Post by xxxx on Dec 20, 2014 10:40:56 GMT 1
I think they are two possibilities, both to do with the tail being very labour intensive to paint.
The first could be that during outfitting they demounted the tail, as I don't think they have to do much with it in outfitting and they sent it over to the paintshop for the A380 tails (next to the two main paintshops there is a small paintshop just to paint the tail, as it is more difficult to paint the tail than to paint the rest of the plane). Check these links out for that: www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/dg/idp/19524-a380-thai-vtp-roll-out/?backURL=presscentre/pressroom/high-res-photos/?tx_photogallery_pi1[swords]=thai&tx_photogallery_pi1[count]=100
www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/dg/idp/29897-a380-qatar-vtp-paint-roll-out/?backURL=presscentre/pressroom/high-res-photos/?tx_photogallery_pi1[swords]=qatar&tx_photogallery_pi1[count]=100
After painting it they could have refitted it onto MSN 166 and then all of the plane could have gone into the paintshop. I don't know however whether that is possible as Airbus doesn't have any cranes in hangars 141-146, but I think the two new ones opposing the flightline hangars 221,222. So if 221 and 222 weren't free it was probably quite difficult demount the tail, as I don't know how they would have fitted a massive crane in there (when they do need one, they rent one from outside).
The other option is that the paintshop didn't have a big enough slot to paint both the tail and the body, so they ddecided ot only paint the tail first and then the body at a later point. This probably also has to do with the fact that they had to use different methods to get rid of the upper coat of paint first with tail and body, as the tail seemed to have proper pait on, while the body only had the standard protective layer.
The first could be that during outfitting they demounted the tail, as I don't think they have to do much with it in outfitting and they sent it over to the paintshop for the A380 tails (next to the two main paintshops there is a small paintshop just to paint the tail, as it is more difficult to paint the tail than to paint the rest of the plane). Check these links out for that: www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/dg/idp/19524-a380-thai-vtp-roll-out/?backURL=presscentre/pressroom/high-res-photos/?tx_photogallery_pi1[swords]=thai&tx_photogallery_pi1[count]=100
www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/dg/idp/29897-a380-qatar-vtp-paint-roll-out/?backURL=presscentre/pressroom/high-res-photos/?tx_photogallery_pi1[swords]=qatar&tx_photogallery_pi1[count]=100
After painting it they could have refitted it onto MSN 166 and then all of the plane could have gone into the paintshop. I don't know however whether that is possible as Airbus doesn't have any cranes in hangars 141-146, but I think the two new ones opposing the flightline hangars 221,222. So if 221 and 222 weren't free it was probably quite difficult demount the tail, as I don't know how they would have fitted a massive crane in there (when they do need one, they rent one from outside).
The other option is that the paintshop didn't have a big enough slot to paint both the tail and the body, so they ddecided ot only paint the tail first and then the body at a later point. This probably also has to do with the fact that they had to use different methods to get rid of the upper coat of paint first with tail and body, as the tail seemed to have proper pait on, while the body only had the standard protective layer.