For icing trials, the fin and tailplane leading edges of F-WWOW have been painted orange. This is to enable ice build-up to be clearly seen - accretion is almost invisible against the white airframe.

Water trough trials, to explore the A380's ground-handling characteristics in runway standing water, were satisfactorily completed at Istres, France, in October 2005.

Cold weather trials were carried out by F-WWDD in Iqaluit, Canada, in February this year at temperatures as low as -30°C.

During static testing, the wing tip was deflected by over 24ft.

A sign of things to come, A380, F-WWDD, is seen at London Heathrow on May 18, 2006 during the type's latest airport compatibility check. A380s have visited over 20 airports; some, such as Singapore and Frankfurt for operational testing, and a number of smaller airports, including Medallin, Columbia and Iqaluit, Canada, for performance trials.

Preparing for the bird ingestion test on the Trent 900. It was the first time a Rolls-Royce engine had been subjected to a demanding new test in which a 5 1/2 lb bird is ingested at take-off conditions. The Trent 900 passed with flying colours, only losing 2.7% thrust, well within the 50% allowed.