Encounter with Airbus A380

I first heard about Airbus A380 the other day when my air traffic controller friend called to ask if I was going to Tower to catch a glimpse of this plane that will touchdown here in our country for the first time. I wondered what’s so special about this particular plane (I even didn’t remember the name) that I will have go to Tower on my day off just to see it. I felt a little ashamed of being so outmoded with the latest news and breakthroughs in the aviation field. Still, I am unaffected and uninterested in a plane.

When I reported for work today, that name again came up when I was doing my routine check up of the equipments at the cab room. We had a few visitors that were busy taking pictures of the runway and a particular plane. I remembered the conversation with my friend. To satisfy my curiosity, I also peered around. I didn’t notice something special with the plane they pointed to me. Sure it was fatter that the Boeing 747s but to my sight, it was not really as grandiose as the popularity it gets.

The plane was positioned at the end of runway 06; the ATCs said it was heading for Subic, where PGMA is awaiting its arrival. Oh…one of the privileges of being President- you can order planes around, even the so-called ‘special ones’.

When the ATCs told us it would not depart until after 20 mins, my supervisor got the idea of using our access pass (orange – Ramp and DPT areas) in order to be able to peruse the plane at a closer view. So armed with the excuse of checking the ILS localizer at runway 24 (where the plane would be taking off), we immediately sped to the runway. Luckily, we were not stopped by MIAA police and guards.

We were able to take pictures of it but not to our hearts’ content because it started to taxi by the time we got to the other side of the runway.

But we raced with it to runway 24, where we could be closest to it, just before it takes off.
It was not that easy though; taxiing planes have speeds of 60-80 mph. 747s can taxi at 80mph. What more can this plane. But it was worth it.

I was impressed with the shape of the wings; it looked more like a bird. It also has more room for passengers and crew because it has two decks. I also heard it is made of lighter materials therefore, it is fuel efficient. And there was little/no sound during take off – it’s like I watched a silent movie of an airplane taking off. And the jet blast was not that bad, considering we were really down there at the end of the runway when it took off. I really expected to get all the black smoke but there was none, only a feeling a gust of wind.

Not bad. Now I know why it deserves to be popular. It even caused traffic in Multinational because cars were stopping/ slowing down to take a glimpse of it.

That’s my encounter with Airbus A380. By the time I got back to our office, I immediately searched for information and learn everything I can about it. You can check Wikipedia for more info as well as airbus webpage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380

http://www.airbus.com/en/aircraftfamilies/a380/index2.html

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/a380.htm


check my multiply for the pictures:

http://liezlmacas.multiply.com/photos/album/9