A380 - the plane. Modern aircraft. How much does the "Airbus A380"

A380 - the aircraft, created by experts of the concern Airbus SAS. 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 of a non-stop flight is 15,400 km.

The work of creators

As noted by the developers, with the greatest difficulties had to encounter in the process of searching for options to reduce the weight of the aircraft A380. The plane was made easier due to the wide use of composite materials when creating not only power elements of the structure, but also auxiliary units, interior and much more. In addition, for these purposes, the most advanced technological solutions and modified aluminum alloys were used. Thus, 40% of the mass of the eleven-ton center-plate is made up of carbon plastics. For the production of lateral and upper fuselage panels, the hybrid material Glare is used. A significant reduction in the number of fasteners allowed laser welding of the skin and stringers of the lower fuselage panel.

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

How it all began

The A380 is an aircraft that has been developed with the following objectives: to expand the range of Airbus SAS products and to displace Boeing-747 from the leading positions. The debate about the final configuration of the aircraft was completed in 2001. The first components of the A380 wing were produced in January 2002. According to initial estimates, the program cost ranged from 8.7 to 8.8 billion euros. After the assembly of the first aircraft, this amount increased to 11 billion (later it was further increased).

It should be noted that the invaluable contribution to the design of the A380F model was made by the employees of the Moscow Airbus ECAR engineering center. 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 serial production of the aircraft was ensured.

Where components are made and how they are transported

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

The tail and nose elements of the fuselage were horizontally loaded onto the ship Ville de Bordeaux (owned by the Airbus concern) in Hamburg to go to the UK. Barge in Mostin brought the console wings produced in Broughton and in Filton. There, these elements were loaded onto the aforementioned board "Ville de Bordeaux". In Cadiz, the ship took tail components and lower sections of the fuselage. Everything was unloaded in Bordeaux. From there, the constituent elements were transported to Langon, and then delivered on land to Toulouse. The already assembled aircraft were sent to Hamburg for final equipment. The A380 is an airplane, which requires 3,600 liters of paint (the total area of the plating is 3,100 square meters).

Testing

Modern aircraft before the direct release on the flights are the most serious tests. In this regard, the A380 is also an exception. Specifically for a variety of tests, five aircraft were built. The first board was presented in Toulouse in January 2005. On April 27 of the same year, the first flight was made. The flight crew consisted of six people, led by Jacques Rossi - an experienced test pilot. Successful landing occurred in 3 hours 54 minutes. After take-off.

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

A380 - the aircraft (photo above), who made his first transatlantic flight on 10.01.2006. The beginning of the same year was marked by the first unforeseen situation: during the static test at the Toulouse Aircraft Plant, the wing of one vessel suddenly cracked, unable to withstand the load of 145% of the nominal . As defined by aviation security standards, no changes in integrity should occur at a load equal to 150% of the established value. As a result, the leadership of the consortium Airbus decided to make changes in the design of the wings of the aircraft. Due to the addition of reinforcing elements, the overall weight of the structure increased by thirty kilograms, fourteen of which constituted fixing bolts.

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

Design Features

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

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

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

Pilot workplace

In order to reduce the cost of additional training for the crew, all Airbus are built with the same cab layout and flight characteristics. A380 features a glass cabin of improved quality. The steering wheels can be manipulated remotely by means of electric drives, which are connected to the side handle. The cockpit has the most modern information display devices. These are nine interchangeable LCD monitors measuring 20 by 15 centimeters. Two of them are indicators of navigational data, two show 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.

A mixture of natural gas and aviation kerosene with GTL can be used to refuel the aircraft in question.

Materials used

How much does an Airbus A380 cost ? More than twenty-eight million euros. The impressive amount that is required for one aircraft, largely due to the use of improved composite materials of the design, among which plastic and metal, reinforced with quartz, carbon and glass fiber. In addition, aluminum alloys are actively used in aircraft production. In combination with laser welding, this allows you to dispense with rivets.

Providing a comfortable flight

As experts have established, the noise level in the A380 is twice lower than in the Boeing-747. In addition, air pressure is maintained at a higher level inside the aircraft under consideration. Both of these factors are designed to provide less fatigue for passengers during the flight.

Two ladders, located in the tail and nose of the aircraft, connect the upper and lower decks. The A380 features impressive individualization capabilities. That's why, as noted in the concern Airbus, 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 rest room, a Duty Free shop. Due to the presence of a satellite channel for passengers, a telephone connection or a wireless Internet connection (Wi-Fi) is organized.

At present, air transportation in Russia using A380 is not carried out. An order for four sides has been issued, but so far none of them has been built.

Unexpected situations

The first emergency occurred on November 4, 2010. That day, the A380, owned by Qantas, followed from Singapore to Sydney. One of the engines of the aircraft refused a few minutes after take-off. The plane was forced to return to the airport in Singapore. As reported by the Australian authorities, none of the 433 passengers and 26 crew members were injured. In addition, at the emergency board during landing, the chassis tires burst. After this incident, the company's management decided to suspend flights of all its Airbus A380 for two days before the completion of their detailed verification.

The second emergency occurred on April 12, 2011. Then the board, owned by Air France, hooked on its wing tail of the aircraft CRJ 700. There were no injured.

Conclusion

Airbus A380 - the result of painstaking work of developers and manufacturers. This aircraft surpasses its closest competitors in a variety of parameters. How much does an airplane cost, what are the features of its design and process of creation? All of these questions are answered in the above article.