WASHINGTON – Airbus’s latest aircraft – the Beluga XL – made its flightdebut on Thursday.
Nicknamed the Whale in the Sky because of its unique shape, the aircrafttook off from Toulouse Airport in France on Friday morning on its maidenvoyage.
According to the Sun, a crowd of more than 10,000 people, mostly employeesand subcontractors of the European aircraft manufacturer, applauded as ittook to the skies.
The plane has been designed to move oversized aircraft components and hasan extra 30 per cent capacity on the current Beluga planes that it willreplace.
This new plane is six metres longer and a metre wider, which means it cancarry two A350 XWB plane wings instead of one.
Also known as A300-600ST Super Transporter, the company’s five existingBelugas play a key role in keeping its production and assembly networkoperating at full capacity, with the fleet’s overall pace of operations –managed by the Airbus Transport International (ATI) subsidiary – growing tosupport production ramp-ups.
The Beluga retains the same modern flight deck that is in worldwideoperation on Airbus A300-600s and A310s.
It is operated by a three-member crew comprising two pilots and aloadmaster. The main instrument panel incorporates six cathode ray tube(CRT) displays that continuously provide flight, navigation andsystems-monitoring information in a clear, comprehensive manner.
Also included in the cockpit are controls for a transportable heatingmodule that can be installed in the main deck cargo compartment. The moduleprovides temperature-controlled conditions for sensitive payloads carriedby the Beluga, including satellites and paintings.