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The new Beluga XL, the Airbus cargo aircraft in the shape of a smiling whale, makes its first test flight Thursday in Toulouse, in the south of France.
The Airbus A330-74 Beluga XL is used to transport parts of most Airbus Series aircraft from the various production sites of the European Group (located in several countries such as Germany, Germany). Spain and the United Kingdom) until the Toulouse factory where badembly took place.
The aircraft will gradually replace the current Beluga ST from 2019 and "is part of our production system," said Bertrand George, director of the Beluga XL program, detailing the network of European factories involved in the Airbus jigsaw, but it's only a two-hour flight from Toulouse. "
" All Airbus aircraft, with the exception of the A380, which has its own mode of transportation, spend two hours at Beluga, "said George.
The Similarity of Beluga XL with the white whale 's homnima was accentuated with the eyes of the cetceo and a big smile painted on the front of the plane, a decoration decided by the employees of the group during a vote. [19659002] The program, launched in 2014, provides for the construction of five XL units, the first to be operational in 2019.
To make this aircraft 18.9 meters high, 63.1 meters long and fuselage is 8.8 meters in diameter, engineers were leaving "from a base A330, the we are changing the wings, engines and the bottom of the fuselage," said George.
"an excellent platform , a solid foundation, "he said, noting that hundreds of A330s fly daily around the world.
According to the director of the pro The new aircraft was needed for the production of the new, long-range, long-range A350 XWB, which requires composite materials.
"Today, we are carrying the wings of the A350 XWB one by one, we will transport them two by two tomorrow," said George.
The test flight lasted four hours and the Beluga XL flew over the Pyrenees and part of the Mediterranean before returning to Toulouse.
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