Project Schedule-The making of Airbus A380

In the summer of 1988 a group of Airbus engineers led by Jean Roeder began working in secret on the development of an ultra-high-capacity airliner (UHCA), both to complete its own range of products and to break the dominance that Boeing had enjoyed in this market segment since the early 1970s with its 747. The project A380 later was announced at the 1990 Farnborough Air Show, with the stated goal of 15% lower operating costs than the 747-400 (Boeing).

Airbus organized four teams of designers, one from each of its European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) partners (Aérospatiale, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, British Aerospace, EADS CASA) to propose new technologies for its future aircraft designs. In June 1994 Airbus began developing its own very large airliner, then designated as A3XX. The EADS/Airbus Board of Directors granted authority to offer the airplane for sale in June 2000.

The A380 development program was formally launched on Dec. 19, 2000. Qantas placed the first firm order in March 2001. Project A380 was to be an aircraft designed to usher in a new era of superjumbo jets, which was also the world's largest commercial airplane, designed to carry 525 passengers, in a three-class configuration, on routes up to 8,200 nautical miles or 15,200 kilometers (New York to Hong Kong).

Major structural sections of the A380 are built in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, and their components are provided by suppliers from around the world which there are General Electric, Goodrich, Rolls-Royce, SAFRAN and United Technologies Corp. After the body part of A380 was built, the parts were transported by air, river, sea and land by barge to Langon, and by oversize road convoys to the assembly hall in Toulouse, France.

In May 27, 2004, Airbus engineers assembled the shell and structure of the aircraft. The task is to join the 7 major parts into one giant aircraft which the process will take 5 weeks. Gilles Cormier, Head of structural Assembly was responsible of structural assembly. When the structure and shell of the aircraft was completed in July, 2004, the airbus A380 aircraft was moved to factory beside to continue electrical wiring approximate 800km long and several electrical components computer ware installed. Jean-Pierre Faure, Head of the Equipping in charge of the installation of various electrical components and wiring.

After assembly, the aircraft are flown to Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport to be furnished and painted. It takes 3,600 liter of paint to cover the 3,100 exterior of an A380. Airbus sized the production facilities and supply chain for a production rate of four A380s per month.

In the Early March, 2005, after finished assembly, the airbus A380 brought outside factory of Toulouse, France. The testing procedure was handled to the flight test team. Fernando Alonso, flight tests Director was the head of the test flight in charge person. They performed to check everything, get use of the airbus computer system, and to make familiar with all the system and to make everything is working fine. After a month, the flight test team is ready to test the engine. The testing and monitoring process take 2 days long and the next 10 days, will further check on the detail of the ground while the plane was running.

The A380's first flight took place on April 27, 2005. 6 persons headed by chief test pilot, Jacques Rosay ready to take off the plane. The airbus A380 was successfully take off and land safely, having completed the maiden flight. The airbus was later received certification from both the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Dec. 12, 2006.

On March 26, 2006, the Airbus A380 underwent evacuation certification in Hamburg. With eight of aircraft's 16 exits blocked, 853 passengers and 20 crews were able to evacuate the aircraft in 78 seconds, 12 seconds less than the 90 seconds required by certification standards. The A380 is formally certified by EASA and FAA to carry up to 853 passengers.

Singapore Airlines was the first airline to take delivery of the A380 (in a 471 seat configuration) on Oct. 15, 2007. The aircraft entered into service on Oct. 25, 2007, with a maiden flight from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. The airplane is currently in service between London, Singapore and Sydney.

Airbus is turning the whole world into a giant mega factory where over 1500 supplier to build the plane is scattered over 30 countries, however Airbus A380’s 5 major part is being assembled in 5 country where the Wing is assembled at Filton at Bristol & Broughton in Wales, Engine in England, Fuselage and Vertical Section of Tail is assembled at Ville de Bordeaux in Hamburg Germany, Horizontal Tail Section at Cadiz in Spain and all the parts being brought together to be completely assemble at Toulouse Blagnac Airport in France.

In late 2000, the design of the engine for A380 finally settled down. The engine was built by Rolls Royce will capable of providing 30% more thrust than the engine of Boeing 747 or in technical terms, it is 18 000 lbs of force from each engine. All the engine part cost nearly 50 million dollars which equivalent to 25% cost of entire plane.

In Hamburg Germany, Airbus has a factory that is big enough to handle four A380 plane side by side. Airbus in Germany has more than 30 years of experience in building fuselage of aircraft. This is where the stairs, bars, lounge, seat, carpet and etc (interior) been installed. Therefore, they will be in charge of building the fuselage.

In Wales, the wing construction process begins with a sheet of aluminum. That aluminum sheet needs to be shaped into 10 panels in order to cover the wing. Each piece of the aluminum panels has its own shape and requirement. In the factory of Wales, they need to run 3 processes on the sheet of aluminum which is shape it, wrap it, and bake it. There is a milling machine in this factory that is 40 meters long cutting the aluminum panel to the shape of the 3D contour map stored in the machine computer. This process takes 3 days and eliminates 75% of the panel weight while maintaining the strength. After shaping process, the panel will be ready for the baking process. The oven in this factory of Wales is one of the largest pressurized heating chambers available in the world which is 42 meters long and 6 meters wide.

Before the baking process, the person in charge of the heat chamber will ensure that wing panel is properly vacuumed and wrapped by a massive plastic shrink wrap to protect the metal from contamination.

In Spain, the company is using the carbon fiber reinforced plastic to build the largest commercial aviation tail fin in the world. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic is made up of the same stuff that gives diamond the incredible strength. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic also 6 times stiffer than steel and much lighter. Only by using this material, the A380 weight can be kept at the target weight of 277 tones. After baking, strengthening, painting and dried, the technician will join the lightweight panel the tail skeleton.

The process of joining is aided by the computer controlled riveting robot. This robot work around the clock for week and make 10 000 critical connection with the tolerances no human can match. All these process is carefully observed by the engineer and technician because the integrity of tail fin is crucial to the safety of passenger.

When the part of the A380 is completed, it will be sent to France for final assembly. France hold a factory of 500 meters long, 250 meters wide, 15 storey tall and 3200 tons of steel being used to build this factory. In this factory, there is a biggest jig “assembly structure” in the world to assemble aircraft which they call it Station 40. Station 40 is where the fuselage, wings, and tail all comes together. If there is an assembly part error like measurement not up to specs or the joint do not come together just right within millimeters, the huge passenger craft will not fit for flying.

In the development of Airbus A380, 12 billion dollars had been invested to build this aircraft. Each Airbus A380 plane will cost approximately 300 million dollars and in order to breakeven, Airbus needs to sell at least 250 planes of A380 airplanes.

According to Morgan Stanley (global financial service firm), the Airbus company value will rise for 60% if the A380 project is a success which mean the current value of €18.5 billion will be rise to €29.6 billion. One of the most important question ask by the investors is that they want to know whether A380 project will be a long term commercial success due to the delay occur in the first delivery of a complete A380 airplane.

Professor Philip Lawrence noted that the demographic changes and the advancement of technology will be the success reason for A380. He sees the rapidly growth of middle class society of Asia will boost the air travel consistency between world’s growing mega cities. The airports at these area is getting more congested every day therefore the increase in capacity for each travelling journey for an airplane become highly demanded.

Airbus currently have more than 20 000 workforce alone in Germany and over 53 000 employees worldwide. All the engineer, technician, designer, team leader, manager, and top management plays vital role in this A380 project. Communication between each level of workforce and between employees is very important to reduce error and increase efficiency in the production and manufacturing site of A380. Manpower management and task delegation become incredible challenges for the Charles Champion who is the Executive Vice President in Airbus and programme manager for A380 project.

Airbus alone cannot accomplish A380 project, they have to cooperate with the suppliers and customer in order to complete this project. Communication, team working, planning and problem solving require all of them to work together as a team. Every member of this project holds its own task to be complete like technician Shift Manager Garreth Williams need to make sure that the baking process in the pressurized heat chamber runs smoothly and all the initial preparation for the baking process is been done.

History of Airbus A3XX

Rosler. (2006).On the surface.Retrieved June 26, 2010, from http://typo3.rosler.com/uploads/media/aerospace_edition_2701_en_03.pdf

Morgan Stanley. (2006). EADS. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from http://www.leeham.net/filelib/A380DEBATEFINAL.pdf

Phil Edon. (2010). Airbus A380 Wing Design Team Collaboration. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from http://www.ukes.aerospace.gknplc.com/aesinternet/Wing_Design_Team.pdf

Cam Spencer. (2003). A380 Airport Considerations. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from http://asasi.org/papers/2003/A380%20Airport%20Considerations_Spencer.pdf

Sharp. (2003). A380 Operator Considerations.
Retrieved June 26, 2010, from http://asasi.org/papers/2003/A380%20Operator%20Considerations_Sharp.pdf

Morgan Stanley. (2010). Company history. Retrieved July 03, 2010, from http://www.morganstanley.com/about/company/history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-j9tjmUQEc&NR=1

http://www.pacminfinder.com/airbusa380.html

http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2007/10/airbus-delivers.html