Here’s everything you would want to know
about the Airbus Beluga!
7 - The Oversized Whale
You guys ever see a whale flying in the sky?
Okay, okay, maybe not an ACTUAL whale, but
the Airbus Beluga is close enough!
The Airbus Beluga is a version of the standard
wide-body Airbus A300 modified to carry aircraft
parts and oversized cargo.
At first it was initially known as the Super
Transporter, but later it was given the name
Beluga, which is a whale that the plane resembles.
The fact that it looks like a Beluga whale
is what makes it totally unique!
Okay, there are other things as well.
Anyways, there’s actually going to be a
new Beluga flying the skies soon.
The next in line Beluga is a much larger version.
The Beluga XL is based on the Airbus A330
with modifications.
It’ll be 20 feet longer and three feet wider
than the original Beluga.
It’ll also be able to lift six more tons,
but the extra weight the new Beluga XL can
carry isn’t what’s really important here,
it’s all the extra space the XL has!
The outgoing Beluga can only carry one wing
of the popular A350 XWB airliner.
However, the XL can carry both!
The first Beluga XL is slated to enter service
in 2019, after which Airbus plans to build
four more to round out the fleet.
Of course, this new jet has to pass many tests
before it can swing open its front-opening
cargo door and gulp down whatever needs transporting.
The Beluga XL’s first test flight was back
on July 19th, 2018!
C’mon guys, what do you think?
Do you think this airplane looks pretty cute?!
6 - Airbus Beluga Origins
It was back in September of 1992 that construction
began for the first Beluga aircraft.
The initial Airbus Beluga took off exactly
two years later.
Yep, again, in the month of September if you’ve
been following what we’ve been saying!
A total of three hundred and thirty five flight
hours were tested as part of the initial program
and a restricted certification was awarded.
The European Aviation Safety Agency, in October
of 1995 gave the approval for the Super Transporter,
or really, the first Airbus Beluga to enter
full-time service.
Once the aircraft passed the quality test,
four more Belugas were built, approximately
one per year.
However, each airframe apparently took around
three years to construct.
All the modifications were performed in Toulouse,
France using parts provided by the Airbus
production line.
The primary task of the Beluga fleet was to
carry the Airbus components that were ready
for the final assembly in different locations
across Europe.
The Airbus Beluga Fleet flew from Toulouse,
France to Hamburg, Germany, and nine additional
sites, about 60 times every week!
5 - Beluga Design
The Airbus Beluga essentially incorporates
the best features of many aircraft.
The design of the Beluga is similar to an
Airbus A300, but of course, it looks different.
The upper part of the Beluga is 25 feet in
diameter and horseshoe-shaped.
However, the wings, engine, the landing gear
and the bottom part of the fuselage are similar
to that of the A300.
We did say similar though.
The turbo engine is an upgrade from the one
used in the A300.
The payload of the Beluga is more than double
of its predecessor, the Super Guppy.
The Beluga doesn’t have a tail-plane trim
tank but instead has auxiliary fins for directional
stability.
Of course, because of the fact that it’s
a plane made especially for carrying large
cargo, the cockpit was relocated to provide
easy access to the cargo area without needing
to disconnect the electrical, or hydraulic
and flight control connections.
This reduced the time for loading by half
when compared to the Super Guppy that required
disconnection and reconnection.
The Beluga also adopted roll-on and roll-off
loading systems and the beluga can also be
unloaded in high winds, although, who really
wants to unload stuff during say, a category
5 Hurricane?!
Anyways, the Beluga is flown with just a crew
of 3!
Two pilots and a loadmaster.
Even though the Beluga is great for transporting
airplane parts, it’s not great for any humongous
animals that needs to get somewhere as the
cargo deck isn’t pressurized.
For any King Kong sized animals, guess they’ll
just have to travel the old-fashioned way
by sea!
4 - Beluga History
Beluga started its dedicated service in January
1996, ferrying components from many aerospace
sites to the final assembly lines in Toulouse,
France and Hamburg, Germany.
The Super Guppy freighters previously used
to do cargo transport for Airbus were retired
on October 24th, 1997 and from then on the
cargo missions were exclusively performed
by the new Beluga fleet.
In 1997, the fleet had done more than 2,500
flight-hours across more than 1,400 flights.
By 2012 the fleet was doing 5,000 flight-hours
per year!
In June 1997, a world record was set for the
most voluminous payload carried by an aircraft
when a Beluga was used to transport a chemical
tank for a merchant vessel!
In February 2003, a single Beluga performed
the farthest distance charter flight ever,
having flown for 25 hours, not including refueling
stops!
3 - Oversized Cargo as a Specialty
Beluga specializes in carrying large payloads
in aircraft.
It’s been regularly used for transporting
heavy objects, such as large vehicles for
space programs.
Apart from fulfilling its primary duty of
transporting freight, it also has been used
as a charter flight for various purposes.
Initially, the fleet was unable to spare time
for charter, but as the number of Beluga aircrafts
increased, available flight hours were freed
up for charter flights.
And oh yeah, remember what we just mentioned
earlier?
You guys remember right?!
Here, we’ll mention it again!
The Beluga set the world payload carrying
record in 1997 for transporting a chemical
tank!
From then on, there was no stopping the Beluga.
Here’s another ridiculous thing carried
by a Beluga.
Have you heard of the painting, Liberty leading
the people by Eugene Delacroix?
That painting had been hanging in the Louvre
in Paris since 1874.
However, in 1999, this large painting, which
was almost 10 feet high and 12 feet long,
was needed to be transported from Paris to
Tokyo.
The problem was, the painting couldn’t fit
inside a 747! Yep, you guys guessed it, a
Beluga was called to solve this problem!
The technical team used a special container
with isothermal protection and an anti-vibration
device and placed the painting in the Beluga
in a vertical position.
As we mentioned earlier, the Beluga has been
used to carry many various components for
space programs.
For example, in 2004, multiple Belugas were
used to deliver Astrium built satellites to
Kazakhstan over multiple flights.
Also, in 2009, a Beluga was used to transport
a large piece of the International Space Station
from Turin, Italy to Kennedy Space Centre
in the United States.
The Beluga also was used to airdrop relief
supplies to the victims of the 2004 Tsunami.
In 2005, it was used in disaster relief operations
for Hurricane Katrina by supplying medical
aid from the UK and France to the Gulf coast
of the US.
The Beluga has had some really important tasks!
2 - Beluga Safety
Just how safe is the Beluga anyways?
Well, just like any other plane, it’s really
safe!
The first week of June in 2018 saw the new
Beluga XL clear the static vibration test
that was conducted by the DLR, which is the
German equivalent of NASA.
The test involved 14 electrodynamic shakers,
which are basically long metal poles attached
to various points of the aircraft, such as
the tail, the wing tips, and the engines.
These thin rods then piston back and forth,
just to make the Beluga XL vibrate.
Meanwhile, while the plane was doing it’s
best impression of some girl twerking, 600
sensors, connected by 23,000 feet of cable,
measured the acceleration and displacement
of the Beluga’s horizontal and vertical
stabilizers as well as the rudder on the tail!
The reason for this shakedown, so to speak,
is to improve Airbus’s understanding of
how the Beluga would behave in the air, that
way Airbus can update its computer models
as needed.
The test is also key for ensuring the plane
won’t fall victim to flutter, which is where
parts of the aircraft start to oscillate and
increasing in amplitude until things just
start falling apart!
Flutter is what triggered the famous swaying
and collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge,
also known as Galloping Gertie, in 1940!
Of all the things you wouldn’t want your
airplane to do, #1 on the list is to have
its wings fall off right?
Airbus said it was pleased with the results,
so we’re guessing that no wings are falling
off the Beluga XL anytime soon!
1 - The Whale Makeover
We mentioned earlier that the Beluga was named
after the Arctic whale, because of its resemblance
with the beluga whale and its signature forehead
hump.
The Beluga has been in service for over 20
years transporting fuselage sections, wings
and tails from suppliers to Airbus assembly
plants in France and Germany.
After over 20 years, Airbus finally decided
to give it a makeover!
Instead of just resembling a whale in shape,
Airbus decided to actually make the plane
look as much like a Beluga whale as possible
with the Beluga XL!
Airbus had asked its employees to choose how
its new Beluga XL should appear to the world.
More than 40% of its employees chose the design
with the Beluga XL having bright blue eyes
and a smiling black mouth, a design that beat
out five other ones.
The addition of a happy face to the distinctly-shaped
airframe that gave rise to the iconic aircraft’s
name will further reinforce the Beluga in
the public’s mind don’t you guys think?!
Here’s what’s next!
