This post was intended to be my final post from France, however battery life and flight departure times got the best of me. After the A380 Production Update I posted two weeks ago, I wanted to provide an inside look at the Final Assembly Line (FAL) of the world's largest commercial passenger aircraft.
Approaching the massive building at the north end of Blagnac airport, what becomes immediately apparent is the shear scale of the venture being undertaken. I couldn't help but feel like something big lives here...and it does.
Walking through an unassuming door into the cavernous facility, my attention was immediately drawn to the nose fuselage section of MSN025 an Emirates A380 destined for delivery in 2009. It arrived in Toulouse on April 23 and was waiting patiently in front of the body join tooling that was surrounding MSN034 (Singapore Airlines), which, at the time, was receiving its wings.
The parts for MSN034 had arrived in the same convoy in late April as well. The aircraft has had its horizontal stabilizer installed and was awaiting its pylons, winglets or vertical tail to be joined.
Off to the left of the nose was MSN025's aft fuselage surrounded by scaffolding undergoing pre-integration. It was positioned in front of the port wing of MSN019, another A380 for Singapore Airlines which, according to Airbus, was undergoing rewiring in preparation for its move outside to the flight line.
CONTINUED BELOW
Read the complete post at http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/2008/05/a380-production-updates-may-20.html
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Wed, May 28 2008 12:09 AM
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