Airbus Beluga XL “cute whale” was officially put into operation after a long period of testing

Tram Ho

By the time the large passenger airplanes like the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747 are almost out of date, the Beluga XL – the first of the six – will be one of the most “beasts” in the sky.

You will not be able to travel on this plane, but Beluga will play a key role in the construction of many commercial passenger aircraft that we will use for decades to come.

The super transport aircraft was designed by Airbus, which aims to transport aircraft components between European factories and final assembly lines in Toulouse (France), Hamburg (Germany), and Tianjin (China).

The design was modified from Airbus A330

Beluga XL is a “junior” of Beluga, or Airbus A300-600ST, has been operating since 1995.

Its design is borrowed from the A330. Airbus engineers lowered the cockpit and assembled a giant cargo bay into the fuselage to create its unique shape.

Through a door located in the “forehead” part of the aircraft, which is open forward, facing upwards, one can easily enter and remove from the cargo bay a complete pair of aircraft wings, the whole part. cockpit, and many other components.

Máy bay cá voi dễ thương Airbus Beluga XL chính thức được đưa vào hoạt động sau một thời gian dài thử nghiệm - Ảnh 1.

The “forehead” of the XL is 6m longer and 1m wider than the original Beluga, meaning its cross-section is up to 8m wide.

Máy bay cá voi dễ thương Airbus Beluga XL chính thức được đưa vào hoạt động sau một thời gian dài thử nghiệm - Ảnh 2.

Interesting function

The unique shape of Beluga XL is the reason they gave it the nickname ” flying whale”. You can easily see this plane looks exactly like a beluga whale – a white mammal that lives in the Arctic.

Máy bay cá voi dễ thương Airbus Beluga XL chính thức được đưa vào hoạt động sau một thời gian dài thử nghiệm - Ảnh 3.

The first part with XL’s happy eyes and smiling eyes clearly shows that. This incredible design was chosen by the Airbus leadership team after a participatory poll of 20,000 employees, with 6 options given. Receiving up to 40% of the votes, the design we see today is clearly unrivaled.

We used to say in Toulouse or Hamburg that kids would recognize the Beluga right away. They loved this very special plane,” said Bertrand George, director of the Beluga XL program.

However, this design is not merely cute, but it has its own functions. The huge cargo compartment is large enough to carry a pair of A350 aircraft wings (the old Beluga can only carry one), and the whale-like nose helps improve the aerodynamics of the aircraft.

Nature has helped the beluga whales to evolve today, and according to Grosse ” flying in the air is like swimming in the sea”.

Máy bay cá voi dễ thương Airbus Beluga XL chính thức được đưa vào hoạt động sau một thời gian dài thử nghiệm - Ảnh 4.
Máy bay cá voi dễ thương Airbus Beluga XL chính thức được đưa vào hoạt động sau một thời gian dài thử nghiệm - Ảnh 5.

Pilot training

What difference does it make driving this aircraft? According to George, despite the strange shape, ” for pilots it is really like an A330. Our pilots will be trained on the A330 and then they will take a Delta professional course to drive a Beluga XL “.

If you think this aircraft will have a slower flight speed, then George insists “the speed will be the same”.

“What really changed is the behavior of the plane at the back, the bottom of the cargo bay.”

“That’s why we raised the plane’s vertical tail by more than 2 meters to get it out of the airflow behind the cargo compartment and we also equipped a special accelerator on the horizontal tail of the aircraft. to help stabilize it. “

The Beluga XL uses two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, and is like a pair of wings, both taken from the A330.

Preparing for a very special guest

Airbus manufactures aircraft wings at a large plant in the port of Hawarden, England.

The factory has been specially modified to welcome Beluga XL, for example, equipped with two sets of doors for the Beluga Line Station – one for Beluga and the other for Beluga XL.

Airbus also prepares a landing track and rebuilds the fence (to safely guide the engine’s powerful exhaust pipes), and installs new turns – necessary for the Beluga XL to turn around on the runway. Short of the Hawarden, about 1,600m.

This aircraft, I can say, is a symbol for the company,” – George said. ” This is Airbus’ pack horse. It is more than just an airplane. It is what helps Airbus create planes every day.”

Reference: CNN

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Source : Genk