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Finding answers to sticky problems is all part of the business
And over in Hamburg, Airbus have been straining to ensure another important system works perfectly
Laid out in this building is a full size test rig of the waste system for the A380
With up to 20 toilets and around 900m of piping it's a big job
Senol Mertol and Dennis Kaiser have been hard at work for the last two years
"We will give you a short demonstration of a toilet flush on the A380"
"So at first we have to evacuate the toilet system"
"I can start this. It will get a little bit loud"
The toilets work by pumping air out of waste tanks at the rear of the plane causing a partial
vacuum
When a toilet is flushed, air is sucked in to fill the vacuum and the waste is drawn
down the pipes into the tanks
In the finished aircraft, these parts are made of titanium to save weight but here perspex
is used for clarity
This is Formula 1 technology for toilets
And the result is some seriously speedy sewage
"The speed of the piping is around 60m/s"
60m/s is about 130mph [210kmh]
Such high performance plumbing is needed because of the size of the plane
At nearly 73m long, the loos at the front are a very long way from the tanks at the
rear
"This is the most forward toilet in the A380 - the one what the pilots normally would use"
"It is quite difficult because you have a pressure loss from the waste tanks to this
toilet because of the length"
It's a challenge not to be sniffed at, but undeterred the guys give it a go
Just seconds later, the waste arrives at the tank and flushed with success the engineers
bring the A380 another step closer to reality
By March 14th 2005 the A380 is parked outside the factory here in France