$370 - 380 million
transport
two
525
Trent 900 or GP 7000
4 x 70,000 lbs. ea.
608,400 lbs.
1,235,000 lbs.
239' 3"
261' 8"
560 mph
587 mph
2,850 fpm (est.)
43,000 feet
8,000 miles
4/27/05
2007
Banana Hobby rc Airbus A380.
Bill Blankenship emailed us his review of the rc Airbus A380, made in China, sold by Banana Hobby and numerous other retailers, shown in the picture immediately above.
"Here is my review, with building details, of the rc Airbus A380.
The rc Airbus A380 has a 60" wingspan, is 56" long, made from tough shiny foam, has four brushless motors turning 55 mm fans, and weighs around 3 1/2 lbs. all up.
I spotted the delivery truck when it arrived in front of my home. I pretty much knew that it was my new rc Airbus A380, but was surprised at the size of the carton that it came in.
I brought it to my workbench and immediately opened it. Surprise! Inside were four more cartons. Inside of those I found the rc Airbus A380. There aren't a whole lot of pieces to put together, so I figured that the assembly would go quickly.
The instructions were pretty typical from a Chinese manufacturer in that they were more useful for lining the bottom of my bird cage.
Although they explain that the rc Airbus A380 is for advanced fliers, they conclude with very rudimentary flying instructions as if
designed for someone just starting out flying rc. I would say that the rc rc Airbus A380 can be flown by anyone that has aileron rc experience.
Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So I started building with the main wings. The rc Airbus A380 plans show that it has four motors with fans that
must be attached to the wings. The servos were already in the wings, but needed to be hooked up to the ailerons. The push rods were too springy and had too much play for more liking. I substituted my own. Although the instructions didn't mention doing so, I joined the two wing halves with epoxy over fiberglass cloth for extra strength.
Next I attached the rc Airbus A380 tail feathers to the fuselage by glue. There is a hatch for access to the flight battery secured by magnets in the
fuselage. I secured the ESCs and receiver in the fuselage and attached the wires leading to the servos.
There is one ESC for each motor, two per wing. These are attached to the flight battery via a Y connector.
I also checked to make sure the rc Airbus A380 rudder and elevator was properly hooked up to the servos and the controls centered.
The rc Airbus A380 wing is bolted to the fuselage and fits well. Next I mounted the non-retractable landing gear to the aircraft. The front gear is steerable.
The overall look of the rc Airbus A380, especially in the air, is very scale like. The landing gear look pretty good, but are too small for use on anything but smooth surfaces.
I couldn't find any information about the balance point for the rc Airbus A380, so used the thickest part of the wing as a starting point. I also balanced the rc model airplane to insure that one wing was not heavier than another. I had to add 1/4 oz. of weight near the tip of the left wing so they would be perfectly balanced.
With everything charged up, its off to the flying field. I taxied to the end of our runway, lined it up in the center, and advanced the throttle. No need to worry about it being under powered. The rc Airbus A380 picked up speed in
a hurry and was in the air quickly. It was a little difficult to steer during take off, but this can be tamed by adding exponential to the rudder and nose wheel steering control if you use a computer radio.
Although it doesn't climb like an interceptor, the rc Airbus A380 climbs faster than any airliner I've ever seen. If you like to do high speed passes, this
is the airplane for you. I didn't want to strain the wing by doing any aerobatics, but did test the stall characteristics of the rc Airbus A380. I
didn't have to slow it down very much for it to drop off straight ahead. It didn't lower a wing or snap, but lost quite a bit of altitude before I could get it flying again. I used the usual procedure of lowering the nose, leveling the wings, and adding power.
Have you seen the videos of the real rc Airbus A380 flying low and slow at air shows? I thought, after all of the fast flying, that it would be nice to do
a real slow pass over the runway. That is my real disappointment with this model. There was no way to slow it down for a realistic slow pass.
This rc model airplane simply does not like to fly slowly. And that applies to landings too. You need to keep the speed up when landing to keep the rc Airbus A380 from dropping too fast. I even tried moving the c/g
back a bit, but that just made it very sensitive to elevator inputs. With the c/g back it also tended to climb under power and was too twitchy for me. Therefore I put the c/g back to its original position.
To conclude my rc Airbus A380 review, I think anyone that wants to attract attention with their airplane at the model field will be
happy with this airplane. It looks good, especially in the air. And, it flies rock steady, even with a moderate cross wind.
Retailers say that people appreciate the five foot wingspan and compact dimensions of this scale copy of the rc Airbus A380 giant airliner. They emphasize
its high speed, but claim that the rc Airbus A380 can fly slowly. Some also claim that it is fully aerobatic, although I have yet to see any evidence backing up their claim. Those motors and fans on each wing would stress the wings if flown hard. I agree that the rc Airbus A380 looks best
when flying around the pattern, and that the model looks very scale-like in flight. Perhaps flying the rc Airbus A380 will inspire future airline captains.
It wasn't long ago that a four engine aircraft of any type was very rare at our model field. Then four engine prop planes started showing up, and I am the first person with a four engine rc Airbus A380 jet. We have really come a long way in rc modeling!
If you are a pilot who feels the need for speed and is looking for an rc model airplane that will go vertical, plus do loops and rolls, this is not
the airplane for you. The rc Airbus A380 is an airliner and it is intended to be flown like the real one. Maybe fitting flaps on to it will
enable the slow passes that I'm craving. I may make that my next project. Retracts would also make a good addition, but they don't seem to be practical on this sort of a model while retaining the scale landing gear, at least not at a reasonable price.
RC Airbus A380 pluses are: Good looking shiny foam, reinforced wings, includes radio, four brushless motors and controllers, servos, 55 mm EDF units, flight
battery, charger, nose gear steering, scale appearance, ability to ROG from smooth runways.
RC Airbus A380 minuses are: Instructions, high landing speed.
Shantou Tiansheng Model Industry Co., Ltd., Chenghai Pengcheng Toy Ind. Co., Ltd., Shantou
Techplaying Toys Industrial Co., Ltd., Benma Hobby Industrial Co., Ltd., Happy Sun Toys., Ltd.,
Shenzhen City Riccs Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., Shantou GT-Model Toys Factory , Million Power Group, Ltd., Toybase Co.,
Ltd., are among some of the Chinese manufacturing companies offering the rc Airbus A380 for sale.
Places to find the rc Airbus A380 for sale:
Hobbyking, Banana Hobby, Toysonics, Riccs, DH Gate, eBay, toy shops, and rc websites. - Keep up the good work, Bill Blankenship"
Thank you, Bill, for the very detailed review of your experiences building and flying the rc Airbus A380. Great job!
The Airbus A380 is the world's biggest passenger airliner. In a three class cabin layout on two decks, the Airbus A380 can carry 525
passengers. The giant airbus has about double the floor space of any other airliner.
It can go about five percent further on a gallon of av gas than a 747. Millions
of dollars have been spent by airports all over the world expanding their facilities and widening their runways to accommodate the Airbus A380.
The rc Airbus A380 by Peter Michel.
Pictured above is the huge, great looking, 18 foot wingspan rc Airbus A380 scratch built by Peter Michel. There are four
jet turbine engines powering it. It has been reported that Michel paid 3,500 Euros each for the custom manufactured engines. The rc Airbus A380 is said to reach speeds up to 75 mph. All up weight is about 155 lbs.
RC Airbus A380 from Windrider.
This is a nice looking slope soarer rc Airbus A380 from Windrider built by Glenn of RC Groups. It has a 6' wingspan. Construction is from EPS foam. The slope soaring airplane weighs about 50 oz. and has 3 channel radio
control. For such a bulky rc model airplane, the rc Airbus A380 is surprisingly fast. And, it looks great in the air! It needs winds above around 8 mph to fly at its best. It also flys smooth and steady, just like a real Airbus.
The Rolls Royce Trent 900 and Engine Alliance GP 7200 turbofans make the Airbus A380 the most quiet transoceanic aircraft currently in
service, according to the manufacturer. They claim that the aircraft is 50% quieter than their competition.
A rc Airbus A380 from eBay.
EBay has a rc Airbus A380 seen above, with a 72" wingspan. Power comes from four EDF 55-300H units.
In order to keep training expenses down, Airbus made the cockpit of the Airbus A380 similar to its other aircraft.
Multi function displays are the centerpiece of the Airbus A380 cockpit design. Navigation is as simple as point and click.
Pilots commented that flying the Airbus A380 is like operating a computer game.
An optional HUD (Head Up Display) is available for the Airbus A380. The display
is specialized for passenger aircraft and is used primarily for take off and landing in low visibility situations.
Composites are used throughout the Airbus A380, including its central wing box, for light weight strength.
Additional savings in weight have been realized on the Airbus A380 using a weldable aluminum alloy.
With welding, the use of rivets is reduced or eliminated, providing less drag on exterior aircraft surfaces.
Integrated Modular Avionics, similar to what is used on modern fighter aircraft, is used in the Airbus A380.
Processors holding dedicated software have replaced multiple single purpose avionics reducing wiring, parts, weight and costs.
A network and server system stores data, navigation charts, aircraft logs and more in the aircraft.
Reinhard Oetken's rc Airbus A380.
Richard Oethken designed his own rc Airbus A380 with an extended fuselage from which he scratch built the model shown above. Wingspan is 216" and length is 241". Power comes from four jet turbine engines fed by about 5 1/2 gallons of fuel. All up weight is around 214 lbs.
The Airbus A380 is the first civilian aircraft to use power by wire flight controls, all powered by
their own electronics and hydraulics. Aluminum power cables are used throughout the aircraft for weight savings. Previous aircraft used copper.
There are no light bulbs in the airliner. All have been replaced with LED's for greater reliability. The
aircraft only has thrust reversers on the inboard engines to reduce debris. To increase reliability and save weight, these are electrically actuated.
Airbus A380
