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HeavyMetal747 — Tired, not retired

Published: 2020-04-12 13:38:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 1948; Favourites: 34; Downloads: 2
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Description

This was an old drawing that I started a few years ago but never finished, but now I finally did, since we're all self-isolating.

Yes folks, the A380 is a dominant force in my world and it's not being retired any time soon or being scrapped. My planes physically cannot be scrapped, as they're biological - breathing and living.

Raina and Logan decided to have another baby since Logan missed out on so much of his first daughter's life, so they decided to start over again. 16 months later, they had another A380, also female whom they named Blaise. She was born at the beginning of last year, but this is the first drawing featuring her. She's also the result of what you get when two A380s from Airbus and Air France produce a baby. Blaise's dominant livery is inherited from her mother, but there's striking elements from her father's livery too.

Blaise's introduction to the world was no different to any other A380. She spent the first 4 weeks of her life under her parent's warm underside where she spent the majority of her time sleeping. Her body is still creased with fetal folds from being curled up inside her mother for over a year. A380s, or any baby aircraft are born looking like a torpedo as their fuselage, tail and wings are very soft. First drawing of a brooding A380. Both A380s brood their baby, but the female almost always has the first shift as unsurprisingly, she'll be tired after the ordeal of childbirth.

This was too large to scan, so I took a photo instead.

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Comments: 11

jlhy [2020-04-13 16:03:26 +0000 UTC]

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HeavyMetal747 In reply to jlhy [2020-04-14 07:31:42 +0000 UTC]

Every twin engined plane I've flown on has been average. A330, 777 even the 787 were all average, nothing special. But when I flew on the A380, I was probably the most comfortable I've ever been on a long haul flight. The A380 is quiet, spacious and comfortable. So far, no other plane has come close.

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jlhy In reply to HeavyMetal747 [2020-04-14 09:34:47 +0000 UTC]

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Hindenburg19890 [2020-04-12 17:50:22 +0000 UTC]

Aww!

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HeavyMetal747 In reply to Hindenburg19890 [2020-05-05 02:56:37 +0000 UTC]

A big smol plen

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Hindenburg19890 In reply to HeavyMetal747 [2020-05-05 03:00:14 +0000 UTC]

Yep

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LancetheB1 [2020-04-12 13:50:45 +0000 UTC]

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HeavyMetal747 In reply to LancetheB1 [2020-04-14 16:39:37 +0000 UTC]

The biggest baby x3 

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Tulmur95 In reply to LancetheB1 [2020-04-12 18:44:17 +0000 UTC]

So cute! And a 16 month gestation? That’s a long time to wait.

It is a shame about the A380’s, though. They were supposed to be the next big thing and now airlines are trying their best to get rid of them. They’re scrapping planes that are only 10 years old. I think Boeing has their 777x ideally placed. As A380’s and 747’s are removed from service, there will still be a need for high capacity long distance routes. The 777x might just be the jumbo jet of the future. However, nothing can beat the scale and grandeur of a four engined jet. 


I’ve been working on a 747 at Cincinnati airport all this week. There’s no comparison between it and a 767. And it was all going well on the 747 until we were changing this hydraulic valve in the wheel well and hydraulic fluid dripped onto the apu bleed duct, which was 400 degrees. That hydraulic fluid, Skydrol, boiled off. It created this pungent, choking cloud. We all got out of that wheel well pretty quickly. It felt like my throat was on fire. And I was coughing for quite a while afterward. That Skydrol was bad enough as a liquid. But a gas? It’s pure hell. It’s practically a biochemical weapon. I wouldn’t wish breathing in that stuff on my worst enemy. We shut the apu down and waited for the duct to cool off before continuing. We changed out the valve, but a ton of Skydrol leaked out. We had to get buckets and mats to clean it up. It looked like the 747 we taking a piss from it all. There’s no doubt the hydraulics had to be refilled after that.

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HeavyMetal747 In reply to Tulmur95 [2020-04-14 16:32:41 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, the A380 is of course the largest passenger aircraft in the world so they must have a lengthy gestation to match. 

How awesome that you were working on a 747! Must be a real thrilling experience to get so up close and personal with the aircraft. As for the Skydrol leak went, I heard the stuff is pretty toxic on its own and boiled off. I wonder how the 747 fared with 'taking a leak' lol

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Tulmur95 In reply to HeavyMetal747 [2020-04-14 16:52:37 +0000 UTC]

It is thrilling. I enjoyed it. But since it’s larger and more complicated, there’s a lot more that could be wrong with it. That gaseous Skydrol was pure hell. I’d take working with it in liquid form any day than have to breathe it in again. The liquid smells bad and is very slippery. But at least you can combat that, not if it boils off. As for the 747 leaking Skydrol, it was pissing out all over the place. Multiple gallons of it. Me and another mechanic were running through the hangar to grab buckets and pig mat to absorb it and gather it up. I mean, this stuff just kept coming. They were throwing out multiple soaked sheets of pig mat from the wheel well. We had garbage bags and cans to wheel it out of there, though. I’d rather work with fuel. If you have to enter the tanks, they make sure it’s drained and the tank sumps are dry, then the vapors are vented out. So it’s completely dry and there’s no risk of getting soaked. But that would mean crawling into a fuel tank, which is probably easier on a 747 than a 767.

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