Free Republic

The world's largest passenger plane, the 555-seater Airbus A380 superjumbo, touched down safely at Heathrow Airport on its first visit to the UK. With British test pilot Ed Strongman at the controls, the double-decker aircraft drew to a halt outside a £105 million new pier at the west London airport. Among the dignitaries welcoming the plane was Chancellor Gordon Brown. With him were the heads of some of the 16 airlines that have already ordered the 240ft-long aircraft, which will go into passenger service in December this year. Flying in from the Berlin Air Show, the plane had taken a...

At a lavish, laser-speckled launch party in France last week, Tony Blair said that the new Airbus was “a symbol of confidence that we can compete and win in the global market”. Nearly right, you big-eared thicko. Actually, it is a symbol of confidence that we can compete and win in the global market despite the utter stupidity of your government. The gigantic wings for this plane are built by British Aerospace in north Wales. But each one is far too large to be taken to Toulouse by road and far too heavy to be taken there by air. So...