Air France is the first European carrier to introduce the Airbus A380 double-decker Superjumbo in its fleet, with the first scheduled commercial flight taking place between Paris Charles-de-Gaulle and New York JFK airports. Air France has 12 of the type on order and plans to take delivery of the first three in the 2009/2010 winter season. Their first plane is already the 20th of the type in operation and now all three airline alliances operate at least one of the type.

380 tickets for each of the first flights were auctioned off on e-Bay in October, where all proceeds went to charity organizations selected by Air France. The first European owned SuperJumbo seats 538 passengers – compared to just 450 at Qantas, 471 at Singapore Airlines and 489 at Emirates. The so-far most crowded A380 has only 9 seats in First Class, 80 in Business and 449 in Economy. 22 flight attendants will be taking care of the 538 passengers – meaning one steward(ess) for every 25 travellers. Besides being the first European airline to own the A380, Air France will also be the first to operate the aircraft to the African Continent as it plans to introduce the plane to a daily Johannesburg flight later this winter following the Paris-New York route.

At the launch ceremony Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon did not only focus on the ”usual” media messaging around the unrivaled luxury of the A380 (as Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas did earlier), but instead pointed out the savings that this aircraft will bring for the company. Each aircraft will allow the carrier to save €12-€15 million ($17.7-$22.1 million) per year based on their calculations. This is mostly due to the size of the plane and that it can replace two other flights, which could be serviced by an Airbus A340-300 (equivalent to the upper deck) and a Boeing 777-200 (equivalent to the main deck of the A380) for example. Flying the same number of passengers in just a single A380 instead means 20% reduction in operating costs as the frequencies on busy routes can be rationalized by replacing two flights which leave at similar times by one flight, while offering the same number of seats. For example, between Paris and New York, an A380 leaving at 1:35pm can replace two flights operated by an A340 and a 777-200, leaving at 10:30am and at 1:35pm respectively. The same connecting morning flights can still service and feed the “big” flight.

On top of all the rationalization of flights, the A380 uses less fuel per passenger. It burns less than three litres per 100 km! Besides the gas emmissions, the A380 creates less noise than its closest rival, the Boeing 747 – half as much at take-off! I had the personal experience of seeing and (not) hearing the A380 land in Frankfurt on one of its test-flights back in 2007 with Lufthansa crew – and we were all shocked by the little noise it generated compared to other aircraft landing on the same approach route before and after it. The Air France A380 is also quieter in the cabin itself, and besides the 220 windows it has special lighting features to reflect the time of the day within a flight and to help synchronizing the body-clock of the passengers. Guests can also meet up during the flight for a drink and a snack in one of the 6 bars onboard. One of these is for Première (First Class) on the main deck, two for Affaires (Business Class) on the upper deck and three for Voyageur (Economy Class), with two at the main deck and one upstairs.

We hope Air France and its passengers will be happy with the first new Airbus A380 flying under European registration and providing the first Transatlantic connection aboard the double-decker superjumbo between Europe and North America. Please leave your comments if you happened to be on one of these flights and would like to share your experiences with our readers!

Download the AirFrance Airbus A380 Factsheet (pdf)

Separately, but conincidentally at the same time as the first Air France A380 flight: Emirates said it will begin serving Paris Charles de Gaulle with a 489-seat A380 from Dubai on Dec. 29 rather than Feb. 1. “An operational review, coupled with demand on the route, has led to an earlier introduction,” it said. The A380 will fly thrice-weekly to start, becoming daily Jan. 17.

by balint01

Wow…keren dan mewah  banget nih Airbus A380 milik Emirates Airlines.

Berapa biaya yang harus dikeluarkan untuk dapat naik pesawat ini pada Bisnis Class nya ya ? He…he…aku juga tidak tau…yang ingin aku katakan tentang pesawat Airbus A380 milik Emirates Airlines ini adalah  Luar biasa…Sangat Menakjubkan…Mewah Buanget  

Weleh…Weleh…Mewah Banget !

Tulisan Lain :

• Foto Tempat Tidur Pramugari Yang Cantik Dan Seksi
• Foto-Foto Kabin Pesawat Tempat Pramugari Cantik Dan Seksi Bekerja
• [Foto] Koleksi Serba Emas Dari Sultan Brunei
• [Foto] Mewahnya Kapal Pesiar Milik Golfer Greg Norman
• [Foto] Yacht Super Canggih Dan Mewah Milik Roman Abramovich
• [Foto] Pesawat Pribadi Super Mewah Sultan Brunei Yang Berlapis Emas
• [Foto] Berbagai Jenis Dan Model Mobil Limousine
• [Foto] Interior Mewah Mobil Limousine

Some milestones are hard to see clearly until many years pass and the verdict is finally in, but as the 2 year milestone of being in service for the Airbus A380 came around, it is still not clear of whether this machine and Airbus are in the clear.

to date  there are 20 A380s in service with three airlines – SIA, Emirates and Qantas -which have accumulated 75,000h, operated 8,000 flights and carried at least 2.5 million passengers, and firm orders for the A380 to 202 aircraft from 17 customers.

Sales have dropped to only 2 orders for 2009, and the many A380’s that have been ordered have been referred or given delayed deliveries, many commentators have said the double-decker is just too big and will lose money constantly and the severely delayed Boeing 787 was still the better way to go.

The two years in service report notes that the aircraft did have issues of reliability which is typical for like Emirates based in Dubai, their technical dispatch reliability benchmark is above 98.5%, and Tim Clark (Emirates CEO) says that while Airbus is guaranteeing 98.5% “we’re not there yet. We’re at 97%, sometimes 96%.

Most faults have been through oversensitive sensors (moisture contamination was another pain) that go off and create a no-go fault warning and a (return to gate), Airbus have worked quickly to rectify the situation and most warnings are now nulled as they adjusted the computer algorithms for failure detection as to not be so sensitive, main gear steering system (MEL) caused some concerns too, the trailing axle of the two six-wheel centre bogies is articulated to avoid tyre scrub on the inside wheels, and the wedge that must lock the steering in place for take-off has proved problematic, again a fix has been sorted and the problems solved, a nose wheel problem on a Qantas service to London stranded the machine on the runway and had to towed to the gate for disembarkation and finally two in-flight shutdown of the Trent 900 engine were “non-basic”, which means the engine’s basic design was not at fault.

It feels like a long bad list but all new aircraft (and remember the A380 is a generational design) have such new operational problems and in fact the list is very small, the real problem is that if the aircraft is not serviceable is then what do you do with nearly 500 passengers!, luckily it hasn’t happened often, but when it does it creates a major logistical problem.

So what of the other factors, in this case the A380 has been a spectacular success, passengers just rave about the space, the quietness of the design and load factors are extremely high, pilots are gushing with praise for its flying characteristics and low turbulence factors (its noted that its like the Queen Mary 2 in the sky, it just plows on through) and the plane is more efficient than promised by the manufacturer (since when has that happened in the past), SIA generally cruises its A380s at M0.83-0.85, and the approach speed – for a landing weight close to the 397t maximum take-off of a 747-400 – is an impressively slow 130-135kt (240-250km/h). they found the faster you flew the more efficient the A380 became so in service the machine has not only delivered but is well above expectations and will get better again with improvements of weight reduction and engine upgrades coming after 2012.

On the ground it again has not proved to be problematic with its size and weight, turnaround times range from 90-110min, depending on route and operator. For example, Emirates does 90min turns at London Heathrow between the inbound EK001 and outbound EK002, which is impressive with such huge numbers (Passengers,Cargo & Catering) to cater for.

2010 will be the year that the Airbus A380 will be declared a success or failure, a major step forward in design and operations, unfortunately the GFC crisis was the worst situation to be faced by a machine designed to carry such high load factors (hence the delayed deliveries and few new orders) and could have, but didn’t turn it into a loss making albatross (a la Concorde), in fact its extremely high load factors bids it well in the future.

The reason that 2010 is significant is in the way Air France intends to introduce its first A380’s into service in December 2009 and Lufthansa in the Late1stQ 2010, unlike the 3 current airlines (Singapore/Qantas/Emirates) these European Carriers are going more for the higher seating configurations of 538-seat Air France and 550 seat Lufthansa, the Aircraft is already known to very efficient and now you have a considerable higher load factors and certainly higher yields and profit, the Boeing 747 was a game changer in price (seats per mile) in the early 70’s and the fares plummeted, that won’t happen here but it will give the two European airlines a significant advantage as with what Qantas is finding with its A380 SYD-LAX services against newcomer VAustralia, in fact Qantas is mulling over the fact of whether to pull back its yield losing 1st Class and Business class sections to go the from the current 450 seats to 500+, its 72 business class seating is a folly and change will certainly and must be forthcoming, but the point is it is doing the busines without the better (higher) configurations, Air France and Lufthansa will be doing so from the start of their operations, if it is a success the A380 will be declared a winner, if it flys with plenty of empty seats it could damage it’s too big for the market image beyond doubt, however if the new services are successful then the Airbus will certainly be declared a success and more orders will follow.

In most cases already the A380 is a spectacular success, but this too large a capacity is still lead weight around its neck and could hurt the design (and Sales), again with 787 still nowhere close to being in service, the A380 over the next 12 months could finally cement its position in the industry.

Another breakthrough is if an American Airline chooses the A380 to fly from the mainland to Asia (japan, China), Americans are very territorial and anything Boeing builds is far better than Airbus can build, but significantly today many Airbus products are flying in the mainland USA (A320/321, A330, A340) and the Americans are liking what they are flying on and with its capacity/yields/profit the A380 can make serious money on the Pacific Routes and if the Americans don’t use them someone else will.

The Airbus A380 is a game changer, hub to hub it has no peers except for the Boeing 777, but from mega city to mega city and fare wise it is a real profit machine, the Boeing 787 will still be a serious competitor but cheap fares and space are winners if you want to attract passengers and over the summer of 2010 with AirFrance/Lufthansa will prove that theory …..as the Airbus A380 has both the space and the case for cheaper airfares in spades.

Australian oneworld member Qantas is already operating 4 Airbus A380s, and is awaiting two more for delivery in late 2009. Now Qantas is offering a very special experience aboard this very special aircraft: Sightseeing flights above the all-white, mysterious Antarctica – the world of endless ice and snow. Now a few hundred travelers will have the chance to take a very special look at it from above, from the warm and luxurious flight deck of a Qantas A380 – the largest passenger jet ever flown.

Qantas will operate three sightseeing flights over Antarctica during the Southern summer with its new A380. It is partnering with Antarctica Sightseeing Flights of Melbourne once again, with whom they have previously provided similar special flights aboard Boeing 747-400s.  The idea originally came from New Zealand, where Air New Zealand provided similar flights in the ’70s, until November 28, 1979, when one of its McDonnell Douglas DC-10’s tragically crashed into Mt. Erebus on Antarctica. It took many years before Qantas paired up with Croydon Travel in 1994 for their first scenic Antarctica flight. They have safely operated 85 flights over the 15 years taking more than 30,000 people to experience the world’s ‘last great wilderness’ during this one and a half decade. In contrast to the 30,000 people flown above it, this continent has given birth to only one human in 1978 and has only around 1,000 researchers living on its soil year-round (but nobody is registered there).

The first A380 flight is scheduled for takeoff on December 31, 2009 from Melbourne, the second on January 24, 2010 from Sydney. There will be third Antarctic flight on February 14 from Melbourne, but with a Boeing 747. The New Year’s Eve flight will be under the command of Capt. John Dennis, who has flown more than 40 of Qantas’ 85 747 flights to the ice, and both others will be commanded by a senior Qantas Captain who had flown at least once to Antarctica. The most frequently used route takes the aircraft over the icecap, the South Magnetic Pole, the French scientific base at Dumont d’Urville and finally the spectacular Trans-Antarctic Range. Approval has been secured for 19 Antarctic flight routes, with final selection based upon weather and viewing opportunities.

All flights include two meals with the on board experience enhanced by a panel of experts, including world accredited Antarctic scientists, glaciologists, explorers, adventurers & mountaineers. On to top of the view from the windows, the on board entertainment system would show the live picture of the panorama from the cockpit.  The passengers of the “New Year’s Eve Midnight Sun Party Flight” will be the first to see the sun in 2010– as it will be full daylight at 12.01am over the ice – and the flight will feature dancing in the aisles to the music of a live jazz band.

The flights take about 3 hours to reach the first icebergs of Antarctica, followed by four hours flying above the continent and another 4 to reach Australia again – totaling an average flight time of between 11-13 hours. When over Antarctica the plane flies at approximately 10,000 feet above sea level as this altitude provides excellent viewing while still respecting the wildlife habitats at sea level. The aircraft flies in long sweeping ‘figure 8s’ over various points of interest to allow the spectacular sights to be viewed from both sides of the aircraft. Passenger will be given two boarding passes and will have to switch seats half-way through the flight. This means that all passengers (except the ones flying in Economy Centre or Business Centre seats) will have a window seat at least for half of the flight. Given that there is no dark at night over Antarctica during the Southern summer time, it doesn’t really matter which half of the flight you have the window seat. The seatmap is available here.

Fares for this unforgettable experience start from AUD999 (USD899) for the Economy Class Centre seats and go up through 6 other seat-types to the First Class seats for AUD 6,299 (USD 5,667).

by balint01

Most of you would know about St. Marteens if your into your aviation. So if you are, check this video out.

Oops, wrong one…

A little teaser perhaps? Like all car manufacturers always do?

Ok, that’s more like it!! This is actually the first and only clear picture of her that I can get, it’s really difficult to get one for this very big bird.

Her full name is SQ317 A380-800, SQ indicates it’s a Singapore Airlines’ fleet. 3XX is reserved for A380s in their fleet. A380 is… well, this…

Click for larger view

And the 800 is the total maximum passengers it carry if it is configured to all-economy seats. Which it isn’t. This is Singapore Airline we’re talking about, so you might expect it to allow their fleets to have more than ‘all-economy’ configuration. With the business class being the most spacious provided by any airliner, and even more spacious higher-than-first suite class, it has 471 seats in total. So the suite and business class eats up almost double space per economy seat, but to be fair, I do believe they pay far more than double for the price ticket…

My flight to London was in MAS’ MH002 B747-400, so having experienced both planes, I can compare, and I must say, it is very easy to pick the winner. The A380 is quieter, experience less air turbulence (which makes flying feels like a very violent roller coaster ride), is more spacious even in economy class, it is an amazing engineering feat.

Yeap, that’s my seat!!

I guess I have been watching uncountable number of A380 documentaries at Discovery Channel and National Geographic. I remember the endless droning of superlative figures the narrator spits out (“it is enough to stretch over two football fields” kinda line), the delays of its launching date, the problems it faced, one being ensuring the German and French counterparts to be able to share documents, as they use different software thus different formats. I even remember an episode on Singapore Airline’s maiden flight from Changi to Melbourne where the most expensive ticket goes to $100,000. The result, is that you’d get a sense of admiration for all the kind of difficulties it had to go to be able to fly at all…

… and land safely. Unknowingly that it burns 20% less fuel had I been flying in a Boeing 747. It is just magnificent, magnificent… and magnificent.

A side profile view at last… but still obscured =.=

In the mean time, I suppose I will organise another teh tarik session for The Junk Car Club (TJCC). Hell, it’s about time to catch up with si-fu, hopefully Paul Tan, KickingDust and the rest. Details will be known next week perhaps, when Paul Tan returns from Japan.

Am revazut zilele trecute, pe Discovery cred, un reportaj prezentat de Richard Hammond nu despre masini, ci despre noul Airbus A380. Unul dintre testele pe care trebuia sa le treaca pentru a fi omologat era cel al evacuarii tuturor celor aproximativ 600 de pasageri in 90 de secunde, lucru care s-a dovedit posibil.

Am aflat (si sper sa nu fie adevarat) ca in proaspat reinfintata sectie de votare de la Gara de Nord, veche sursa de voturi pentru cel care controleaza Ministerul Transporturilor si pe care guvernul liberal a desfintat-o urmeaza sa fie repartizate aproximativ 20.000 de buletine de vot. Cantitate care ar fi consumata doar daca la acea sectie ar vota un alegator la fiecare 2,54 secunde.

Kesalahan program dalam software bukanlah hal yang boleh diremehkan. Dampaknya dapat menjadi begitu besar, seperti meledaknya roket, bursa saham jatuh dan bahkan menciptakan perang dunia ketiga. Berikut adalah daftar bencana terbesar yang pernah terjadi yang diakibatkan oleh kesalahan software :

1. Roket Mariner I (1962).

Roket ini keluar dari jalur peluncuran dan hancur.

Penyebabny: programmer lupa menuliskan kode overbar.

2. Satelit Eole I (1971).

Satelit milik Prancis ini jatuh dengan membawa 72 balon cuaca.

Penyebab: permintaan untuk mengirim data pengukuran diterjemahkan keliru oleh software sebagai perintah self-destroy.

3. Satelit Nimbus 7 (1978).

Sateli ini mengabaikan lubang ozon di atas Antartika.

Penyebab: software analisis menganggap nilai yang tidak lazim sebagai kesalahan dalam pengukuran dan kemudian mengoreksinya.

4. Reaktor Atom (1979).

Lima reaktor atom Amerika tidak berfungsi karena software memberikan nilai yang keliru untuk pengukuran kekuatan gempa bumi.

Penyebab: program melakukan penjumlahan yang seharusnya menghitung akar dari jumlah kuadrat.

5. Gas Pipeline (1982 Top Secret).

Pipa gas di Siberia meledak akibat over-pressure.

Penyebabnya: Uni Sovyet membeli sebuah program kendali yang telah dimanipulasi oleh Amerika Serikat.

6. Perang Dunia Ketiga (1983).

Sebuah satelit Sovyet melaporkan adanya lima roket inter kontinental. Kolonel Petrow kemudian melihatnya sebagai ancaman walau ternyata keliru.

Penyebab: software mengartikan pantulan cahaya sebagai roket musuh.

7. Therac 25 (1985-1987).

Alat rontgen menewaskan banyak pasien akibat dosis sinar yang berlebihan.

Penyebab: software hanya dapat melakukan beberapa tugas sekaligus dengan baik apabila pengguna memberikan perintah secara perlahan.

8. Wallstreet (1987).

Bursa jatuh menimbulkan kerugian harian sebesar 22,6 % atau 500 milliar dollar.

Penyebab: software bursa tidak cukup cepat memproses order pembeli saham. Akibatnya terjadi kepanikan dalam transaksi.

9. USS Vincennes (1988).

Kapal perang AS ini menembak sebuah pesawat penumpang Airbus milik Iran, 290 penumpang tewas.

Penyebab: sistem “Aegis” seharga 400 juta dollar melaporkan Airbus tersebut sebagai “assumed hostile”. Para crew kemudian menduga ada serangan pesawat tempur.

10. AT & T (1990).

Software telepon baru memaksa semua sentral swithching masuk ke dalam reset mode secara berantai. Oleh karena itu, telepon tidak dapat digunakan selama sembilan jam.

Penyebab: keliru menggunakan perintah “break”.

11. Patriot (1991).

Sistem senjata pertahanan ini gagal menghadang roket Scud. Akibatnya 28 tentara tewas.

Penyebab: kesalahan konversi dalam menghitung waktu. Nilai bertambah besar apabila sistem bekerja lebih lama.

12. Denver Airport (1995).

Sistem bagasi full-automatic baru ini tidak bekerja.

Penyebab: terlalu banyak perintah yang kompleks sehingga software overload.

13. Ariane 5 (1996).

Roket ini keluar dari jalur dan meledak.

Penyebab: overflow saat mengonversi sebuah nilai floating 64 bit dalam software “Ariane 4″.

14. Mars Climate Orbiter (1999).

Penjelajah ini terbakar di atsmofir Mars.

Penyebab: instrumen mengukur power satuan pound Inggris, sedangkan software NASA menggunakan satuan Newton.

15. Mars Polar Lander (1999).

Penjelajah ini jatuh ke Mars dengan kecepatan 80 km/jam dan hancur.

Penyebab: software mengartikan perintah untuk mengeluarkan kaki pendaratan sebagai status telah mendarat sehingga mematikan mesin.

16. Blackout (2003).

Lantaran jaringan overload, listrik untuk 50 juta rumah tangga di AS dan Canada padam.

Penyebab: fungsi alarm dalam software menajemen listrik tidak bekerja.

17. Hartz IV (2004).

Ratusan ribu penerima “Hartz IV” tidak memperoleh uang.

Penyebab: software mengisi nomor rekening penerima dari halaman yang salah sehingga diisi dengan nol.

18. Airbus A380 (2005).

Jet raksasa ini memakan biaya 5 milliar Euro lebih besar dan penyelesaiannya terlambat.

Penyebab: para designer pesawat ini menggunakan versi CAD-Software CATIA yang berbeda-beda satu sama lainnya.

19. BNP Paribas (2009).

Software milik Bank ini menjarah 10 ribuan rekening nasabahnya dengan melakukan 600.000 transaksi berkali-kali.

Penyebab: belum diketahui.

Airbus A380 Dubai - London

Now, I don’t mean to boast, but I fancy myself quite an expert at staring out of the windows of aeroplanes.  I’m really very good at it; so much so that I’m frequently surprised that the pilot doesn’t take the trouble to come out of the cockpit to congratulate me as I disembark. “Well done Peter, another 3 hours of peering out of the window with your neck awkwardly craned.  Carry on like this and you’ll be flying these things in no time”.

Yes, I’m a massive, hulking, aviation nerd.  But  I stand by that – because you can tell a lot about a country from flying over it.   Take agriculture: over England you are immediately struck by how green and yellow everything is, and how small most of the fields look.   Over northern France everything suddenly becomes a lot bigger and squarer, and as you move over eastern Europe, agricultural plots become smaller again and more ragged.  An expert could expound at length on how much this tells us about the socio-economics of the country below.  But I’m no expert.

When a plane is at 39,000 feet, you’re almost 8 miles above the ground.  This means that on a perfectly clear day, the horizon is 250 miles away.  That’s a long way.  Let’s take an example. If you’re flying over the Midlands on such a day, you could see both the East and West Coasts of England, the whole of Wales, the Isle of Man, Ireland, and up as far as the Trossachs in Southern Scotland, and down over Devon and the tip of Cornwall.  Hell you could almost see Amsterdam.  It’s funny what stands out stands out at that height – train tracks become strangely prominent, while even small rivers seem to dominate the landscape.  You can still just about make out individual cars, and the traffic always seems to be moving faster than you’d think.  Flying over north africa at night, you can see the flickering lights of multiple camp fires out in the desert, winking out of the pitch darkness.

Top of my list of flying experiences though has to be flying into London at night.  It’s incredible.  The sodium orange, soupy glow which engulfs most English cities and towns from the air is supplemented in London by a myriad of blues, purples, reds and greens.  The speed of the plane combined with the masking effect of the buildings and trees has a curious affect on all these lights – they flicker and blink on and off like diamonds catching the light.   The epicentre, which seems to fall somewhere around Covent Garden, is a brilliant pure white, outshining everything beside it, while Piccadilly Circus with its huge, gharish advertisements looks like the shrine around which London is built.   Canary Wharf, the O2 Arena, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye, are all seen in spectacular close up as the aircraft makes banking turns to the right in order to line up for landing.  Moving over London towards Heathrow, the lights begin to grow slowly dimmer and more orange again, as the spectacular visual firework display draws to a close.

Of course, the biggest advantage, and the biggest drawback, of gazing out of a plane window is that it’s easy to become hopelessly romantic about whichever place it is you’re flying over.  I defy anyone to fly over a country during sunrise or sunset and not gaze down fondly upon whatever cesspit happens to be underneath, seeing an oasis of unalloyed bliss as opposed to the West Neasden Sewage Refinery.    You have to get up close to a country to see the nasty bits; up here it’s all broad overviews and pleasant diversions.  And of course if you do happen to see something you don’t like you can just pull down your little plastic window blind and watch that same Simpsons episode for a third time.

*WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

http://ia311235.us.archive.org/2/items/JonHammondDr.GunterStemmlerB_roPressChiefderOberb_rgermeisterinFrankfurtPetraRothonH/DrStemmleronHammondCast.m4v

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0RalkVHvWI

Dr. Gunter Stemmler Büro Press Chief der Oberbürgermeisterin Petra Roth on HammondCast KYOURADIO
Interview with Dr. Stemmler and Jon Hammond on HammondCast KYOURADIO in the famous Römerberg 23.
Speaking about Musikmesse, Frankfurt Flughafen Airport and future development of Stadt Frankfurt, Arts & Culture.
Frankfurt am Main http://www.frankfurt.de/
© www.HammondCast.com

ASCAP Network Behind The Beat with Jon Hammond “LATE RENT”

Elmar Lemes photo of Jon Hammond playing XK-3 organ at Local 802 Monday Night Jazz Session sponsored by Jazz Foundation of America

Jon Hammond MySpace

HammondCast

ASCAP Network Behind The Beat “NDR SESSIONS Projekt”

Jon Hammond is an endorsed artist of Hammond Suzuki USA

Airbus A380, Dr. Stemmler, Flughafen, Frankfurt, HammondCast, Jon Hammond, KYOURADIO, Mercedes Benz, Musikmesse, Oberbürgermeisterin, Petra Roth, XK-3c, XK-1, XB-2, Suzuki,
Jazzkeller
Jon Hammond at Frankfurt Rathaus

*WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

http://ia311235.us.archive.org/2/items/JonHammondDr.GunterStemmlerB_roPressChiefderOberb_rgermeisterinFrankfurtPetraRothonH/DrStemmleronHammondCast.m4v

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0RalkVHvWI

Dr. Gunter Stemmler Büro Press Chief der Oberbürgermeisterin Petra Roth on HammondCast KYOURADIO
Interview with Dr. Stemmler and Jon Hammond on HammondCast KYOURADIO in the famous Römerberg 23.
Speaking about Musikmesse, Frankfurt Flughafen Airport and future development of Stadt Frankfurt, Arts & Culture.
Frankfurt am Main http://www.frankfurt.de/
© www.HammondCast.com

ASCAP Network Behind The Beat with Jon Hammond “LATE RENT”

Elmar Lemes photo of Jon Hammond playing XK-3 organ at Local 802 Monday Night Jazz Session sponsored by Jazz Foundation of America

Jon Hammond MySpace

HammondCast

ASCAP Network Behind The Beat “NDR SESSIONS Projekt”

Jon Hammond is an endorsed artist of Hammond Suzuki USA

Airbus A380, Dr. Stemmler, Flughafen, Frankfurt, HammondCast, Jon Hammond, KYOURADIO, Mercedes Benz, Musikmesse, Oberbürgermeisterin, Petra Roth, XK-3c, XK-1, XB-2, Suzuki,
Jazzkeller
Jon Hammond at Frankfurt Rathaus

In the UK now. Am enjoying a sprawled out existence on Kwok’s sofa right now after sitting for over 18 hours in cramped seating.
A couple of photos to make up for the lack of updates.

Cambodian countryside from the air

We also got to fly on the new Airbus A380 from Bangkok to Dubai. Am very impressed with the new plane. The smoothest take off ever. Also, they have an insane personal entertainment unit which has over 200 movies, games and a usb port to connect your digital camera to view and share your photos with anyone on the plane.

The personal entertainment unit on the A380

You probably heard of luxury aircraft, which costs exorbitant. But let’s see what it contains such a plane.

An Airbus A380 aircraft “thunderous” for an Arab prince has cost 500 million dollars and is equipped with large beds with canopy, Turkish bath, elevator and even has a garage for Rolls-Royce.

Turkish bath has also marble (from 3 mm to keep the weight low).
Originally designed for 600 passengers, Airbus A380 prince has 3 floors and comprises 5 suites, rooms with touch screens , concert hall piano (10 seats) and 20 seats for attendants sleeping prince.

Did you know … Airbus A380 is the largest commercial passenger airplane in the world? First off was at the airport in Toulouse (France) on 27 April 2005 and the first commercial flight of Airbus A380 was operated by Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Sydney on 25 October 2007.

In about 26 hours we’ll start for Milwaukee and from there back to the beach. Tomorrow’s going to be a long, long day, and I’ve never been able to sleep on a plane. That may change on the flight from Milwaukee to Charlotte.

As the Oshkosh Odyssey draws to a close, I have a few more picture to share.

I walked over to Fightertown today, where they were recovering the P-51’s following the daily airshow. You will never find a larger concentration of warbirds than you will at Oshkosh, There are literally scores of beautifully restored vintage warplanes, most of the flying, many of them participating in re-enactments during the shows. The P-51’s are big, fast, and just spectacular to watch. Chris, one of the stringer journalists and I stood and watched while 4 or 5 were being parked. A lot of people have never been this close to an honest piece of history. We were there among dozens.

And speaking of big and fast, here’s that package rolled all up into one. The lear and the Airbus. When you get so many airplanes parked so close together, you can’t help but have some interesting contrasts. Today was “NBAA Day” at the show. The National Business Aircraft Association held a big news conference with the FAA Administrator and corporate types who talked about how business aviation boosts the economy. When you think about the number of jobs that go into building, flying, and maintaining these airplanes, it really does make sense. And I’ve got to tell you, I certainly wish I had a personal airplane to get me home after the show, rather than having to rely on Dumbo the Jumbo to get me back to the beach. I certainly wouldn’t have to be getting a ride to the airport beginning about 2:30 if I did. Maybe someday I’ll have something to fly on my own, but not this year.

When your lens is too long to get a decent shot of the airplane from a reasonable distance away, you’re forced to resort to the artsy shot. I rather like this one, which I called “BizJet Bokeh”. Not one anyone would ever care to buy, I don’t imagine, but fun nonetheless. In case you’re wondering, you’re looking at a pitot tube (that’s pronounced ‘PEE toe”) on either a Lear or maybe the Falcon jet, I’m not sure which exactly it is. Regardless, I think it’s a cool shot.

And then, there’s the nose art. Lots of it over in Fightertown, of course, but this is from Branson’s Virgin Galactic Mother Ship “Eve”, AKA “White Knight 2”. I think the poor airplane will suffer some kind of identity crisis if they don’t get that resolved soon. From the nose art, though, I think we know for which team the VMS plays.

Unless …

In any event, One more day of writing, though it may be a bit slower tomorrow, and I can finally go out in search of something to take home. There’s been no time for shopping, and even if I’d had it, stuff’s expensive. And not just the airplanes and little black boxes, either. But I’ll find something to take home. In any event, it’s been good to be back to Oshkosh, even if I haven’t had the time to send wandering and seeing the sights and such. I’m hoping for some more good shots tomorrow, and then it’s on to Milwaukee and home.

Maybe I’ll go for a swim in the ocean …

Photos are up on Flickr.

–scene–

There’s only one reaction, really, to seeing the Airbus A380 double-decker airliner.

“Holy crap, that’s a big airplane.”

And it is an enormously big airplane. Look closely and you’ll see not one, but two rows of windows along the side of the aircraft. That’s because, like a classic English red bus, there’s an upper deck, and a lower deck. This airplane will carry you and somewhere around 700 of your closest friends. She’s sitting right now on the ramp at Oshkosh in something called “AeroShell Square”, and she literally dwarfs anything close, even Richard Branson’s very-cool-looking WhiteKnightTwo. The A380 may not look as cool, but what it lacks in panache it make up for in big.

But almost as impressive as it’s size is the way it kind of flowed through the air. The reaction among everyone I talked to about the airplane was the same. “It flew so slow.” Indeed, it seemed at times like it was an airship, making it’s stately way across the sky. How something that big can move so slowly through the air not 2000 feet off the ground was just amazing. She almost seemed to be lazy, making turns back and forth across the air show box before returning for a landing. Lazy, but graceful, as if to say “This is my day to show off, just a bit, before I become the long-haul workhorse of so many fleets.”

There are a lot of cool things, and people at this show. The innovations in airplanes and electronics are sometimes breathtaking, as are the price tags on the toys scattered across this midwestern airport. When you hear the terms “affordable” and “$15,000” mentioned in the same sentence, you wonder who it is who can afford to play in this league. And that’s not for an airplane, that’s for the glass panel avionics that are so popular. When you hear “affordable” and “$250,000”, you might be talking about an airplane. New, yes, and with all the bells and whistles.

But today, the star of the show was the A380. This is one of two test airplanes that are being evaluated before it goes into production. We’re supposed to be able to go inside over the next couple of days.

Sounds like fun, yes?

–scene–

With 19 Airbus A380s already in service around the world, it’s time to take a look at the latest Airbus A380 news – following our latest updates about new flights and operational issues.

Singapore Airlines - 9 A380s in service – 5 (+ 1) routes

The launch customer of the Airbus A380 superjumbo  – since October 2007 – has already received 9 of the type and has brought the A380 to 7 cities so far. More than 1.4 million customers have flown on its A380s that have clocked more than 35,000 flying hours on more than 4,000 flights since the start of commercial service. Following the first flight to Hong Kong in early July, Melbourne in Australia will be the latest airport to receive the A380 service with 471 seats on board in three classes, following Singapore, Sydney, London, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong – when the first flight will land in the second most popolous Australian city on 29 September, 2009. The daily A380 flights will replace an existing daily Boeing 747-400 service to Melbourne. SQ227 will depart Singapore Changi Airport at 2100hrs and arrive in Melbourne at 0610hrs (0710hrs from 4 October 2009 due to daylight savings) the next day. On the return leg, SQ228 will depart Melbourne at 1550hrs (1650hrs from 4 October 2009) and touch down in Singapore at 2140hrs.

Emirates – 6 A380s in service – 5 (+ 2) routes

Emirates currently has the largest order placed for the doubledecker aircraft and has already received 6 of the type. Starting in July 2008, Emirates have been serving London Heathrow, Sydney, and Auckland. Since the 1st of June they have been operating the A380 to the Thai capital of Bangkok on a daily flight and to Toronto in Canada, three times weekly. The next Asian destination for the Emirates A380 will be the Korean capital, Seoul, from the 1st of December. The 489 seat, 3 class configuration Emirates A380 features two fully equipped bathrooms with showers and an onboard bar for first and business class passengers as a specialty. In Europe, the next airport served will be Paris Charles de Gaulle from 1st of February, 2010. But Emirates will operate a single service to UK’s Birmingham to mark the Airport’s 70th birthday on September 9th, 2009. This will be the first commercial A380 service outside of London Heathrow in the UK and will park at the new Pier of Birmingham Airport – which opens on the same day with the Emirates A380 as the first aircraft being served there.

Qantas - 4 A380s in service – 4 routes

Qantas has been operating the A380 is its fleet since October 2008. The fourth A380 arrives to Australia at the end of July, allowing Qantas to increase its Sydney-Singapore-London A380 services from three to five per week, and Sydney-Los Angeles services from three to four per week. The fifth and sixth airplane scheduled to arrive in 2009 will further increase the frequency between Australia and the UK and the US, as by November Qantas will operate daily A380 services to London and LA and will increase the Melbourne-Los Angeles services from two to three A380 flights per week. By the end of 2009 this will mean 34 return flights per week. The 450 seat, four-class configuration aircraft type has so far transported more than 200.000 passengers at the Australian flag-carrier.

+ Air France - 0 A380s in service – (+1) route

Air France – the first European operator of the type – has rolled out the airplane in its new livery on the 9th of July. This airplane is scheduled to enter service in November on a daily Paris Charles de Gaulle – New York JFK service. It is interesting that Emirates had operated the A380 to New York JFK before, but has since withdrawn the aircraft from the route. The French A380 will be configured for 538 passengers in a three-cabin layout with 80 business and 106 economy seats on the upper deck and nine first class and 343 economy seats on the main deck. That compares with 450 seats on Qantas A380s, 471 on Singapore Airlines and 489 on Emirates. CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said in a recent conversation in Paris to Airwise News that Air France’s A380s would not be equipped with special luxury features specifically designed for the double-deck aircraft like spas or spacious premium suites. “It’s an aircraft, an aircraft offering high-density seating and thus offering lower unit costs,” he said. “We will use it as such.” AirFrance will be the first European airline to operate the A380 and the first to use it on transatlantic flights between Europe and the US. It has 12 on order, four of which will start operating this winter and next spring.

by balint01

Sabe o Google Earth? Pois é. Acabei de flagrar um Airbus A380, fotografado em Heathrow em 2009.

Pelo menos até umas semanas atrás, as fotos de Heathrow eram todas de 2008 ou mesmo de antes, com o terminal 5 ainda todo em construção. Para minha sorte, pelo menos para uma parte do aeroporto, o Google atualizou as fotos para 2009 e, aí, apareceu isto aqui (o linque não leva ao Google Earth, mas ao Google Maps. A base de dados é a mesma):

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.468399,-0.45410031&z=19&t=h&hl=pt-BR

O que chamou minha atenção imediatamente foi um avião bem maior do que os outros, que, de início, associei a um 747. Mas notei que havia uma enorme asa de enorme corda*. Também reparei que o enorme avião tinha pouco comprimento adiante da asa e um cockpit bem pertinho da ponta do nariz rombudo, de um modo tal que toda a curvatura do nariz ficava para cima do cockpit, não para baixo, como no 747.

Isso tudo já me dizia que era um A380. Some-se, ainda, o fato de que não muitas companhias aéreas se dispuseram a operar um monstro desses, e conseguimos ler na fuselagem: “Singapore Airlines” (a mesma que operou Concorde em conjunto com a British, lá nos anos 70).

Compare o 380 com os “aviõezinhos” que o rodeiam: imediatamente à esquerda, vemos um 767 da Air Canada e, mais à esquerda, um A340 da Virgin. Pombas, o A340 era pra ser um avião bem grande! Mais à esquerda ainda, um 747-400 da Cathay Pacific, modelo que, até há pouco tempo, era o recordista mundial em tamanho de avião de passageiros. Tire o zoom e compare os dois: o 747 fica pequenininho!

A sudoeste do 380, vemos um 757 taxiando; bem à direita do 380, um A321 da Air France. Minúsculos os dois.

Então taí.

*corda = distância entre bordo de ataque e bordo de fuga, ou entre a “frente” e os “fundos” da asa.

***
ANTES QUE EU ME ESQUEÇA

Hoje faz quarenta anos. É como eu já disse certa vez: verdade que é uma conquista americana mais do que uma conquista da raça humana. Ainda assim, é um tema que me empolga, e estimula-me pensar que alguns seres humanos andaram na Lua. Que, toda vez que você olha para ela, está olhando para os veículos, instrumentos e bases dos módulos de alunissagem, que lá deixaram. E pensar que até o seu celular tem mais memória do que qualquer coisa que tenham usado naquela época.

EOF