A380 vs Embraer at Le Bourget...

My question: at any point *prior* to the incident, did the French measure the distance from centerline to the building...? Then, say, I don't know, something about, "Gee, that number seems smaller than my wingtip clearance requirements"...?

numbers are hard...

The French are so ######ing stupid. "Hey, Peire, why don't we build a really ######ing big plane that is impossible to taxi around airports?"

I'm probably in the minority here but I think the A380 is a pretty amazing airplane. I don't care who built it, 1.3 million pounds at .85M is a pretty significant achievement. Currently, Airbus is the company that's pushing the envelope in regards to jumbo aircraft. It will cause other manufacturers to build bigger and better things, which is good for everyone.

As far as it's wingspan, airports should adjust to it IMO. It's not like the early car manufacturers waited around for nice roads to be built. Technology drives its infrastructure, not the other way around.

Also, though the A380 has had some high profile taxiing incidents, it probably still has a better record than AMC!

The A-380 has 236 orders, they need 420 to break even. Yea, that is smart!

And 90 of those come from a single airline (Emirates).

Stolen from Gizmag.com

This is a lot of "S" turn taxiing

Looks like a trailing cone still attached? maybe they have not figured out the pitot statics yet?

New type of UAV?

Looks like a trailing cone still attached? maybe they have not figured out the pitot statics yet?

Well the aicraft looks to be N787BA and is in the expensive house colors (not the simplified cheaper white colors the other test articles are), so I think that's ZA001 - first one built. I'm guessing the trailing static cone will stay through the flt test program.

Also, though the A380 has had some high profile taxiing incidents, it probably still has a better record than AMC!

Solution- Fly the test pilots, Airbus' CEO, CFO and the test engineers to Scott AFB. Let Lt Gen Allardice yell at them for a couple of hours while they stand at attention, then do pushups until they can't get up off the floor. Problem solved.

^Please tell me that's just urban legend.

^Please tell me that's just urban legend.

Yes it is. They were never standing at attention. Everyone knows you can not do pushups while standing.

Well the aircraft looks to be N787BA and is in the expensive house colors (not the simplified cheaper white colors the other test articles are), so I think that's ZA001 - first one built. I'm guessing the trailing static cone will stay through the flt test program.

Yes, that is correct. It stays during the entire program for safety reasons. The system works fine, but lots of unexpected things come up during a test program. At least with Boeing, figuring out how to get around an airport on the ground in one piece is not difficult.