Airbus A380 in other roles and paint schemes

[McColm]

Since the release of the Airbus A380 in kit form there have been many Whiffs but not grouped together on one topic. Until now.
The are different scales and even a see through interior version. The largest scale I've found is 1/144 and for a modest price can be bought for under £30 depending on the vendor.
Many years ago I saw an inflight refueling version at RAF Waddington, in USAF colours and flying boom.
Other Whiffers have depicted the A380 in Airforce One although the USA did cancel the EH-101 and Airbus tanker orders.
A freighter version or ELINT. Perhaps an AWACS or JSTARS. Even the British Red cross.
For me an MPA/ASW.
A bomber using part of the cargo hold as a weapons bay.
If it was feasible to add the Airfix 1/72 BAe Nimrod at shoulder height a plausible flying boat. Where the lower wing would have gone two very large sponsors to house the landing gear.

[Captain Canada]

I was thinking of an elevator type loading system that would drop down

[Weaver]

The problem with most military transport options is that the upper deck needs special infrastructure (i.e. a dedicated terminal) to unload it. You can't just fly it into some backwater airport and roll a set of air stairs up to it.

Tanker? Pointless : the A380's all about space whereas what tankers needs is weight (fuel being more dense than people). Most real tankers have space to space already.

Air Force One seems unlikely, but how about a "Europe One", i.e. the EU gets it's own fleet of aircraft for diplomatic missions? You could have fun inventing the colour scheme for that one. (Fantasy Printshop do sheets of yellow stars.......)

ELINT/AWACS/JSTARS/MPA missions would probably be better served by an A340. A flying command post with room for a really big staff plus comms gear might be an idea though.

How about a theatre-defence laser system, similar to the one on the Americans built on a 747? That would suite the two-deck layout well. Space-hungry gas-pumped laser on the upper deck with a turret on the top, command and control on the lower deck, plus the black boxes and emitters for two serious phased-array radars on the fuselage sides (the tall fuselage would be an advantage here, for an upwards looking array that needed good 3D resolution).  

How about a hospital plane? Medical is a space-hungry application, and you wouldn't be trying to load/unload large numbers of people quickly, so the upper deck access wouldn't be an issue: you could enter/exit at lower deck level then use the internal stairs/lifts. I could see two possible operating modes. First one would traditional medevac flights, but with first-class medical attention/facilities for those time critical cases that can't wait to get to the destination hospital. The second one would be a mobile hospital: the A380 flies to a war or disaster zone and then stays on the ground providing a substitute/supplement for damaged or inadequate local facilities.

[pyro-manic]

How about a large cargo version - remove the floor for the upper deck, add a hinged nose or tail.

Ooh, or a satellite launcher. Have an "open-top" with the upper deck open for a decent sized rocket. folding fairings to keep it sleek while in flight, which open up to let the rocket launch. Maybe a split tail section with twin tails to keep it out of the way of the rocket exhaust.

[PR19_Kit]

How about a large cargo version - remove the floor for the upper deck, add a hinged nose or tail.

That'd be a Super Beluga then? 

I think there was a proposal for a 4 engined Beluga at one stage, but the expected loads didn't warrant all the extra work.

[McColm]

I haven't seen that many Airbus A340 kits in 1/144 scale the odd Airfix A300B appears from time to time. Got one in the stash.
Might be able to use the An-124 and A380 together to get the shoulder mounted wing and use the An-124 undercarriage. Twin fin tail unit. I'll have to see.
That space launcher idea, I like.
Adding additional decks might work.

[kitnut617]

You know, for all the hype about the A380 being the largest passenger hauler, it's not that much bigger --



I've got a An-124, A380 and C-5 all in 1/144th and Revell which I might move on as a package ----

[jcf]

A freighter was planned but canceled, and you can't just 'take out the upper deck', it aint' designed that way.
The largest available A380 model is the Heller 1/125 kit.

[PR19_Kit]

I haven't seen that many Airbus A340 kits in 1/144 scale

Revell make the only one there is AFAIK, but it's an excellent kit, like the majority of their 1/144 airliners.

You know, for all the hype about the A380 being the largest passenger hauler, it's not that much bigger --

It's the largest as in passenger carrying capacity, so it's not hype really.

[rickshaw]

It's also the largest to reach actual service...

[McColm]

I know someone who has flown on one, he got lost finding his seat on his return from the toilets. They rope off areas so the stowage passengers don't mingle with first class.

[PR19_Kit]

They rope off areas so the stowage passengers don't mingle with first class.

Perish the thought...........

[Weaver]

Probably have Ron & Ron style bouncers on the door to the first class cocktail lounge too: "Sorry, you're not on the list..."

[kitnut617]

It's the largest as in passenger carrying capacity, so it's not hype really.

What I meant Kit, was it's just a few feet bigger than the Boeing 747 and big aircraft like this have been flying for years.  If Boeing extended their top deck all the way back to the fin, they would have something similar

[Spey_Phantom]

ive been thinking of painting one in Gold, like the one proposed in Madagascar 3  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Cvtr86H5g