A380 Demo Tour Arrives; Natives Puzzled

As everyone but three guys in a coal mine in West Virginia have heard, yesterday was the simultaneous arrival of two A380 airliners, one on the shaky side and one on the dirty side as the truckers say. This, it is alleged, will allow operators to get some information on handling arrangements and amenities for future passengers.

Much has been said, and it does seem that there are a lot of airplane watchers who got a visual treat, particularly in my old home town of Los Angeles. On the north side of Mines Field, a/k/a Los Angeles International Airport are the remains of a residential development whose occupants were bought out years ago because of noise. All that's left is the eucalyptus and the odd curving streets and the slabs where the ticky tacky (as Malvina Reynolds called it) once stood. It was a good place to watch airplanes from, most notably the nonstop B747 to Paris struggling to get airborne in the late afternoon.

Credits to Airbus for a good show, no doubt in advance of the Paris Air Show in June-I am sure we can expect quite a bit of grandstanding from those quarters in the runup to the show.

It occurs to me that the Pennsylvania Dutch had a saying that the folks who are looking at buying airplanes might well read, mark and inwardly digest: Kissin' don't last, but cookin' do.