Discovery Channel - World's Biggest Airliner The Airbus A380 (2005) Part 3 Geetting Off the Ground

It's the most ambitious project ever in civil aviation – building the world's biggest airliner. In 2006, the 240-foot triple-decker Airbus A380 is due to enter into commercial service carrying more than 550 passengers distances of over 8,000 nautical miles. The most progressive aircraft idea in history was introduced in 2000 as the new alternative to Boeing's 747. When completed, the Airbus A380 will be able to ferry more passengers over a longer distance than any other airliner in existence. Constructing a plane on this unprecedented scale poses huge challenges, particularly when constricted by tight deadlines and especially because Airbus's main production plants are spread across France, Spain, Germany and the UK. Each component is so big that new factories have to be built before work can begin on the plane. The gigantic wings are just one of the components that must make a huge and difficult journey to Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, from the factory in north Wales. The enormous fuselage travels from Hamburg. Each journey is a nightmare, by barge on unpredictable rivers, by sea, and finally by road, squeezing through the tiny village of Levignac with inches to spare before reaching the final assembly line. The series provides an incredible insight into the unique challenges of building an airliner on this unprecedented scale, before its grand unveiling in front of thousands, and its awe-inspiring maiden voyage in the hands of Airbus's test pilots.

Part 3: Getting Off the Ground

After months of preparation, the Airbus A380 thundered down the runway and into the air for the very first time. And in doing so it flew into the record books as the world's biggest airliner. Now, with unprecedented access to Airbus, this episode tells the story of the people who have pulled off this incredible feat. It is a story of a race against time as engineers struggle to ready the plane; extreme pressure as last minute glitches threaten to ruin the big day; and of the test pilots who are flying into the unknown. Soon the A380 will be a familiar sight in the skies over America.

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