The headline writers have had a field day with the production delays to the 555-seat A380.
The headline writers have had a field day with the production delays to the 555-seat A380.
But perhaps it’s time to take a stroll down memory lane and reflect on some of the greatest projects in engineering and aviation history to look at how our drive to reach for the sky overcame adversity.
One of the best examples is one of Australia’s greatest landmarks – the Sydney Opera House.
During its development, it was plagued with problems and opened 10 years late.
By 1973, it had cost $103 million instead of the $7 million projected in 1957.
The Sydney Opera House was ridiculed and lampooned by satirists and cartoonists, and editorial writers were scathing in their attacks on the waste of public money.
The barrage of criticism was such that designer Jørn Utzon never designed another masterpiece. Today, there is nothing but pride for Australia’s icon.
And talking of pride and icons – like the 200 million people who have made it the world’s most visited monument – it is impossible to go past the Eiffel Tower.
Yet, at the time of its building in 1887, it was described as an eyesore.
Today, like Australians, the French are passionate about La Tour Eiffel.
And another jumbo – the queen of the skies – also had a difficult birth.
Like Eiffel and Utzon, American airline pioneer and founder and CEO of Pan Am, Juan Trippe, had a dream to operate the ultimate economy class travel machine – the Boeing 747.
There was no formal business plan, just a gut instinct that mass travel would work.
All airlines – except Pan Am – were horrified at the prospect of a 400-seat monster.
And what horrified everyone even more was the giant jet’s weight, which almost led to the collapse of Boeing, Pan Am and the engine maker Pratt and Whitney.
When the 747 was first envisaged it was to weigh 250,000 kilograms at takeoff but by the time the first order was signed that had grown to 297,000kg, and by first flight it topped 327,000kgs.
More power was needed, causing the engines to distort and overheat.
Only cool heads saved the day. But it would be a few years before the 747 performed as originally guaranteed.
History has judged the 747 one of the greatest aircraft ever built and it will also look kindly on the A380 once it enters service with Qantas and other major airlines.
The A380 will deliver significant advances in passenger comfort, not the least being a library quiet cabin, thanks to the aircraft’s huge wing, which masks the engine noise.
It will also have quieter engines and improved cabin insulation.
And that huge wing, with its incredibly sophisticated flight control system, will work overtime to smooth out any bumps, giving passengers an almost silky smooth ride.
As more and more industry analysts ride the A380, the overwhelming view is that it’s worth the wait.
Airbus COO-Commercial John Leahy told media last week that he expected Qantas’ first A380 to be delivered in August next year.
Services are expected to start on the Sydney-Los Angeles route in late September.
Qantas has 20 A380s on order.
Singapore Airlines will get its first aircraft in October this year and that will start services on the Singapore-Sydney leg of its Sydney-London service.
Three more A380s will be delivered to Singapore Airlines in the first quarter of 2008 and the aircraft will then be deployed on the Singapore-London route.
Singapore Airlines has 19 A380s on order, while Emirates has a whopping 49 – which accounts for just under one third of all orders.
