My A380 update:

Airbus article:
CREWING UP FOR THE FIRST FLIGHT

A380 static presentation at Le Bourget 2005:

It is expected to make its first official appearance before the general public at the Paris air show in June but those hoping to watch the largest civil airliner ever built performing an aerial display will be disappointed.

“I can only tell you that this plane will be at Le Bourget. It won’t make a flying display, despite what some people have said, simply because this isn’t an aerobatic aircraft,” Airbus operations chief Gerard Blanc told Reuters.

“It will be at Le Bourget from June 11 for a static presentation, but it won’t stay until the end of the (June 13-19) air show for the simple reason that it will be in test-flight mode, which is a period when every hour of work conducted on the plane is precious,” Blanc said.

Source: MSNBC. com: World’s largest passenger plane in ground tests

New pic’s at a.net:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/812063/M/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/812064/M/
French Frogs AirSlides 6.04.2005

Emirates are interrested in a bigger A380.
Tim Clark, president from Emirates Airlines, told Financial Times Deutschland, that a A380 (A389, I presume) with 800 passengers and so 150 passengers more than the basic version, would be profitabel for cheap long-haul routes.
Airbus will deside 2006, if a bigger a A380 will be built.
Source in German: FTD – Emirates wünscht sich einen noch größeren A380

We discussed this before in January 😉 :
Airbus rolls out A380; Emirates, Virgin want more seats
David Kerr sumed up the discusion with a good point:

We already know that EK operate the 777s and A330s with 2 seating densities; it wouldn’t surprise me if they did the same with the A380-800 (perhaps along the lines of 450 to 480 seats in low density, 600 to 650 in high density)

Some more new pic’s:
Airbus A380 super jumbo jet is pulled from the ground test area
Airbus A380 over a brigde
Airbus A380 with Singapore Airlines tail
A general view shows three of the Airbus A380 passenger jets in the Jean-Luc Lagadere assembly line
Technicians work on the body of the Airbus A380 passenger jet in the Jean-Luc Lagadere assembly line

The 1st A380, F-WWOW was towed yesterday afternoon to the “Abreuvoir” (Flight Test Apron).
The newest pic’s:
http://planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=320801
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/811519/M/
http://img127.exs.cx/img127/2148/img00080oe.jpg

Go maire tú!
Go n-éirí´do bhóthar leat!

Even if they have to tug it along the French roads, it’ll be there

Or the French will move the airshow to Toulouse. 😉 😀
Like we say:
If the profet does not come to the mountain, then the mountain just has to come to the profet.

Here a source:
Reuters. com: Boeing says in talks on 600 possible 787 jet sales

From Page 2:

Bair acknowledged that the plane’s final design, due to be unveiled later this month, will look more traditional than early renderings featuring a shark-like curved tail fin and large, sloping front cabin windows.

Still, he said, “It’s going to be a very distinct looking airplane.”

The jetliner’s passenger windows are some 50 percent larger than those in existing commercial aircraft, an innovation the developers say is only possible because of the extensive use of composites

🙁
I hope, that the final 787 design will not look like a “pimped up” 767. I would remind me like the first 7E7 design.

Report Raptor damage

This is not the crash, which happend in December.
But maybe that same flight control system deficiency could have caused that crash.

Report: flight control deficiency causes Raptor damage

4/4/2005 – WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) — An accident investigation board determined that a flight control system deficiency caused an F/A-22 Raptor aircraft mishap Sept. 28 near Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight control system allowed the aircraft to exceed set angles of attack and G-force limits. The resulting aircraft damage is estimated at more than $3 million.

No fatalities, injuries or damage to private property resulted from the mishap, and the F/A-22 from the 411th Flight Test Squadron was able to land at Edwards.

The board found the primary cause of the mishap was a deficiency in the aircraft’s flight control system, which provides aircraft stability, control and maneuvering agility.

The aircraft was flying a high-risk test mission with an F-16 Fighting Falcon. After encountering the F-16’s jet wash, the Raptor experienced an unexpected and rapid pitch oscillation. The mission was to test air-to-air tracking scenarios to evaluate handling qualities with a configuration of two external fuel tanks.

The aircraft’s load factor or G-force limits in this configuration were 7.33 and minus 0.5. During the test, the load factors ranged between 10.1 to minus 11.7.

The aircraft, one of the Air Force’s first F/A-22s, is primarily a testing aircraft. (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service)

Source: Report: flight control deficiency causes Raptor damage @ af.mil

I’m hearing the first flight is now mid to late April.

The german newspaper “Handelsblatt” was writing the same this weekend.
Taxi testing will be starting this week. Experts say, those tests will take at least two weeks.
The newspaper also report, that Airbus still have problems with the landing gear.

Source (in German): Handelsblatt – A380 hebt später ab – 04.04. 2005, 07:25 Uhr