525 people in standard three-class configuration or up to 853 people in full economy class configuration.  Singapore Airlines outfitted their line of A380's with private suites as shown below but they do request their passengers NOT to engage in sexual activities because the walls are NOT soundproof.  :-D

(A Singapore A380 private suite)

• Take-off Weight:  1,234,600 pounds  (82 elephants)
• Wingspan:  261 feet
• Length:  240 feet
• Max operating speed:  587 MPH
• Typical ceiling:  43,030 feet  (8 miles in the air)
• Engines:  4 engines 
• Fuel Tank:  Holds 81,890 gallons!  (most gas stations hold 15k to 30k of gas)

• It has a range of 8,200 nautical mile which means that it can fly non-stop from New York to Hong Kong.  
• The Wright Brothers’ first flight was shorter than the A380’s wingspan.
• Even the economy seats have their own 10” screens, USB ports and in seat power for your electrical.
• The A380 is about as tall as a 8 story building!

  Airbus has spent an estimated $15 billion on the development of the A380.   The price for a single plane is listed at $300 million.  Another cool thing is that special dampeners keep the noise level coming from the engines down to about half that of other jumbo jets.  Roughly 25 percent of the plane's overall structure is made from carbon-fiber reinforced plastic.

Question:  Have you ever been on a A320?  Have you ever seen one?