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*came together. The A380 program is nearly over. The most incredible passenger plane in the sky. Comfortable for 16+ hours. I hope they can archive the blueprin

*came together. The A380 program is nearly over. The most incredible passenger plane in the sky. Comfortable for 16+ hours. I hope they can archive the blueprints for it well enough to consider building it again in the future.

thisisnico 6y ago
I’m sure they’ll hold on to all the Cad Data, the issue is making sure all the suppliers have the Cad data for tooling and parts, it’s unlikely coming back after going away.
- rwmj 6y ago
  Just hope that they keep it in the right version of CATIA: https://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/a380_delayed_by.html https://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/a380_delayed... [Kind of annoying that the Bloomberg article is referenced all over the place, but that Bloomberg's site has broken the link] Edit: More technical link: https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=770047 https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=770047
  - rjsw 6y ago
    The latest revision of the CAD standard used to exchange designs between different software is going through the final stages. It contains changes to explicitly model the stuff needed for wiring harnesses to avoid the problem seen with the A380.
blueblisters 6y ago
Do airplane designers really go back to older designs to make next generation planes? I guess the documentation of design decisions could be useful but the design files by themselves seem pretty difficult to re-use.
- benhurmarcel 6y ago
  It’s useful to look at the former design and see the issues there was with it. Check that you’re integrating the “lessons learnt”. Also you can straight up reuse parts, which avoids the need to qualify them.
adrianN 6y ago
They're most likely legally required to archive all of that for a few decades.
kortilla 6y ago
Is the comfort really any difference in an A380 vs a 777 vs an A350? Cabin configuration is really the only differentiation between modern wide bodies and that’s mostly on the airline.
- iancarroll 6y ago
  In terms of seats, it’s roughly the same (and some airlines have awful A380 configurations), but amenities like showers and bars are much easier on the A380 given the space constraints of other widebodies. Also IME engine noise is reduced given how far you can be from them versus a normal widebody.
  - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
    "showers" - for real? Surely not, that's beyond absurd.
    - hadrien01 6y ago
      'Emirates A380 Shower Spa': https://www.emirates.com/english/experience/our-fleet/a380/ https://www.emirates.com/english/experience/our-fleet/a380/ First class passengers get 30 minutes, including 5 minutes of running water. You can see videos of it on YouTube.
      - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
        Don't planes burn enough fossil fuels without carting around a few extra tons of water quite unnecessarily. Market efficiency, yeah right.
        kortilla 6y ago
        First, your napkin math is shit. They aren’t carrying 6000 pounds of water for the 14 first class seats to get 5 minute showers. Second, the water they use per person weighs less than the weight of the extra passengers that could be fitted in if the arrangement wasn’t first class cabins but was instead economy. First class passengers are where all of the margin is. Finally, you don’t seem to understand what “market efficiency” means because it has nothing to do with this.
Google234 6y ago
Why rebuild it when you can design a better plan?
- s1artibartfast 6y ago
  High cost and the possibility that you design a worse plane.
  - Google234 6y ago
    Imagine what would happen if Toyota tried to relaunch the 1999 Corolla. New designs are more efficient, there’s no way they would design a worse plane.
    - s1artibartfast 6y ago
      If you honestly believe that a corporation can not develop a new product inferior to a past product, then we will have to agree to disagree. There are any number of reasons this can happen, including fewer developmental resources and different timelinelines. You also ignored my point about cost. The a380 took 15 years and $25 billion to develop. If the existing design met a new need, they would absolutely consider dusing off the design.

thisisnico 6y ago

I’m sure they’ll hold on to all the Cad Data, the issue is making sure all the suppliers have the Cad data for tooling and parts, it’s unlikely coming back after going away.

rwmj 6y ago
Just hope that they keep it in the right version of CATIA: https://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/a380_delayed_by.html https://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/a380_delayed... [Kind of annoying that the Bloomberg article is referenced all over the place, but that Bloomberg's site has broken the link] Edit: More technical link: https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=770047 https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=770047
- rjsw 6y ago
  The latest revision of the CAD standard used to exchange designs between different software is going through the final stages. It contains changes to explicitly model the stuff needed for wiring harnesses to avoid the problem seen with the A380.

blueblisters 6y ago

Do airplane designers really go back to older designs to make next generation planes? I guess the documentation of design decisions could be useful but the design files by themselves seem pretty difficult to re-use.

benhurmarcel 6y ago
It’s useful to look at the former design and see the issues there was with it. Check that you’re integrating the “lessons learnt”. Also you can straight up reuse parts, which avoids the need to qualify them.

adrianN 6y ago

They're most likely legally required to archive all of that for a few decades.

kortilla 6y ago

Is the comfort really any difference in an A380 vs a 777 vs an A350? Cabin configuration is really the only differentiation between modern wide bodies and that’s mostly on the airline.

iancarroll 6y ago
In terms of seats, it’s roughly the same (and some airlines have awful A380 configurations), but amenities like showers and bars are much easier on the A380 given the space constraints of other widebodies. Also IME engine noise is reduced given how far you can be from them versus a normal widebody.
- throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
  "showers" - for real? Surely not, that's beyond absurd.
  - hadrien01 6y ago
    'Emirates A380 Shower Spa': https://www.emirates.com/english/experience/our-fleet/a380/ https://www.emirates.com/english/experience/our-fleet/a380/ First class passengers get 30 minutes, including 5 minutes of running water. You can see videos of it on YouTube.
    - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
      Don't planes burn enough fossil fuels without carting around a few extra tons of water quite unnecessarily. Market efficiency, yeah right.
      - kortilla 6y ago
        First, your napkin math is shit. They aren’t carrying 6000 pounds of water for the 14 first class seats to get 5 minute showers. Second, the water they use per person weighs less than the weight of the extra passengers that could be fitted in if the arrangement wasn’t first class cabins but was instead economy. First class passengers are where all of the margin is. Finally, you don’t seem to understand what “market efficiency” means because it has nothing to do with this.

Google234 6y ago

Why rebuild it when you can design a better plan?

s1artibartfast 6y ago
High cost and the possibility that you design a worse plane.
- Google234 6y ago
  Imagine what would happen if Toyota tried to relaunch the 1999 Corolla. New designs are more efficient, there’s no way they would design a worse plane.
  - s1artibartfast 6y ago
    If you honestly believe that a corporation can not develop a new product inferior to a past product, then we will have to agree to disagree. There are any number of reasons this can happen, including fewer developmental resources and different timelinelines. You also ignored my point about cost. The a380 took 15 years and $25 billion to develop. If the existing design met a new need, they would absolutely consider dusing off the design.