A380 and 747

Ok, so I'm a bit confuzzled on this matter. Now, I am aware that A380's began flying last month, and I live by a major airport hub, so I would be seeing them frequently, what I'm confused, is if I can't see the entire aircraft, only the belly, how do I tell the difference between a 747 and the A380 without the proper porportions in mind? Are there special features as I should look out for?

It's just that I saw a few possible A380's outside today, and I doubt it was them, but they just looked massive from a few thousand feet away, so I just want to be sure.

Shattered OUT...

Originally posted by ShatteredSkies
Ok, so I'm a bit confuzzled on this matter. Now, I am aware that A380's began flying last month, and I live by a major airport hub, so I would be seeing them frequently, what I'm confused, is if I can't see the entire aircraft, only the belly, how do I tell the difference between a 747 and the A380 without the proper porportions in mind? Are there special features as I should look out for?

It's just that I saw a few possible A380's outside today, and I doubt it was them, but they just looked massive from a few thousand feet away, so I just want to be sure.

Shattered OUT...

Uhm, are you smoking something, Shattered? the A380 hasnt yet flown, its destined to do so in the second half of this month, and wont enter servidce until the 3rd quarter of 2006.

How to tell the difference.... well, the A380 is wider, by quite a bit, than the 747, it also has a much larger wingspan. One of the things you can watch out for is if the aircraft has double winglets - in other words if the winglet is both 'up and down' on the tip of the wing, only (currently) Airbus do this, nearly all otrher manufacturers only have winglets pointing upward.

The A380s wing box continues for quite a length behind the wings, creating a visible bulge that should make the aircraft quite identifiable. The wings are also prominently curved, making for a nice looking aircraft.

Basically, if it looks too big to be a 747, then its an A380. The A380 is visibly a lot larger than the 747.

Another way to tell them apart from directly below is that the A380 wing is vast, not merely in span but also in chord and thus area too. In plan it almost looks as if the wing is too big for the fuselage. On the 747 the wing is proportionally mich smaller in comparison to the fuselage and also more sharply swept.

by the way, I like 'confuzzled'. What a great word!

[edit on 11-4-2005 by waynos]