Best Aircraft Maker- Airbus or Boeing?

(The latest Airbus A380)
(The Latest Boeing Dreamliner)

There is a biggest debate going on in the internet Forum that I watched for at the moment. The question is, who's the best aircraft marker?, Airbus or Boeing. Off course there will be two quarters,those who support Airbus and those who support Boeing. Each supporter gave their own opinion accordingly. But to my point of view both aircraft marker are the best in the world today, there is no doubt about it. And to built the best aircraft need a lot of effort, and both done it well.

Boeing added two plane orders in the past week, taking its year-to-date tally to a record 1,146 net orders, but the US planemaker still trails European rival Airbus in the race for 2007 sales.

The number of Boeing's firm orders is already well ahead of its record last year of 1,044, and means the company will break 1,000 orders for the third straight year.
But it still trails Airbus, which had 1,204 orders on its books for the year at the end of November, after a particularly successful Dubai air show. A full comparison will be possible at the end of the year, when Airbus adjusts its tally to take account of cancelled orders.

Between them, Boeing and Airbus look set to post 2,500 orders for the year, which would break the previous record of 2,057 net orders in 2005.

That was the first year both companies posted more than 1,000 orders each, marking the beginning of the boom in commercial aerospace, as travel demand surged after a slump caused by the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Airbus has already beaten its 2005 record for orders, and looks set to reclaim the title of biggest-selling planemaker after losing it last year to Boeing.

Its single-aisle A320 line is selling well, and in the last few months it has seen a rise in interest for its new mid-sized wide-body, the A350 XWB -- which rivals Boeing's 787 -- after several years of design setbacks. It is also taking orders for its new A380 superjumbo, which entered service in October.

Boeing's biggest seller is its single-aisle 737, with 651 orders so far this year. The new 787 Dreamliner, which is set to start test flights by the end of March, has 314 orders this year. Boeing has taken 129 orders for its 777 this year, and 16 for its 747.

The total year-to-date tally for Boeing includes a 55 plane order, worth about USD$4.5 billion, placed by General Electric's plane leasing unit last week, but only made public on Thursday.

In term of sale both equally got so much customer orders that they can handled it for quite sometime into the future. Healthy competition is good for both of them.

Big Transport Aircraft

Boeing Dreamlifter
Airbus Beluga

Beside the well known shape like a big whale the "Beluga" the European Airbus transport aircraft thats transport the body of an aircraft for assembly now Boeing come out with nearly identical modified 747-400 dubbed "Dreamlifter" used to transport the major assemblies of all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Granted type certification on 2 June 2007 by FAA.
The certification recognizes that the Dreamlifter has successfully passed all of stringent testing and safety requirements required by the FAA. The Dreamlifter does not need to be certified by other regulatory agencies.
As part of the flight test program, FAA officials flew on board the aircraft as it delivered major sections of the Dreamliner from partner sites around the world to the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington for the final assembly.
The flights allowed the FAA to validate the overall delivery process and tools.The Dreamlifter is not certified to carry passenger beyond essential crew.
The aircraft completed 437 flight test hours and 639 hours of ground testing since its first flight on 9 September 2006. With certification achieved, operation of the aircraft fleet soon be assumed by Evergreen International Airlines (EIA) of McMinnville, Oregon.

Airplane Spotter -another hobby

If you love an airplane like me or others you might know the term "plane spotter". Its somekind of past time hobby like other hobbies. "Plane Spotter" is actually an individual or a group of people thats enthusiasticly and passionately like to hanging around near an airport at a strategic spot to have a glimpse of an airplane movements in their free time.
I'll think its a universal hobby thats every country got their own indivdual or groups existing to appreciate this activities.
Some of them sometimes equipped with binocular, SLR Camera, Video Camera or occasionally with Airband Scanner (while the latter is some time depend on where you are, I mean, in some countries possessing such radio is against the law, so must be careful if you bring it into such country).
Actually you must take precaution in handling such activities in high security area such an airport. You must adhered to any rules and regulation that is usually clearly shown in the area, carefully read the sign or signboard pertaining to any warning.
Such caution is to ensured that you will not be prosecuted by authority. Remember, there is a cases involving "plane-spotter" in Russia and China thats has been jailed for doing just that.
I'll think elsewhere like in Area 51 the famous place thats signboard warning is everywhere there is people been prosecuted or been warn by the guards. So beware such consequences. Happy plane spotting.