A few days ahead of the 787 Maiden flight, another spectacular bird took off for the first time in Europe..
The Airbus A400M is worth a look. I know, it is obviously shaped like a C-17 ! but look at these engines! Here are a few pictures and a link to a Video.

Two Happy Campers:

Big bird!



Check that Video:
http://blog.avionslegendaires.net/2009/12/video-la-video-integrale-du-premier-vol-de-la400m/

Ahhhh, Looks like Hercules (C-130) on steroids.

- Ali

Looks more like a C-17 with turbo-props to me.

Beautiful aircraft though.  I love the look of those Turboprops..  Very mean looking.  Outstanding.

Trev

Mike is right , it really looks like a Globemaster.
The video is worth a look, The start of these windmills is impressive.
The C-17 was a MMD, now Boeing, and a great success. Mighty airplane, very adaptable to all sorts of missions...the A400M shoots at the Euro military...time will tell.

It's obvious that Airbus knew a good thing when they saw it (and probably inspected more than one somewhere in the world).

"Louis, where is the wine and cheese? They said there'd be wine and cheese on this flight."

'no wine and cheese' because they can't afford it 
the chief executive of Airbus has even suggested he might cancel the project if no more funding is made available.
BBC News - Airbus chief says he 'may cancel A400M' military plane
the words 'over' and 'barrel' spring to mind 
sacre black !   
have a great day chaps....   ian