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Airbus announced the end of production for the A340s
Airbus A340s are no longer in Production. (www.airlineberg.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
O'Leary would say anything, I mean anything just to get his name on the news as that brings his airline free advertisement although the time is coming to be totally ignored as he overreached himself with monster stupidities like one-pilot crewing the 737 is enough, that visits to the loo (aka WC) will be charged X sterling punds and now trying to blackmail Boeing with the threat of Chinese airplanes. Airplanes of that nation have not reached the quality level of Western aircraft, not now, but eventually they will though.
Awww...and China went to such lengths to "acquire" Western aviation specs.
Do I detect " patriotism " wrapped up in bias and prejudice in some of the comments here ? Maybe everything made in the good ole' US of A is good , and all things foreign , bad . But I think that the problem is that Airbus products are , but keep this quiet , SOCIALIST . That's it , definately , no question . It will be interesting to see the effects of the A350 on B777 and B787 sales .
Also , did you hear that Michael O'Leary of Ryanair maybe ditching Boeing and , omigod , buying Chinese aircraft !!! . What is the world coming to ? .
Also , did you hear that Michael O'Leary of Ryanair maybe ditching Boeing and , omigod , buying Chinese aircraft !!! . What is the world coming to ? .
Micheal, in spite of the dedcidedly Kraut name I am a proud American. For some years I flew a French airplane that was beautifully and thoughtfully designed and built and an absolute dream to fly. Among American aircraft I am, frankly, partial to the Lockheeds (showing my age?) My preference for Boeing over Airbus is a personal one that has nothing to do with Toulouse or Seattle. To break it down- and, again, this is a personal preference- I believe that whenever designers make it more difficult for a Pilot to make an error they may also make it more difficult for him to correct an unforseen problem. When automation gets in the way of dealing with a problem it has gone too far. If the designer prevents me from exceeding an angle of bank by accident, he also prevents me from doing it when necessary.
Herb , or should that be Herr Herb , I can't remember the phrase about old and bold pilots but it sounds like you fit into the latter catagory , and all the better for it too . I have always thought that Lockheeds were the Cadillacs and Boeings the Fords of passenger aircraft . Now I'm not sure where we can put Airbus , Mercedes or Volkswagen . In many respects , as you well know , the design philosophies of Airbus are quite different to those of Boeing , but who is to say one is right and the other wrong as both manufacturers produce superb aircraft . Given that their sales figures have been pretty evenly matched for decades , the decision as to which type to buy , often comes down to national prejudice , political pressures and influences which often leads to a poor and unsuitable purchase .The decision to buy Boeing rather than Airbus for the new USAF tanker is a prize example and I think pilot preferences come well down the list .
Michael: the phrase is "there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old,bold pilots". That being said, please allow me my .2cts worth. I feel you are correct in your analogies of each aircraft type and their design philosophies. Airbus has tried to take all that is good from their forerunners and therby not have to contend with the bad. Problem is that I feel most of that has been done from an engineering and computer programming standpoint and not that much input from actual pilots that will fly them. The joystick will take some getting used to but that is not anything compared to a system that locks a pilot out of the loop and not let him exceed the flight envelope. That is a good idea in theory, but, if you fly long enough, don't matter if it's a C-150 or big iron of some type, Mr. Murphy will come in and join the party, and you will have an upset of some type, from which you will have to try and immediatly recover, and in doing so, you may momentarily exceed the envelope for the machine you are flying. It may just be the tad you need. In an Airbus, you can't with out reprogramming and in most case, you don't have time.
Generally on an equipment buy, it is economics this day and time. Included in that are several things other than price/performance, such as additional parts inventory and training for crew and maintenance.
As far as political pressure and prejudice; 1. If we don't take care of ourselves, no one else will. That's how we rose to a position of world leadership in the first place. Lot's of folks may not like us but they will respect us or tolerate us because of our ability. As far as the tanker deal, we didn't commit near as much to Boeing as the Europeans were going to subsidize Airbus, and it was our Air Force; they should do what they are told and that does go back to #1. Your profile does not list your age. All I can say is that if you did not live thru the Vietnam era as a teen ager or older, please read all the history you can. It is hard to tell where you are going if you don't know where you have been. IMHO
Generally on an equipment buy, it is economics this day and time. Included in that are several things other than price/performance, such as additional parts inventory and training for crew and maintenance.
As far as political pressure and prejudice; 1. If we don't take care of ourselves, no one else will. That's how we rose to a position of world leadership in the first place. Lot's of folks may not like us but they will respect us or tolerate us because of our ability. As far as the tanker deal, we didn't commit near as much to Boeing as the Europeans were going to subsidize Airbus, and it was our Air Force; they should do what they are told and that does go back to #1. Your profile does not list your age. All I can say is that if you did not live thru the Vietnam era as a teen ager or older, please read all the history you can. It is hard to tell where you are going if you don't know where you have been. IMHO
Wayne , looking at your photo , I think that you and I are very close in age and yes , I remember the Vietnam era very well and was very lucky not to not to have been drafted and I mourne the losses on all sides to this day . The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in D.C. moves me greatly . Unfortunately , history which you mentioned , seems to be repeating itself in Afganistan . First the Brits , then the Russians and now the US , " when will we ever learn " .
Indeed Mr. Murphy hovers in the background to a greater or lesser extent all the time , hence our training and practices .
Wayne , looking after ourselves is fine and dandy but if we take the attitude that we must take care of ourselves at any cost , it will bounce back and hit us hard . If we expect people to buy our products , we must be prepared to buy some of theirs , trade between countries and all that . In this respect , we are not an island . For example , much of the Air France long haul fleet comprises of B777/200/300's . US Airways and Jet Blue both fly considerable fleets of Airbuses and so the world turns round .
Finally , I must appologise to Herb Fischer when I suggested that he could be a bold pilot . I meant to say , with the greatest of respect , old pilot .
Indeed Mr. Murphy hovers in the background to a greater or lesser extent all the time , hence our training and practices .
Wayne , looking after ourselves is fine and dandy but if we take the attitude that we must take care of ourselves at any cost , it will bounce back and hit us hard . If we expect people to buy our products , we must be prepared to buy some of theirs , trade between countries and all that . In this respect , we are not an island . For example , much of the Air France long haul fleet comprises of B777/200/300's . US Airways and Jet Blue both fly considerable fleets of Airbuses and so the world turns round .
Finally , I must appologise to Herb Fischer when I suggested that he could be a bold pilot . I meant to say , with the greatest of respect , old pilot .
Hey Mike- no apology needed. The consummate Pilot, which I never claimed- or even aspired- to be is bold when the reward exceeds the exposure or meek when the equation is reversed.
How many times in my career have I pushed the envelope one way or the other and lucked out! Diverted just before the field went VMC or stayed for a Must Nail It approach!
Risk Management..... what a convienient term for a whole Universe or things that must be learned and- more importantly- understood. I remember pulling a 777 up to the Gate at KIAD on my last airline flight. Before releasing my seat belt, I thought "I'm just beginning to understand this."
Ten Years at Netjets taught me more, but my ignorance still overwhelms me. There isn't enough time in a life to understand all there is to know.
If you start, at 40 or 50, to think you know it all, I'd suggest two things- either accept a position at your Company's Department so you can associate with the other geniusesses- or look at all you don't know!
How many times in my career have I pushed the envelope one way or the other and lucked out! Diverted just before the field went VMC or stayed for a Must Nail It approach!
Risk Management..... what a convienient term for a whole Universe or things that must be learned and- more importantly- understood. I remember pulling a 777 up to the Gate at KIAD on my last airline flight. Before releasing my seat belt, I thought "I'm just beginning to understand this."
Ten Years at Netjets taught me more, but my ignorance still overwhelms me. There isn't enough time in a life to understand all there is to know.
If you start, at 40 or 50, to think you know it all, I'd suggest two things- either accept a position at your Company's Department so you can associate with the other geniusesses- or look at all you don't know!
I agree on the purchases and we have, BUT, if we had not grown to such a great power, those overseas companies would have no ready made market.What bothers me right now is that it appears that we have gone to far the other way as a country, primarily losing focus of what made us great in the first place, and that is keeping Americans working. It is one thing for them to buy our products but we have made it far to easy for our jobs to go there and we are on our way to becoming one of those 3rd world countries if we don't change course. If they want to develop, let them develop and we will probably buy, but I think we are stupid in giving away some of what we have, both in technology and out and out jobs. That is our fault, not theirs though, and only 2012 elections will either change or stay that course.And you notice I did not express any preference in those election.