November 17 – The Week Ahead Open Thread – A380 Edition

Sluggish Deliveries Warning
This item went largely unnoticed last week from the EADS Airbus press conference:

Deliveries of Airbus A380 aircraft may be delayed: EADS
PARIS (AFP) –
Deliveries of some super-jumbo Airbus A380 airliners scheduled for next year may be delayed until 2010, the head of the European aerospace group EADS said on Friday.

“We had planned to deliver 12 A380s in 2008 and 21 in 2009. Some of the 21 for 2009 may be delivered in 2010,” EADS head Louis Gallois said in telephone press conference.

Airbus chief Thomas Enders had bet a magnum of champagne on delivering the 33 aircraft by the 2008 and 2009 time frame.

New customers Air France, Lufthansa and China Southern are among the airlines expected to get their first A380s in 2009.

Wave 2 did fly!
There was quite a bit of back and forth last week about whether or not the first Wave 2 A380 actually flew. MSN026 in fact did make its first flight as reported by Flight on November 12. Though, it raised a funny question: If a plane flies in Toulouse and no one is around to spot it, did it actually fly?

Well, the answer is yes. The aircraft left early in the morning and came back to TLS after a two hour flight rather than being ferried to XFW. No photographers were around to spot it at the time. The QANTAS A380 arrived in Hamburg earlier today with plenty of visual evidence to support that claim.

A380 No. 10 leaves the nest
Emirates got its 3rd (of 58) A380-800 (MSN016 A6-EDC) on November 15th, making it the tenth superjumbo to be delivered since the A380 entered service in 2007 with Singapore Airlines. The arrival of number three will launch service between Dubai and London on December 1. The commencement of that route will bring the total A380 city pairs to seven. QANTAS A380 no. 2 VH-OQB is next in line for delivery.

ACARS mode: 2 Aircraft reg: A6-EDC [ ]

Message label: Q0 Block id: 4 Msg no: S27A

Flight id: EK7380 [] [Emirates]

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15/11/2008 09:17 ]-

QANTAS names its A380
Am I crazy or are there only 19 bullet points here? QANTAS ordered 20
A380s. Also, there are 21 names. I’m willing to bet that Keith and Ross
McPhearson Smith each get their own superjumbo and John and Reginald
Duigan get to share. Anyone care to clarify?

• Nancy-Bird Walton – the first woman to fly a commercial
  aviation service in Australia. First woman to fly a commercial service
  in Australia.
• Hudson Fysh – one of the founders of Qantas and
  the airline’s first Managing Director. A founder of Qantas and the
  first Managing Director.
• Paul McGinness – A Qantas founder.
• Fergus McMaster – A Qantas founder and the airlines first Chairman.
• Lawrence Hargrave – The inventor of the box kite and achieved a linking of four to fly sixteen feet in 1894.
• Charles
  Kingsford Smith – Achieved the first trans-Pacific flight that ran from
  the USA to Australia in 1928. He also formed Australian National
  Airways Limited.
• Charles Ulm – Charles Kingsford Smith’s
  Co-pilot when he flew the trans-pacific flight and was also a founder
  of Australian National Airways Limited.
• Reginald Ansett – The founder of Ansett Airways in Australia.
• David Warren – The inventor of the Black Box Flight Recorder still used in modern airliners.
• Bert Hinkler – Achieved the first solo flight from Britain to Australia in 1928.
• John and Reginald Duigan – Both men were the first to design and build a flying powered aircraft in 1910.
• Phyllis Arnot – The first Australian woman to achieve a commercial pilots licence.
• Keith
  McPhearson Smith and Ross McPhearson Smith – both were winners of the
  ‘air race’ that ran between London and Australia held in 1919.
• Lester
  Brain – One of the pilots working on the first Qantas routes in 1925.
  He was responsible for transporting the first Catalina Flying Boat that
  was delivered to Qantas in 1941. Mr Brain was also given the position
  of General Manager of Trans-Australia Airlines in 1946.
• Lores
  Bonney – The first woman to complete a solo flight around Australia in
  1932 and the first to fly solo from Australia to England in 1933.
• Norman
  Brearley – The founder of Western Australian Airways Limited. The
  airline were responsible for operating the first scheduled air service
  commencing on the 5th of December 1921.
• PG Taylor – Charles
  Kingford Smith and Charles Ulm’s navigator and co-pilot on several
  occasions on flight between Australia and the USA as well as between
  England and Australia. Awarded the Empire Gallantry Medial in 1937 for
  acts of bravery.
• John Flynn – The Royal Flying Doctor Service founder.
• Gaby Kennard – The first Australian female to complete a solo flight across the globe.

UPDATE – The one I missed:

• Scotty Allan – Co-pilot alongside Charles Ulm and P G Taylor on the 1933 record-breaking flight from England to Australia and later joined Qantas and flew DH86 aircraft on the Brisbane-Singapore route.