DC_World's Biggest Airliner The Airbus A380_2of3_Coming Together
Transcript
00:00Hi, I'm John Travolta, actor, jet pilot and plane enthusiast.
00:08Sit back, watch and enjoy as we bring you the story of the largest aviation project
00:13this century, the building of the Airbus A380, the world's biggest airliner.
00:18It's a tale of high pressure, top secret research and development, and one of the largest buildings
00:29on earth. This is a plane that demands the biggest of everything, all to build the ultimate
00:35passenger jet, the Airbus A380.
00:59You're looking at the future of aviation, about to be bolted and riveted together for the very first time.
01:08Three giant pieces of fuselage will soon become the body of the biggest airliner ever.
01:15Three times as long as a blue whale, five times as heavy.
01:24The A380 marks a new era in airliners. A 555-seat double-decker megaplane,
01:33able to fly nonstop a third of the way around the globe.
01:39This project is an extreme challenge. Will the parts fit together?
01:44Will it be built on time?
01:47Just getting this far has taken courage and amazing ingenuity.
01:55Already over ten years in the making, the dream is of a new kind of airliner using the very latest technology.
02:04All over the world, massive new factories are building parts for the huge machine.
02:13It's made using state-of-the-art methods and high-tech materials, but that's just the start.
02:20Transporting these giant parts to southwestern France has been an extraordinary feat of engineering.
02:27Traveling by river, sea, land and air, components have covered thousands of miles,
02:34ducking low bridges, squeezing through tiny French villages in the middle of the night.
02:43But the next phase is the toughest yet.
02:46The aircraft must be assembled to the tightest of tolerances.
02:51The engines, the landing gear, the cockpit, the computers, everything must be tested to the limit.
03:02It all has to work perfectly, because Airbus are playing for very high stakes.
03:12This aircraft cannot be a failure.
03:16When you invest $10.7 billion on building what we're pronouncing to be the flagship of the 21st century, it can't fail.
03:25There isn't, well, we almost got there, or it's so-so, not too shabby.
03:31No, either it's going to be that flagship of the 21st century, or it's going to be a disaster.
03:38Here at the final assembly line in Toulouse, France, a building that could hold 23 football fields, time is now of the essence.
03:49The prototype is scheduled to fly within 11 months.
03:53The clock is ticking.
03:56Task number one is to join seven major components into one vast aircraft.
04:03It should take just over five weeks.
04:07This is a critical phase.
04:09The parts must be assembled perfectly if the plane is to fly as efficiently as Airbus expects.
04:15A mistake here would mean the prototype is flawed, putting the whole program back by months.
04:24We need to be very, very accurate.
04:26We have to be sure that the shape of the aircraft is in line with the specification, that the geometry of the aircraft is good,
04:34and to avoid twist, fuselage, or twist wings.
04:39The performance of the aircraft depends on this shape.
04:43Gilles Comier is in charge of this stage of assembly.
04:47His team face unique challenges building a plane that could, if every seat were economy, hold up to 850 people.
04:56The accuracy needed is the same as for any airliner, yet the parts are much, much larger.
05:03It's like building a Swiss watch that weighs over 200 tons.
05:09I feel very confident now.
05:12Even if it's difficult, because we have put in place very accurate systems.
05:20Small mirrors are mounted on the components.
05:23Lasers then invisibly scan their position.
05:27And a computer works out exactly where the sections are in all three axes.
05:33This system ensures the aircraft is almost perfectly straight over its entire 240-foot length.
05:43Once aligned, the fuselage shells are brought together very, very slowly.
05:51Pascal Bellac-Dessus is using a remote control to maneuver the sections.
05:57Each turn on the finger dial brings the massive parts a tenth of an inch closer together,
06:03moved by huge mobile pillars supporting the shells.
06:08On the left, a part made in Germany.
06:11On the right, one made in France.
06:15This is the last stage of a 1,200-mile journey.
06:23Well, the trick is to be organized, and then it should go OK.
06:28We're in good shape, I think, to start the joining of the fuselage now.
06:36Engineered to within a fraction of an inch, the sections fit very tightly together.
06:42The clearance is so small that metal clips, nicknamed shoehorns,
06:46are needed to ease one aluminum shell over the other.
06:50Speeded up, this is the biggest airliner ever, coming together at last.
06:57The overlap is just six inches wide.
07:00When 10,000 rivets have been installed around the 75-foot circumference of the joint,
07:06the two parts will be fixed forever.
07:10But even as the fuselage takes shape, there's another equally tough challenge facing the company.
07:17Airbus must convince the airlines that they really do need a plane
07:2145% bigger by volume than a Boeing 747.
07:27The worst that could happen to Airbus, I guess, right now,
07:30after having invested the money, getting the airplane ready,
07:34is the world's airlines come, they take a look at it,
07:37and they say, well, it's not exactly what we had in mind.
07:41They've got to come, they've got to look at this airplane, and they've got to be impressed.
07:47Selling planes at $265 million apiece is not a stroll in the park.
07:54For John Leahy, the pressure is on.
07:58250 sales are needed for the project to break even.
08:02So far, he's got 139 firm orders.
08:07Today, the bosses of Australian airline Qantas are coming to check on their $3 billion order.
08:14You could cut the tension with a knife.
08:22We're going to go out and greet them?
08:24Yeah.
08:25OK, well, let's. Where's Chris?
08:27He's outside.
08:29Are they going to get about a 10-minute warning or something on the bus?
08:34It has to go smoothly.
08:36This is one of our best customers, one of our bigger customers now for the 380 program,
08:41and we want to make sure that they're happy, that they get the answers from us that they want,
08:45and they go away with a good impression.
08:47You can imagine what would happen if they came here and said,
08:51oh, my heavens, the A380 isn't what we thought it would be,
08:55in front of their entire board, that could be devastating.
09:01After the presentation, the group will visit a showroom mock-up of the aircraft interior.
09:07It's only then that John Leahy will find out if the Australians like what they see.
09:13At stake is not only billions of dollars,
09:16but the pride and perhaps the future of the company as well.
09:21It's going to be a long day.
09:26Building airplanes, especially giant ones, is hard work.
09:30It's a mixture of ultra-tight deadlines, millions of dollars.
09:33This is no place for the faint-hearted.
09:36It's a bit like making movies, really.
09:38Nah, we've got it easy compared to these guys.
09:41Stay tuned to TLC.
09:47June 2004, and the world's biggest airliner is on schedule, but only just.
09:56Two weeks into the structural assembly,
09:59it's vital to keep the momentum going if the plane is to fly on time.
10:03Head of the program, Charles Champion, admits the schedule is tight.
10:09It's going fast. It's going fast.
10:12It's like a race. It's like a marathon.
10:14But like any marathon, it's easy at the beginning, and then it starts to be more difficult.
10:20And I think we are starting to reach that point now.
10:23The question is to manage your energy in order to be able to deliver the project.
10:29Next, the wings, made with sheets of aluminum alloy up to 112 feet long and 3 inches thick, are attached.
10:38But first, some last-minute work is needed on the fittings for the joint.
10:43Project leader Eddie Davis has to react to changes even at this late stage.
10:51It can happen with new aircraft. This is a last-minute job that we've had to come up today.
10:55We didn't know that the fittings weren't the right standard.
10:59So now the guys are reworking them.
11:03119 feet long each, the wings are among the largest ever built.
11:09Simply positioning them requires machinery on a massive scale.
11:15Weighing over 40 tons, the wings glide smoothly toward the fuselage on giant sliding pillars.
11:23Time may be tight, but this can't be rushed.
11:27It's vital the wings are perfectly aligned.
11:35We'll slowly align the wing with the fuselage and then adjust the angle for the best aerodynamic performance.
11:43The safety of the plane really depends on us getting this right, without a doubt. Without a doubt.
11:52Again, the laser positioning system ensures the wing is in the right place and at the right angle.
12:01But after a whole day of careful work, a problem appears.
12:05Some large bolts have been left attached to the wing.
12:10Remove this one to finish the junction of the wing.
12:15A quick phone call to check that it's okay, and they're swiftly removed to allow the build to carry on.
12:27A couple of miles away, at the immaculately manicured Airbus headquarters,
12:32John Leahy is conducting his guided tour for Qantas.
12:37They've arrived at the Airbus showroom, a vast facility full of cabin demonstrators of each type of Airbus plane.
12:46Okay, now I think we've got just about everybody.
12:50Okay.
12:51Though it's all smiles, this is deadly serious.
12:56The Qantas chiefs will soon get their first sight of a realistic A380 interior.
13:02If they don't like it, there'll be trouble ahead.
13:07It's almost like a young family introducing their new baby to the relatives.
13:14You want everybody to be impressed.
13:16You want everybody to say it's beautiful.
13:18And deep down inside, you're really waiting to see what they truly do say.
13:23Jeff Dixon is the head of the airline, a tough-talking, no-nonsense businessman.
13:29He's just the type of customer that Airbus must satisfy if the machine is to be a success.
13:35To begin with, he doesn't look too excited.
13:39Notice the headroom. This is coming out on a standard size.
13:42We've got to deliver.
13:44We made the promises, and now we have to deliver on those promises.
13:48And how do you know if you're really delivering?
13:50You look to the airlines, to the customer.
13:52He's got to say yes.
13:54Here's the premium handling concept.
13:58John presses on with the walkabout.
14:01And then, almost in a whisper, Jeff lets out his true reaction.
14:10And that's the way the line is.
14:12Oh, it's fabulous.
14:14Better than we expected when we ordered, but we did expect a lot, so right up to expectations.
14:21Although the colours and layout will change for Jeff Dixon's planes, this mock-up represents one hard reality.
14:29Billions of dollars already spent on an Airbus that has yet to leave the ground.
14:35Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say they bet the shop on it, but they've certainly bet a lot on it.
14:40But then, by the same token, we're not betting the shop on buying it,
14:44but we're making a huge commitment to an aircraft that hasn't flown.
14:47Now, we know and are very confident that it will fly, and it will fly very, very well.
14:51But still, we're all making very, very big commitments and taking quite a few chances in a development like this.
15:01The pressure is building.
15:03Within just 10 months, the A380 must take to the skies.
15:08You know, although this new Airbus is going to be seriously big, the sheer size of it is only part of the deal.
15:13It's also the technology, the complexity.
15:16Just having the guts to build something like this is what I find really neat.
15:19So, stay tuned.
15:28It's now mid-June, and as the pressure builds to create the biggest passenger plane ever, there's zero time to waste.
15:39This is the horizontal tailplane.
15:42With a span of 105 feet, it's as big as the wings of a 150-seat airliner.
15:53Made of carbon fiber in high-tech factories in south and central Spain, it's easily the biggest tailplane ever made.
16:03The tail fin is another carbon fiber monster.
16:0746 feet high, it's made near Hamburg in Germany.
16:11When installed, it will stand as high as an eight-story building.
16:16Airports will have to buy new cranes to service the equipment fitted at the top.
16:21Carefully, it's craned into place and attached with 24 titanium bolts.
16:29Charles Champion, head of the program, comes to check on progress.
16:34Gilles Cormier, the guy who runs this section, has bad news for the boss.
16:42We have a problem with this, the tail cone.
16:45It's six millimeters out of tolerance side to side.
16:48It's not good.
16:51A manufacturing error means that the tail cone, the most rearward piece of the fuselage, is slightly out of line.
16:59Six millimeters overall?
17:02No, from side to side.
17:04Oh, okay, I see.
17:08While the problem can be solved later, the real difficulty is the time that this kind of troubleshooting takes.
17:16I think it's one of those phases where the success of the project is at reach,
17:22but you have many elements to tackle in parallel in order to make it happen.
17:28So, you're under control, but you've got to work fast on several parallel subjects
17:36in order to be able to deliver a good result.
17:40The next stage is to install the landing gear.
17:44These massive parts have to be unbelievably strong.
17:48Not only is the A380 the biggest passenger plane ever built,
17:52unfortunately, landing gear in general gets a pretty tough time out there in the real world.
18:00Most landing gear and engines are designed to be used in the real world.
18:06Most landing gear engineers have this low-resolution video clip on their computers
18:11as a reminder of the extreme conditions that can occur.
18:15Heading for the now disused Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong is a Boeing 747.
18:22Approaching in a crosswind, the left-hand gear is about to take the full weight of this huge plane as it hits the tarmac.
18:30That such a difficult landing can be successful, as this one was, is an amazing feat of engineering.
18:38That gear was made by the Goodrich Corporation, who are also building the main landing gear for the A380.
18:45Here, near Toronto in Canada, production is well underway,
18:49and the testing phase is just about to begin.
18:53When we have a new landing gear program, we have a lot of tests that we need to do.
18:57When we have a new landing gear program, we have a lot of tests that we need to do.
19:00Strength, performance, dynamics, durability.
19:04This one is a performance test. This is one of the first tests we do.
19:07It's one of the more important tests. It's called a drop test.
19:10What it is, is a simulation of landing.
19:13So when an aircraft lands, an A380 lands,
19:16we've got 560 tons of aircraft moving slowly towards the ground,
19:20as well as 200 miles an hour down the runway.
19:23When the aircraft hits the ground, something has got to absorb that energy.
19:27So if you jump off a chair, you land, your knees have to bend and give a little bit.
19:32Even just with the weight of a person, you're going to damage yourself if nothing gives.
19:35So that giving of your knees, your legs are absorbing energy.
19:39That's what the landing gear has to do, but it has to do it for, instead of 180 pounds,
19:43it's got to do it for 560 tons.
19:46Suspended inside this huge tower,
19:49the landing gear is slowly raised for the sudden drop to come.
19:55To simulate the forward speed of the aircraft,
19:58a set of smaller wheels driven by powerful electric motors
20:02spin the big 55-inch tires in the reverse direction.
20:13When a switch is flipped in the control room,
20:16a hook at the top of the tower will release, allowing the gear to fall.
20:22It must absorb the same energy as a 100-mile-an-hour car crash,
20:27without being damaged.
20:29It's a critical phase in the whole program.
20:33This could be a make-or-break test.
20:35If the performance of the landing gear isn't what we predicted it to be,
20:39it could impact the schedule for the first flight.
20:42So it's essential that the gear performs how we predicted it.
20:45And from these tests, we'll be happy to tell whatever it does.
20:48Soon they'll find out if their latest and largest landing gear will make the grade.
20:55Today's airliner is truly a miracle of technology.
21:00Hi, I'm John Travolta.
21:01Stay tuned for the next chapter in this incredible story.
21:05This massive, six-wheel, 6.5-ton landing gear is just part of the A380's undercarriage.
21:14In total, it'll have two six-wheel units plus two four-wheel units under the wings
21:21and a two-wheel set under the nose.
21:24So, what you're about to see is only a fraction of the energy involved
21:29when the vast machine touches down.
21:33Okay, I'm going to drop now.
21:36Go ahead.
22:03Oh, here we go. All right.
22:08Oh, it's too hot.
22:10Just the delay. You can see it moving here.
22:12All right.
22:13The test goes well.
22:15Early data shows that although there was an unwanted shudder as the wheels came to a halt,
22:21the landing gear shrugged off the huge impact with ease.
22:26Back at the factory, there's more good news.
22:29Two and a half years after the very first part was made,
22:33the first flying A380 is about to leave the main assembly station.
22:39For Gilles Cormier, it's a good moment.
22:44Maybe we forget a little the trouble we encountered during the past weeks
22:50and now we are looking at the aircraft itself, the achievements,
22:54more than the difficulties we had.
22:57Now's the chance to see it last, the biggest airliner ever built.
23:02Now's the chance to see it last, the biggest airliner ever built.
23:32Now's the chance to see it last, the biggest airliner ever built.
23:38Now that the world's largest airliner is coming together at last,
23:42the really hard phase can begin.
23:45July 2004, and the plane is scheduled to spend the next few months in this massive hall
23:52where thousands of parts will be fitted, including over 500 miles of wiring.
23:59The man in charge of this complex phase is fully aware
24:03there's an awful lot of work to do by the end of October.
24:08It's a very difficult challenge, very difficult challenge,
24:10because it's a prototype, so it's very difficult to meet our deadline.
24:16Coming up is August, the traditional vacation month in France,
24:20when most of the country shuts down.
24:23This year, there will be no vacation.
24:26My family are very aware of this personal challenge,
24:32so everybody in the family is OK to say,
24:35OK, OK, this year is the aircraft year.
24:39The plane is lifted on huge jacks, and teams of technicians begin work.
24:45The plan is for the aircraft to be revealed to the world in a grand ceremony,
24:50precisely 196 days from now.
24:55Attending will be heads of state and government,
24:585,000 guests, and the world's media,
25:01with the event beamed by satellite all over the world.
25:06But just a few days before,
25:08Jacques Rosé will be the first person in the world to fly the plane.
25:12Seeing it for the first time,
25:14his reaction is not exactly what you'd expect.
25:19Generally speaking, it's an aircraft,
25:22larger than the one we are used to.
25:25It's a very big aircraft.
25:27It's a very big aircraft.
25:29It's a very big aircraft.
25:31It's a very big aircraft.
25:33It's a very big aircraft.
25:36Larger than the one we have already, but...
25:43I think...
25:45I feel very, very confident.
25:50He's confident because of what's within this building.
25:54For here, in flight simulators,
25:56lies the heart and soul of the new plane,
25:59already living, already being tested.
26:03Jacques and his team have already spent thousands of hours
26:06at the controls of the A380.
26:09Like most modern airliners,
26:11it has a fly-by-wire system,
26:14where the crew, in reality,
26:16are controlling a computer,
26:18which then controls the plane.
26:21You don't realize that you fly such a big aircraft.
26:24You fly it like you fly a little aircraft.
26:28It's incredible.
26:31It's very, very easy to fly.
26:33Like a bicycle.
26:35It's a kind of large bicycle, if you like.
26:40The technology means they can make it handle
26:43in almost any way they choose.
26:45You could make an airplane that when you turn right, goes left,
26:48or when you turn left, goes right, for example.
26:51You can do anything.
26:53Fernando Alonso will also be on the first flight.
26:57Like all Airbus pilots,
26:59the first priority is safety,
27:01especially if one of the complex systems were to fail.
27:05Designing an airplane to work when everything works
27:08is relatively easy.
27:10It's building the airplane or designing the airplane
27:13to work correctly.
27:15With failure, it's a little bit more difficult.
27:17The program so far advanced
27:19that the team are now testing how the plane would react
27:22if the wings were covered in ice,
27:24two engines had failed,
27:26and half the flight computers had gone offline,
27:29a situation that's only likely to occur
27:31once in 10 million hours.
27:34That's over 1,000 years of flying.
27:405 beta, 7, 8.
27:44Piece of cake.
27:46Piece of cake.
27:49This kind of sophistication has its drawbacks
27:52because when it comes to building the first aircraft,
27:55things are very complicated indeed.
27:58Already the schedule is slipping
28:00and everything possible must be done to claw back some time.
28:04Work continues at a feverish pace
28:07as thousands of components, big and small, are fitted.
28:12We can't relax. We can't relax.
28:14We have no right, we have no time to relax.
28:17So every hour, every minute we are there on the workshop,
28:24our main job is to receive pressure and to transmit pressure.
28:29And it's a nightmare.
28:31It's a nightmare.
28:37The main problem is that the major parts were not fully finished
28:41when they were delivered here back in May.
28:43The wings, tail, and fuselage all need more work
28:47and must be finished before the laborious process
28:50of testing everything can begin.
28:52If the plane is ever to fly, there's a long way to go.
28:56Christian Polite is the engineer in charge of the tail fin,
29:00known as the vertical tail plane, or VTP.
29:05Getting this part ready has not been easy.
29:08But finally, it's time to install the last piece.
29:12It's a camera that gives the pilot a bird's eye view
29:15from the very top of the fin, some 75 feet up.
29:20Right now we are going up almost to the very top
29:24of the vertical tail plane in order to install the last component
29:30which remains on the VTP, still left.
29:34You can easily see that this part is only screwed to the structure
29:39by, I guess, 20 screws around,
29:43and it has to be connected to the electric system
29:47via these two little connectors.
29:50The signals are transferred via a fiber optical cable
29:55down to a monitor in the cockpit.
29:59This is in many ways a typical Airbus story.
30:03Way back in February 2004, here in Stade, Germany,
30:08Christian oversaw the final construction
30:10of the largest carbon fiber fin ever conceived.
30:15Even then, producing such a big part from such high-tech materials
30:19meant that the schedule was going to suffer.
30:22We started with a schedule which allowed us to assemble
30:25the first fin within a reasonable time.
30:28But in fact, we encountered problems
30:31which delayed the time for the assembly.
30:36And to worsen the situation, the lead time was shortened.
30:40So we ended up with a lead time that was nearly half
30:44of the original lead time we planned.
30:47The result was that, even though the fin was delivered on time,
30:51there was a lot of troubleshooting left to do,
30:54and Christian has moved to France to oversee the outstanding work.
30:59We came here and thought we have a good planning,
31:03we have a good time schedule, we have everything on hand,
31:07but it wasn't like that.
31:09The moment we started working,
31:11we had to change each and every point.
31:15The planning was upside down,
31:17and so we had to just to start to work.
31:21So that's the way you can find the way through the jungle.
31:24Now, though, as the screws go in on the camera,
31:28the end is in sight.
31:34It's a good sound.
31:36That means the screw is in.
31:38With every screw, we're a little step towards the end.
31:45But then there's a problem.
31:57The fiber-optic cable is too short to reach the camera.
32:09The connector is here, and the cable ends here,
32:13and we have to have another one centimeter,
32:17about half an inch,
32:21which is the cable too short.
32:24But these are...
32:29Yeah!
32:31These mowers really piss me off.
32:35I mean, when you're almost done, so close,
32:38you can see the end.
32:40You almost stepped over the line,
32:42and then someone blocks you, hits you in the face,
32:45saying, hey, you're not yet done.
32:47How could he imagine?
32:49Despite the setbacks in other areas,
32:52things are going to plan.
32:54Now they can begin mounting the engines,
32:57one of the most impressive and expensive single-barrel engines
33:01of the whole aircraft.
33:03Together, four of these new Rolls-Royce Trent 900s
33:07make up a quarter of the cost of the A380,
33:10nearly $60 million,
33:13the same as four tons of solid gold.
33:16Hi, I'm John Travolta.
33:18You're watching the world's biggest airliner,
33:20the A380, on TLC.
33:22Don't go away.
33:26Back in May 2004,
33:28Back in May 2004,
33:30early flight testing began.
33:33Bolted onto an Airbus A340,
33:36a much smaller airliner,
33:38the new power plant dwarfs the other three engines.
33:45Weighing over six tons,
33:47the Trent 900 can produce
33:49up to 35 tons of thrust at full power,
33:53burning a gallon of fuel every four seconds.
33:58These early tests prove the engine at altitude,
34:01but there's a much, much tougher one to come.
34:08Here in Hucknall in England,
34:10another test engine will soon be a smoking ruin.
34:14Deliberately destroyed as part of a dramatic safety test,
34:18it's an important milestone for the entire A380 project.
34:23And as engineer Hillary Barton travels to the test,
34:26she admits to some nerves.
34:30Honestly, I've got a few butterflies at the moment,
34:33but basically everybody's done the preparation
34:36and it's just now a matter of getting on and doing the test.
34:39Obviously, before the engine starts,
34:41you're sitting there just kind of hoping it'll all go well,
34:44but just really waiting for it to happen now.
34:50Every few years,
34:52a fan blade will fail in a jet engine somewhere in the world,
34:56a rare but violent event that must not put lives in danger.
35:02At the root of the colored blade is an explosive charge.
35:06With the engine at full power, it'll be detonated,
35:09releasing the blade with astonishing force.
35:13Whatever happens, it must not be allowed to burst out of the engine,
35:18where, in real life,
35:20it could do serious damage to the rest of the aircraft.
35:25In a room 200 yards away,
35:28watching via a video link are 25 key personnel,
35:32each hoping the test goes as planned.
35:36In the split second the blade is released,
35:39the engine must successfully contain an enormous amount of energy.
35:44This is a very violent test.
35:48This thing is spinning around, it's at full power,
35:50so you've got the forces on the blade are quite significant.
35:55It's like having a locomotive hanging on that blade,
35:59so you're having to contain the energy of that system,
36:02so there's a lot of energy involved in the design
36:05and containment of the blade.
36:08I mean, the whole engine will get a huge, big shape.
36:11As ever, the size of the A380 increases the challenge.
36:16The bigger the engine, the bigger the blades,
36:19and the greater the force if one were to fail.
36:22Everything is done to make the blades as light as possible.
36:27A top-secret process produces these plates
36:30from ultra-strong, ultra-light titanium alloy,
36:34the starting point for blades that will have to hold
36:37over 7,000 times their own weight,
36:41due to the outward force as they spin around
36:44at 3,000 revolutions per minute.
36:47Each blade needs to be hollow,
36:50and to achieve that, it's heated to 900 degrees in a furnace.
36:55Inert gas is then pumped into cavities inside the softened blade,
37:00inflating it like a long, thin balloon.
37:04The result is a component curved in three different directions
37:08for aerodynamic efficiency, supremely strong,
37:12yet light enough for someone to pick up and move quite easily.
37:18Each one costs the same as a luxury car,
37:22and a full set of 24 are about to be trashed,
37:26in the name of safety.
37:30You know, I've been fascinated by flying since I was a kid.
37:34It's kind of what pushed me forward through life,
37:37and I'm sure that this new Airbus will inspire
37:40a whole new generation of kids to go for their dreams, too.
37:43We'll be back soon.
37:49The first stage in this ultra-expensive, highly critical test
37:54is to run the engine at low power so final checks can be made.
38:04Over in the viewing room,
38:06Hillary Barton and her colleagues are anxiously waiting.
38:13The main concern is that the fan case,
38:16the ring around the engine that takes the brunt of the impact,
38:19does its job and prevents any large parts from escaping.
38:25High-speed film cameras are used to analyze the action,
38:29and at last the throttles are opened,
38:31and the engine brought to its full, awesome power.
38:44This is what it feels like to be inside a building
38:47200 yards away from a $15 million blade-off event.
39:11Blade-off testing is normally top secret,
39:14but for the first time, Rolls-Royce have released this footage
39:18showing that the fan case did indeed do its job,
39:21preventing the blade escaping from the engine
39:24despite the massive shock the entire system received.
39:45That was an expected five minutes.
39:49For Hillary Barton, today has been a good day.
39:54I feel very relieved, obviously.
39:56It's gone well, we've had a good test, and it's all credit to the guys,
39:59and yes, we've got a successful test under our belt,
40:03so I feel relieved and really pleased.
40:06Back in France, the prototype plane is about to leave the equipping hall.
40:11Instead of an October afternoon as planned,
40:14it's a foggy, gray December morning.
40:19With the grand unveiling just five weeks away,
40:22the next giant task is to paint the massive machine.
40:28In yet another vast hangar, working over the Christmas vacation,
40:3290 painters descend on the plane.
40:35First, they rub down over 100,000 square feet of bodywork.
40:42Then, after a superhuman effort of masking off,
40:45the A380 is ready for a brand-new painting.
40:52All in all, more than half a ton of paint and primer
40:55are needed to protect the aluminum skin from the elements.
40:59The final design is a closely guarded secret
41:02and won't be revealed until the big day.
41:11Until now, the project has been a private affair,
41:14but today, the A380 goes public,
41:17and as usual, it's massive.
41:22Inside, part of the final assembly of the A380
41:27Inside, part of the final assembly line,
41:30seating for 5,000 guests has been installed.
41:34In the equipping hall, now full of part-built planes,
41:37TV reporters are hard at work,
41:40feeding the story to networks all over the world.
41:44Richard Branson, head of Virgin Atlantic,
41:46has grabbed the headlines
41:48with news of double beds and casinos in his planes.
41:52For John Lee and thousands of others,
41:55it's a dream come true.
41:57It took an awful long time to get here, didn't it?
42:00But now we're here.
42:02It's pretty exciting.
42:04The heads of state and governments arrive
42:07and take their places for a spectacle
42:10featuring dry ice, flying machines,
42:13and computer graphics.
42:17Speeches are made, but there's only one star of this show.
42:26The biggest airliner of all time is there for all to see.
42:41I do feel really, really touched by this very moment.
42:48Well, it's a good achievement.
42:50I mean, a good show and a good spectacle.
42:53A nice aircraft.
42:55And tomorrow, back to work to make it fly.
42:59No, it's good. It's good.
43:02This is an exciting day, but we can't relax.
43:05You can't let up on the pressure.
43:08The pressure for sales, the pressure for performance,
43:11the pressure to get this airplane out and make it happen.
43:14There's still a very long way to go.
43:18Still a very long way to go.