A380 vs 747 - What's the difference?

I’ve often been asked, “what’s the difference between the A380 and B747?”

This is like asking what’s the difference between the universally loved, long serving London Route-master bus and the Federation of Planets' Galaxy Class Starship Enterprise.

Hands down, the 747 wins on the lateral design leap Boeing made with the location of the cockpit. It’s an icon of aviation. Hardly anyone would fail to recognise it. It has an elegance which has evaded almost all other types. Passengers who flew first class loved its private cabin (even though the seats were narrow), and the Pilots loved flying it, in part because it just did what it was supposed to do day in day out – keep flying with the comfort of significant system redundancy.

It has a private toilet for the pilots and a couple of basic bunks in the cockpit which at the time it was designed were the equivalent to the revolution in UK housing which saw each dwelling fitted with a ‘privy’ and a place for everyone to put their heads.

The Enterprise is from a different era. However, one glaring omission is that it lacks auto engine anti ice. Surely this should have been there as a basic necessity. Anyway, on to its good points.

Firstly Airbuses (or is it Airbi), in my opinion, tend to be neater machines with more precise philosophies. They benefit from excellent flight laws and protections compared to the 747. Through the automation interface (Mode Control Panel – Boeing, FCU -Flight Control Unit, Airbus), the Airbus keeps everything in a tidy manner. Push for plane, pull for pilot. If the plane has control, the interface windows will be blank. The pilots will use their – standby for a smorgasbord of acronyms - PFD, ND & FMA’s to maintain their SA (See the post which explains flying acronyms). There is none of the Boeing nonsense of continuing to trim the heading bug, or remembering to have to press LNAV after a ‘direct to’ in the FMS. The Airbus knows you want to go direct so it does it.

Also, of course, all modern airbuses have the side stick which means pilots have a table. Boeing, even on its fly by wire aircraft, is still providing the pilot with a 30kg mouse, or whatever it weighs, stuck between his legs.

So specifically, what does the Enterprise have which the Route-master does not.

Passenger (pax) and cabin crew comfort

1. Cavernous with wide aisles
2. Extremely quiet – especially on the upper deck – pax are sometimes unaware that the aircraft is airborne!
3. Impressive theatre staircase which is clearly an indulgent hallmark of this aircraft.
4. Showers on board (operator dependent). The forward upper decks toilets are bigger than some family bathrooms!
5. Suite of bunks underfloor for cabin crew

Pilot Comfort

1. Electric cockpit seats – 747 has manual
2. Silent cockpit in flight - 747 sounds like someone has left a window open
3. Silent cockpit on ground – no distracting fan noise. It really is ‘silent’
4. Private toilet
5. Two superbly acoustically insulated, private and separate bunk rooms with chair, bunk, temp & lighting control and IFE
6. A privacy door between the bunk/toilet area and the cabin
7. A selection of well positioned integrated sun visors
8. Spacious flight deck with capacity for five crew seats

Pilot Interface

1. A full qwerty keyboard built into the table enables comprehensive messaging
2. A fabulous ‘track ball’ driven FMS with three secondary flight plans, multiple ADS monitoring, intuitive functions etc. Even on Boeing’s latest aircraft the 787, they have still use the same architecture. Yes, it has a track pad and more memory, but it still has the basic functions of the 747 FMS. Airbus took a different view. They threw away the FMGC in the small buses and created a stunning MFD (Multi-Function Display) which incorporates NAV/CPDLC/ADS/PERF, a kettle and a microwave oven. Ok, maybe I’m getting carried away. However, it is so good, that in my opinion, you could put a 747 pilot in an A380 seat at top of climb out of LHR and ask her to fly to LAX.Despite time pressure, she would figure out how to get her oceanic clearance before the boundary and, provided nothing were to go wrong, she could fly the A380 to top of descent on the other side. It remains unclear whether a male Boeing pilot could do this.
3. A fabulous ECL (electronic checklist). If the pilot follows this religiously and resists the temptation to go ‘off piste’ the outcome will invariably be a good one. The ECL is so good that the QRH only has nine pages including the covers.Essentially, it is a paper backup for just smoke/fire/fumes
4. Excellent electronic library and performance tool which interfaces with the electronic checklist

The tech toys

1. Autobrake disconnect on landing – press the thrust lever autothrust button and the brakes disconnect without jerking.
2. Weather radar - this could be an MRI scanner if it were used in a hospital. Not only does it have tilt/gain/mapping just as the 747 does but it also has an azimuth selector and a horizontal level filter. This means you can pick any molecule of air in front of the aircraft +/- approx. 45 degrees left/right of the nose and ask the radar, is it clear? Is it water? Is it turbulence? etc.
3. ROW/ROP – Runway overrun warning/protection the A380 constantly measures its kinetic energy on approach. If it thinks that there is a risk of the plane not fitting in the available runway distance, it will generate various audible and visual warnings e.g. “If Wet use Max reverse”, “Use Max Reverse”, “Runway too Short”
4. BTV – Brake to vacate. Using the ND and the airport map (another feature the 747 lacks, although the 787 does have an airport map), one can select the desired exit. The map displays a wet and dry line to assist the pilot in exit selection. Upon selection the ND will display runway occupancy time with and without reverse selection. The BTV coupled with the autobrake autothrust button disconnect ensures very smooth rollouts.
5. ETACS – the external cameras, as Airbus call them. The nose gear camera screen is superimposed with steering markers which are a huge help.
6. VSD – Vertical situation display (modern Boeings such as the 787 has this too)

Architecture and capability

1. The huge wing means that the A380 can usually climb directly to FL350/FL360 despite weighting over 500 tonnes at take off
2. The huge wing means that the approach speed is much lower resulting in the A380 being a Cat C aircraft for speed purposes whereas even the 787 is cat D
3. Fuel pumps – there are twenty five of these to handle which pump fuel:
4. longitudinally for C of G purposes
5. inboard on ground for wing weight bending relief
6. Outboard in flight for wing lift bending relief
7. Inboard and outboard for fuel temperature control
8. Hydraulics – there are two systems pressurised to 5000psi. However, because of local back up circuits at the point of use the A380 can suffer a double hydraulic failure and still continue with its oceanic crossing.
9. Double engine failure (same side) – commit height of just 500 ft. Aircraft, if heavy might descend below 500ft during gear retraction, however it does not need to accelerate down the glideslope like the 747.
10. Max T/O weight 569 tonnes and max landing of 391 tonnes. It is possible to land at circa 450 tonnes (I have done so!!) and provided the landing is smooth enough (it was 😉), six further landings can be performed without inspection.

In summary, they are both fabulous aircraft, and they both demonstrate the creativity of man.