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It's surprising to me how small the cargo-hold is. I've always imagined it to be a lot bigger, but now that I think about it (having seen it), it makes a lot of

by keehun 9y ago

It's surprising to me how small the cargo-hold is. I've always imagined it to be a lot bigger, but now that I think about it (having seen it), it makes a lot of sense..

jamiek88 9y ago
Yes, I went through the same process, obviously in hindsight it is a tube, all that can remain is the bottom half of the circle underneath the floor. Fascinating look at those part assembled planes. Interesting how a politics is just as 'real' as economics - the plane is purposefully built around the EU to spread the jobs and buy in from member nations, why not include the US in that too? With the UK leaving the EU I can see those parts being moved to the US and more being done here. Pity it's because 'cheap labour' though -having said that the cost of living in Mobile, AL is a lot lower than the European sites I'll wager.
- Symbiote 9y ago
  > With the UK leaving the EU I can see those parts being moved to the US Unless Airbus finds it useful to keep factories in the UK, to sell to British airlines and the British military. Or, because there's so much other aerospace in the UK -- Wikipedia has a huge list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_industry_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_industry_in_the_Unit... Broughton in Wales is not an expensive area. It's not too far from Liverpool.
- keehun 9y ago
  >> Yes, I went through the same process, obviously in hindsight it is a tube, all that can remain is the bottom half of the circle underneath the floor. But see that's the part that got me. I subconsciously thought (without logic) that the passenger cabin part is the upper half and the cargo is just as big as the top half. Actually, the passenger side is much more than the half, and it looks like they've crammed in a lot of things in the remaining bottom portion, making the cargo hold even smaller.
  - coredog64 9y ago
    Unit load devices (e.g. an LD3) have standardized dimensions, so you don't get much by having a taller cargo hold than any other widebody. At best you want to ensure that a person can stand up (or mostly stand up) in the cargo hold as it makes operations easier.
- rospaya 9y ago
  > the plane is purposefully built around the EU to spread the jobs and buy in from member nations, why not include the US in that too? Four EU countries, soon to be only three. That's not purposefully spread, but the result of history and politics.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    You don't think that history and politics were the purpose for forming Airbus?
Ohmycosh 9y ago
Bear in mind that the A321 is a small-ish plane. The A380 has a huge cargo hold in comparison.

by keehun 9y ago

It's surprising to me how small the cargo-hold is. I've always imagined it to be a lot bigger, but now that I think about it (having seen it), it makes a lot of sense..

jamiek88 9y ago

Yes, I went through the same process, obviously in hindsight it is a tube, all that can remain is the bottom half of the circle underneath the floor. Fascinating look at those part assembled planes. Interesting how a politics is just as 'real' as economics - the plane is purposefully built around the EU to spread the jobs and buy in from member nations, why not include the US in that too? With the UK leaving the EU I can see those parts being moved to the US and more being done here. Pity it's because 'cheap labour' though -having said that the cost of living in Mobile, AL is a lot lower than the European sites I'll wager.

Symbiote 9y ago
> With the UK leaving the EU I can see those parts being moved to the US Unless Airbus finds it useful to keep factories in the UK, to sell to British airlines and the British military. Or, because there's so much other aerospace in the UK -- Wikipedia has a huge list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_industry_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_industry_in_the_Unit... Broughton in Wales is not an expensive area. It's not too far from Liverpool.
keehun 9y ago
>> Yes, I went through the same process, obviously in hindsight it is a tube, all that can remain is the bottom half of the circle underneath the floor. But see that's the part that got me. I subconsciously thought (without logic) that the passenger cabin part is the upper half and the cargo is just as big as the top half. Actually, the passenger side is much more than the half, and it looks like they've crammed in a lot of things in the remaining bottom portion, making the cargo hold even smaller.
- coredog64 9y ago
  Unit load devices (e.g. an LD3) have standardized dimensions, so you don't get much by having a taller cargo hold than any other widebody. At best you want to ensure that a person can stand up (or mostly stand up) in the cargo hold as it makes operations easier.
rospaya 9y ago
> the plane is purposefully built around the EU to spread the jobs and buy in from member nations, why not include the US in that too? Four EU countries, soon to be only three. That's not purposefully spread, but the result of history and politics.
- valuearb 9y ago
  You don't think that history and politics were the purpose for forming Airbus?

Ohmycosh 9y ago

Bear in mind that the A321 is a small-ish plane. The A380 has a huge cargo hold in comparison.