Birth of an Airbus

The Airbus company invites you to participate in a tour across the aircraft factory in Toulouse. Below are 36 pictures of aircrafts with comments.

A-380 final assembly workshop.

A-380.

The size of an airplane wing enables to accommodate a number of systems which are traditionally installed at other sites. Air-conditioning system can be observed in the picture.

Wing length of A-380 equals to 36.3 meters.

Mock-up model of A-380 with a new cabin.

The workshop looks abandoned as compared to the Boeing factory where 30 thousand people are engaged in aircraft assembling. The reason is that manual labor is very expensive.

Assembly of an airbus for Lufthansa.

Three aircrafts undergo simultaneous assembling in the adjacent workshop.

Two aircrafts are decorated with a well-known livery Air France.

Another Airbus plane. The model is experimental and is related to those used for study performance and participation in exhibitions.

This very model was acquired by a magnat from Saudi Arabia.

Following presales training a plane will be shifted to a finishing department where a new cabin will be installed. The magnat paid 170 million dollars for interior trimming. It seems natural that taking pictures is not allowed.

Interior of the largest assembly hall in Europe. It is 500 meters long, 250 meters high and 46 meters high.

The 4 so-called green planes are located in the street. After test flights they will go to the painting shop in Hamburg under their own power where they will be delivered to the customers. 

Tail of A380 built for China Southern.

Two test models of A380 in an airshed.

In 33 days this plane will fly to the Zhukovsky town to take part in an air show MAX-2011.

Engines are checked after every flight.

This very model participated in the air show that took place in Le Bourget, Paris.

It is possible to see the design of an undercarriage. What a rare case! This plane will have wheels with effective and light brake units which will later be used in every A380 model.

GP7270 engine can be viewed from the floor. Right to left: an air mover, a low compressor, a high compressor, a burner can, a high pressure turbine, a low pressure turbine and a jet pipe.

A-380 occupies the third position in the list of world passenger aircraft by length after Boeing-747-8 and A340-600.

The size of horizontal stabilizer of A380 is equal to that of A320.

Part of external conditioning system.

Cool air is transfered through junction pipes along the entire cabin.

The cabin is equipped with control and measuring equipment to carry out tests.

Chairs of economy and business class.

Barrels occupy places designed for first class passengers. They serve as ballast. Besides, liquid is redistributed among the barrels enabling study of aircraft behavior in different center-of-gravity positions.

Areas that require attention are marked in red.