Beluga XL finally deploys its wings

(CNN) – It's almost there.

One of the most anticipated aircraft in the world of aviation, the Airbus Beluga XL, has just completed a series of key tests at Hawarden Airport in Wales, before being commissioned more late this year.

You will not be able to go there, though. It is a super-carrier cargo plane, designed by Airbus to fly its aircraft components between European production sites and its final assembly lines in Toulouse, Hamburg and Tianjin.

A330 modified

The Beluga XL is the successor of the Beluga, or Airbus A300-600ST, in service since 1995.

Starting with an A330 airliner, the Airbus engineers lowered the cockpit and grafted a huge cargo hold onto the fuselage to create this unusual-shaped aircraft.

Through a front hatch opening up on the "bubble", completed aircraft wings, fuselage sections and other components easily slide in and out. # 39; outside.

The bubble of the XL is six meters longer and one meter longer than the original size, which means that its cross section is eight meters wide.

Put the fun & # 39; in functional mode

The characteristic bulbous shape of the aircraft earned it the nickname "flying whale" because of its strong resemblance to the arctic white mammal, the beluga whale.

The livery with sparkling eyes and smiling face of the XL takes advantage. The whimsical design was chosen by Airbus staff as a result of a survey that six options were offered to 20,000 employees, who had to choose their favorite. With 40% of the votes, it is the winner.

"We used to say that in Toulouse or Hamburg, children recognize Beluga," CN Beluga XL program manager Bertrand Grosse told CNN Travel. "They like this very special plane."

However, the design is functional and cute. The huge cargo hold is large enough to carry two A350 wings at a time (the old Beluga could only carry one) and the whale-shaped nose improves the # 39, aerodynamic efficiency of the device.

After all, nature has perfected the beluga and, says Grosse, "flying in the air, it's a bit like swimming in the sea."

Pilot training

So, how do you drive a machine like this in heaven? Well, said Grosse, despite the unusual appearance of the aircraft, "for the pilots, it is a good A330.Our pilots will be trained on the A330, then they will get a Delta qualification to allow them to fly the Beluga XL. "

Although you might think the plane would run slower, "the drag is pretty much the same," says Grosse. "What really changes is the behavior of the plane in the back, at the bottom of the cargo hold.

"That's why we lifted the vertical tail plane more than two meters out of the flow behind the cargo hold and we also have special acceleration on the horizontal tail plane to stabilize the aircraft. "

The Beluga XL is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, which, like its wings, are also used on the A330.

Preparations for a very special guest

Airbus manufactures its wings in a large factory at Hawarden Airport.

The installation has undergone special modifications for the arrival of Beluga XL, such as the creation of two sets of doors for the Beluga metro station – one for Beluga and one for Beluga XL.

Airbus also covered the landing strip, erected blast barriers (to safely redirect exhaust gases from the engines) and installed new cornering pads, needed when the Beluga XL made half-life. ride on the relatively short track of about 1,600 meters from Howarden.

Airplane enthusiasts from all over the UK gathered in Wales to witness the arrival of the Beluga XL on Thursday and to see him leave Saturday in Toulouse, France.

"This aircraft is, I would say, an icon for our company," Grosse told CNN Travel. "It's Airbus' workhorse, so it's more than just an airplane, which allows Airbus to build planes on a daily basis."

Tamara Hardingham-Gill and Howard Slutsken contributed to this report.