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the_380

BOM A380 meet 8th and 9th May- 2007.
Pics and Vids Coming up soon !!!
Day 1:
** 8th April. **
Ok so it all basically started in a confusion. On 8th May Myself and Vivek Manvi planned the entire meet all of a sudden left for the airport (the spotting location to be precise). But due to misfortune and the Great Mumbai Crowd we were stuck up in the traffic jam. Eventually we left the rickshaw and were running towards the location when we heard the soundof engines and Vivek just managed to get a "interesting" shot !!! Razz

(but hats off ! great work still) And by the time we managed to reach the spot the A80 just entered the terminal 2C (it was assigned Bay #41).And needless to say we missed the flypast which was supposed to have taken place at around 1700 feet. So a series of misfortunes disappointed us. But there still was a lot for us to brighten up !!!!

Among the prominent we saw IC A300 departing using taxiway Alpha 04. This is so damn close to the spotting location. ! Heck ! Very Happy

There was a AZ Cargo MD-11 which was departing. And the Cockpit crew of the AZ Cargo were actually waving at us Very Happy

!!!!! This was followed by some regular domestic and international departures and not to forget VT-VJM, the ACJ owned by UB Groupd made a landing after the A380 landed.

Since the 8th May happened to be the First Anniversary of anet-india, a couple of members had a 'meet' Wink

The following picture was taken after the spotting session.

From Left to Right: Venkat (from MAA), Vivek Bangera, Anuj, Karan, Myself (Avijeet), Krishna Kumar (from MAA) and Vivek Manvi.

Day 2:
** 9th May **
So one thing was for sure me and vivek could NOT afford such a risk of missing the A380 Very Happy

So we reached the spot well before time. Stolen caption from Karan, "the A380 picnic" Laughing

Today the crowd was DAMN less than what was there the previous day. No media, not much of general public except a few. We had a great time clicking some AWESOME widebodies and international flights. We saw the VS A346, Gemini Air Cargo MD-11, Korean Air Cargo B747-400F, Etihad Crystal Cargo A310 and Etihad A343, PIA B747-200, Sri Lankan A320, Oman Air B737-800 with winglets and Gulf Air A320. There were a couple of Biz./Private jets that had made their way to BOM. Probably something to do with the A380 Demo flight. Prior to the A380 departing some of the new Fire trucks sprayed water over the mud nearby taxiway Alpha 04.

And then after some time all of a sudden the A380's tail emerged from the Terminal 2C which was completely hidden for us. And then the cameras started rolling. Vivek was using my equipment (Canon S3-IS) for still shots and I was using his Panasonic HandyCam for the video. Although I am not so bad at it, however the wind was HELL STRONG and the spotting area was choked with people. So I was pushed and shaken a lot Sad

But then the A380 made its way to taxiway Alpha 04 and was holding there for some time before a 9W B737 took off and a IC B737 landed. Then the A380 immediately entered the runway 27 and took off. The sight was just AWESOME and MINDBLOWING. Especially when it entered Alpha 04, it was so close that you could almost hit the wing of the aircraft with a stone !!!!! (BOM anutters, please do NOT attempt such a stunt however Wink

)

After taking off it banked left and disappeared. Me and Vivek knew we had some time before the A380 made its way back. So we opened up a few sandwiches to complete our "A380 picnic" Razz

And then after some time we could see some lights at a far distance and Vivek could easily identify it was a wide body and probably the A380. (Experience DOES make a man perfect !!!) And YES it was the A380 coming back !!! Again cameras started rolling and I managed to capture the entire landing sequence again amongst heavy winds. But it was a DAMN good experience.Karatecatman's words "Avijeet 380 meets Airbus 380" finally came true! Very Happy

So that was the end of the BOM A380 meet. Swear we had a good time BOTH the days so what if we missed the A380 on the first day Wink

THE SECOND DAY COMPENSATED IT ALL !!! I'd personally like to thank Vivek Manvi, Karan, Anuj, Venkat and KK for the great time I (or rather WE) had!!!

I also managed to arrange a few tarmac pictures of the A380 by special arrangement. Here are some (clicked with a 2 MP Cellphone camera Razz

)

Other Pics and Vids coming in soon ....
regards
the_380
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A Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox Audio Producer!!! Very Happy

deaphen · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 933 Location: India

Hey that looks excellent! Wish i could have been there... great!

regards
nitin

Akshay · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 315 Location: Mumbai

Fantastic....wish i would have been there.. damn the university exams... Sad

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karatecatman · Guest

Good Evening.
The headlines on CNN-IBN

Rajdeep Sardesai: If snoothy Delhi had its rendezvous with the Airbus A380 first, down-to-earth Mumbai, the city of a million dreams, finally had its moment.
Here's the report ...
***

So the Mumbai gang hits back hard. The war of the cities.
Great!!!

***

Unfortunately, no emoticon for a wolf whistle for Mumbai's TR. Wink

***

All Chennai and Cochin can do is go green with envy Crying or Very sad

We could also have had the 380. an exclusive Bay 35 at Chennai and a similar one at Cochin with both airports really A380 (diversion) ready.

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

Any link karatecatman?

Nice pics Avi..
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eP007

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Great Pics guys wish I was there....

Sri_Bom

lambuhere1 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:25 am Post subject:

Great Report

Eagerly waiting for your photos and Vids.

Ram P

PS: Btw the cellphone capture was also good.

the_380 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 12:09 pm Post subject:

Er~ I forgot two more tarmac pics Wink

Here they are:

And an early morning shot !!!

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http://www.myspace.com/avsatsworld
A Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox Audio Producer!!! Very Happy

vivekman · Member Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: 1897 Location: BOM

To add to Avijeet's detailed report, here are the pics from the event!

I have clicked tons of pics, but am posting only the A380 pics for now!

Sit back and enjoy!

The A380 is pushed back from Bay 41 at BOM Terminal 2A.

Following the "Follow Me" vehicle

Holding at the threshold of "A4" while a 9W 737 turns onto "Golf"

On A4

A close-up of the nose

The massive RR Trent 1000 engine

Turning!

On runway 27, and cleared for take-off!

And lift-off!!

The big bird returns after an hour

What a massive aircraft this is!

And touchdown!

Comparison with a Boeing 747

the_380 · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:12 pm Post subject:

AWESOME SHOTS VIVEK !!!!!
D-ABTH u wanted a comparision of the 747 vs the 380 there u go Wink

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A Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox Audio Producer!!! Very Happy

D-ABTH · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 1:32 pm Post subject:

me and comparison? lol i dont think i asked for it Wink

i've seen my fleet in FRA for a good comparo and any which ways i will always rate the queen higher
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If it aint Boeing.. I aint going.

karatecatman · Guest

Phew!
380's and Vivek's pictures give us a sense of proportion of this aircraft.

The picture of the one where the Jet aircraft is great.
Couldn't imagine it to be such a massive monster.

karatecatman · Guest

D-ABTH · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject:

actually to be quite honest i remember when i first saw her i was actually quite surprised because she didnt feel BIG to me at all.. maybe it's because i'm so used to working with the 744 that i actually expected the A380 to be much much bigger.

However i feel the difference is not that much. The A380 comes across to me more as a stubby portly pig (lol) but i admit her wingspan and camber as well as the merge of the uppder deck into the aft region and vertical stabliser proportions did fascinate me. The APU she sports is also quite interesting compared to the jumbo.

I'm quite curious to see her cargo capacity having noticed that she feels smaller compared to the jumbo and that the aft hold door is flush with the rear wingroot so exactly how much she carries is significant for me in comparison with our 744s. From an OPS point of view, i'l be keeping a good eye on her operational/technical aspects

But overall.. i still love the jumbo. For me the Jumbo is the ultimate blend of form and function for her scale.
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If it aint Boeing.. I aint going.

Birendra · Member Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 1411

Nice job A380 and Vivek.

JumboJet · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 2:15 pm Post subject:

Looking at the TR and the pictures, i feel that the quality of A380 and Vivek is astounding.

The future of AInet is secure.

Karan where are your pictures.

Saurabh u seem to be missing!

And Mel.....is it ur usual that no pictures on the tarmac or did u manage some Wink

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I love the smell of Jet Fuel in the morning.

AirIndiaOne · Member Joined: 23 Dec 2006 Posts: 28 Location: Mumbai, IN

It was a real pleasure meeting and greeting fellow a.netters and watching the massive bird's debut at Mumbai. I was present on the 8th but couldn't make it on the 9th. As always, vivek's thoughtful photography has captured all the action I missed. Good thought copyrighting all ur work !
When are we expecting the vids ?

premshree · Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 5:12 pm Post subject:

Birendra · Member Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 1411

Birendra · Member Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 1411

HAWK21M · Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 1:12 pm Post subject:

Great Pics.Nice to see the Gang meet up.I had met Karan & Anuj before.Good to see new faces.