1st A380 into EGLL..

[Techy111]

Forgot i had this.....I was there for the 1st A380 landing at Heathrow....Just uploaded it to youtube.... ;-)

Sorry for the cheesy music....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJi4U1IMPhU

Tony

[Garry Russell]

Cheers Mate

Pity about the music :-( .......it would be nice to here the crowd reaction and the engines ;-)

Garry

[Chris Trott]

Wow, the sail area is more of a problem than I thought. The 747 only has about 5 degrees of crab in on approach but the A380 has nearly 15! I know they say the crosswind limits of the A380 are similar to the 747's, but my worry is that one of these days the pilots are going to forget to kick out the crab before landing and be off the runway before they can correct after touchdown.

[Garry Russell]

I would expect the 380 to have more simply due to the increased side area. :think:

Still those crab angle look quite mild to what we often see locally

Garry

[DaveB]

I like ColdPlay so the music didn't bother me much (I should grow up I know)

There's so much flex on the 380's wings isn't there :o

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Techy111]

You think my music is bad...? Listen to the in-flight music on the A380...jeez....its like porn music....(never watch it meself... )

Interesting to see that the Ailerons move up and act as spoilers on touchdown....never knew that... :think:

Bit of a heavy landing also.... :roll:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zc0wbvS ... re=related

Tony

[DaveB]

Eeek.. the ailerons look split too

No wonder the pilot threw it on the deck. That music would drive anyone mad I liked the size of the shadow as it got closer to the ground :o

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[cstorey]

Wow, the sail area is more of a problem than I thought. The 747 only has about 5 degrees of crab in on approach but the A380 has nearly 15! I know they say the crosswind limits of the A380 are similar to the 747's, but my worry is that one of these days the pilots are going to forget to kick out the crab before landing and be off the runway before they can correct after touchdown.

The drift angle is purely a function of the crosswind component and is the same for any aeroplanes travelling at a given speed in a given wind . Thus , a Trident at 143 kts would have the same angle as a 747 at 143 kts. It has nothing to do with the "sail area" at all, which is only relevant on the ground when the weathercocking tendency has to be counteracted. In any event, apart from in the earlier part of the approach, I could detect little if any difference between the A380 and the 2 747s which preceded it

[Chris Trott]

Chris,

Sorry, but sail area does affect crab angle on approach. Look at a B-52 on approach versus a KC-135. Similar approach speeds and even weights most of the time, but the B-52 will always have a higher crab angle due to it's larger side area and massive tail. This was something that the B-52 pilots I know commented on with their later careers with the airlines in that it took some getting used to not having to crab as much and being able to land while looking out the front window instead of out the side. It doesn't have much of an effect in cruise flight, but on approach you have to remember that there is a lot more drag being produced by the aircraft than normal already and then you add a large amount of additional form drag from large side surfaces and there is an effect of either requiring higher approach speeds or a higher crab angle.

[cstorey]

I think we shall have to agree to differ. If you get your whizwheel out - I still have mine from the 1960s! - and plot the heading against track requirements, they always produce the same result at given speeds and wind velocities. The B52 I think was a special case because IIRC there was no need to kick it straight because of the castoring gear and thus a conventional a/c would always look very different from inside at the flare

BWS Chris S