Airbus A380

[patsfangr]

Boeing, and its merged McDonnell Douglas elements, has made the best airplanes in the world since the airplane was invented.

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Presumably you mean commercial airliners. If not, methinks there are a few people who might disagree, especially those who invented and developed aircraft which are now made under licence in the US, notably the (Hawker) Harrier and the (Westland) Sea King.

So its fair to say that you wouldn't put the Illuyshins or Tupolevs at the top of your wish list?

Just a thought.

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Let's see ... B-17, B-29, C-47, C-119, Dauntless, B-52, KC-10, B-1B, C-17, F-18, F-15E, Apache ... just to name a few. I think Boeing/McDonnell Douglas have done OK in the military airplane arena over the years.

George

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Absolutely they have. What I was gently trying to point out was that Boeing are not the only aircraft manufacturers in the world, and that sometimes better aircraft are made outside the US. In fact, the US aircraft industry domination in terms of both quality and quantity probably dates only from the mid-1940s, although Boeing have been going for longer (the 1920s, or perhaps earlier, I think).

And the bit about the Russian aircraft was a joke. Nearly.

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I certainly agree with that, Sadman. No one country makes the best of everything, without exception. However, I think we can all agree that the Russian commercial aircraft come up considerably short on all counts!

Just by way of note, I am, clearly, proud to be an American, and support her in nearly every way. I do, however, try to prevent my enthusiasm and patriotism from crossing the line to "Ugly American" behavior. If I offend anyone by tip-toeing too close to that line, I sincerely apologize. I will humbly accept any admonishment to tone it down on any occasion when that occurs.

[sadman]

Just by way of note, I am, clearly, proud to be an American, and support her in nearly every way. I do, however, try to prevent my enthusiasm and patriotism from crossing the line to "Ugly American" behavior. If I offend anyone by tip-toeing too close to that line, I sincerely apologize. I will humbly accept any admonishment to tone it down on any occasion when that occurs.

You have every right to be proud to be an American. I am equally proud to be British, although my late father and his family were American (from Mason, NH), and I have have spent many happy holidays and work assignments in the States - in fact, I'm off to San Fran next week.

Happy Independence Day!

[patsfangr]

Just by way of note, I am, clearly, proud to be an American, and support her in nearly every way. I do, however, try to prevent my enthusiasm and patriotism from crossing the line to "Ugly American" behavior. If I offend anyone by tip-toeing too close to that line, I sincerely apologize. I will humbly accept any admonishment to tone it down on any occasion when that occurs.

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You have every right to be proud to be an American. I am equally proud to be British, although my late father and his family were American (from Mason, NH), and I have have spent many happy holidays and work assignments in the States - in fact, I'm off to San Fran next week.

Happy Independence Day!

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Too bad it's San Fran, and not LA. I live near Anaheim, about 35 miles southeast of LA. I'd love to spend a couple of hours really picking the brain of one of you guys.

Plenty of time for that on most issues, however. The only thing that's going to happen near-term is the home purchase. We hope to have that done within a month or so. My retirement, and our permanent move, won't be until April.

Meanwhile, I have to somehow find the motivation to continue to focus at work. I'm already finding that to be no easy task, and I'm 9 months away from leaving!

Edited July 4, 2005 by patsfangr

[CitationX]

Wow, I had no idea such strong opinions regarding the old boeing/airbus (has it really been that long?) rivalry was rooted so deeply.

Just my humble 2 cents, but the A380 and B747 aren't actually competing head on (in regards to airline A will order A380 over B747, in order to service a particular market). Yes they are competing with each other in terms of the accounting books at boeing and airbus, but in terms of airlines and what equipment they intend to purchase and fly, they each belong in different market segments.

Boeing was actually contemplating (and actually started the preliminary engineering... most of which they are now applying to a new variant of the 747-400 series that may be introduced, if airlines such as Cathay Pacific, BA, etc convince Boeing to go ahead with it) designing a stretched version of the 747 (much like the A380), but have since ditched the idea because they came to the conclusion it was not feasible (not enough airlines would buy it). So in effect, it's not like Airbus caught Boeing by surprise with the introduction of the A380.

In short, companies won't be purchasing the A380 over the 747 (or visa versa) because it's a better plane, or what have you, but because they intend to service a particular market with whichever aircraft is more economical for that segment(density, etc).

Case-in-point, Thai Airways has placed firm orders for the A380 (which will be starting service with them in 2008... A380 debuts in 2006 with airilnes such as Singapore airlines and Emirates). Surprise surprise, Thai Airways also operates 747-300/400 (and no, they won't be replaced by the A380s). That's not to say that the A380 won't be competing with the B747 in any way, shape or form... just not head on and *as* directly as some people may think.

Hope what I just said makes sense... just wrote a book!