Thursday, March 20, 2008
Up, Up and Away!
It may not be immediately apparent how big it is. Here are some facts:
1. Higher than 5 double deckers (seriously I cannot comprehend this) i.e. 24.1m.
2. Longer than a football pitch (that's 73m; I don't know how big a football pitch is).
3. It's even wider than it is long at 79m.
4. It is fucking huge.
There is an article here of which the highlights are:
" It doesn’t seem credible that something this size should get into the air at all. Our takeoff weight today was 468 tonnes, which is the equivalent of 12 very surprised sperm whales."
"the A380 feels more like an inter-city train leaving a station: silent, gentle, almost imperceptible" (this is a good thing, I think)
"..much-vaunted entertainment system..It’s cracking: 100 on-demand films, 150 TV programmes, 700 CDs. New films, too." (this is VERY good)
"Taking to the air with the A380 does, genuinely, feel like a miracle". (Which quite frankly is my fundamental problem with the whole thing).
There are apparently slightly bigger economy class seats, which is good, and Singapore Airlines have such a great reputation so I'm looking forward to that. Although nothing will get over the hell that is 13 hours in economy. When will teleportation become a reality?
Beam me up indeed.
Labels: airplane
