The A380 lands smoothly, framed by a dramatic vapor cone

Is a smooth landing more a function of pilot skill or plane? Anecdotally, in my travels, my Airbus landings seem to be much less jarring than my Boeing landings. Coincidence or a pattern?

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FAJStracker@reddit

Boiling the sky! Steaming the clouds.

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SkinEmbarrassed7129@reddit

The 747 looks way better, this plane is just so boring like an appliance.

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SkinEmbarrassed7129@reddit

u made bc i find the A380 ugly lol you need therapy

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PilotKnob@reddit

When the temperature/dew point spread is negligible.

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ronerychiver@reddit

The people sitting over the wings thought this was a Cat III approach

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virilixe@reddit

Even the atmosphere has to make room for this thing.

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LiveNotWork@reddit

I was once in an ethihad abu dhabi to US DC. The flight landed so smooth I didn't even realize it landed and was waiting for that jerk

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LiveNotWork@reddit

It's in reverse. That's why it's soo smooth.

/S

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runfayfun@reddit

Serious question… is the amount of vapor analogous to the amount of lift being generated?

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Swan2Bee@reddit

it's related to the drop in pressure above the wings as well as localized relative humidity. So to some extent, yes.

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sabretooth47@reddit

That's the plane releasing all the leftover poisonous contrail chemicals!

/s

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FLMILLIONAIRE@reddit

Beautiful I'm flying Lufthansa end of December to Europe

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Taxus_Calyx@reddit

Looks like light and variable winds, so yeah.

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Leading-Loss-986@reddit

It always amazes me that so much kinetic energy can be dissipated with so little chaos. Aviation is just too cool!

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Gramerdim@reddit

op clearly never seen or touched this

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TobiasVdb@reddit

So most pilots are commenting on butter smooth landings in msft as not ideal, you need a little force to clear icing, trigger internal sensors and whatnot.

Given that, was this one ok? Or too smooth?

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Slow_Description_773@reddit

can somebody explain this phenomenon please?

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An airfoil is designed to stretch out the air as it passes over top to lower the pressure and generate lift. Moisture is held in the air with respect to temperature and pressure. When the air is stretch over the wing, water can 'wring' out of the stretched air due to a sharp decrease in air pressure making it condensate.

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