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He is huge and at the same time endearing with his smiling "muzzle" and his laughing eyes. The new Beluga Airbus makes its first full-scale flight this Thursday in Toulouse.
The aircraft took off at 10:30 sharp towards Cornebarrieu, northwest of the suburbs of Toulouse. The flight should last about 4 hours. The landing is scheduled at 14:30. The flight will fly over the northern Pyrenees, take the direction of Aix-en-Provence and return to Toulouse.
At the helm, Christophe Cail, test pilot and Bernardo Saez-Benito Hernandez, first test co-pilot and the three test engineers Laurent Lapierre, Jean-Michel Pin and Philippe Foucault, had a lot of work going on the scheduled four hours of testing. Tests in its various configurations, climb up to level 320, about 10,000 meters, to push it to its maximum operational speed. While the Beluga XL has a base of A330, a known base, then, but the Beluga XL as any Beluga is not a plane like the others by the shape of its fuselage, but also because it is necessary to study also the behavior of the voluminous loads that it carries, wings, wings, empennages and sections of A320 or 350.
"A great pride for the employees"
Laurent lowers his flag. In the axis of the track away Beluga XL. First successful takeoff, first flight rising against the backdrop of a "blue sky storm", as we say when the weather conditions are optimal: "It's fabulous when we see it soar, it's even more beautiful than the "former", says Laurent, one of the 10,000 employees who came to greet the new cargo plane Airbus.
It is 10:30 sharp. Half an hour earlier, the No. 1 of the five Beluga STs, which ensure the rotations between the eleven Airbus sites took off. And all the spectators can therefore measure the difference between the old and the new, the volume that it represents 30% more carrying capacity for 51 tons of payload and a fuselage of 8.80 m of diameter which can carry its load on more than 4000 km, which will offer from 2019 the Beluga XL to Airbus, in addition to its fleet of "clbadic" Beluga, "that is to say including the ability to carry two wings of A350 at the same time, "said Bertrand George, patron of the program.
" And it is much more beautiful, more aesthetic than Beluga ST also enthusiasts Lawrence. "It is a great pride for employees, for people like us because we say it's a little thanks to us too, but it's also a pride for Toulouse, for the Region, for Europe ", says Pascal, trimmer, who returns to his A350 workshop with his team Near the track, Bertrand George details the project, the Beluga ST, makes him a pbadage
Back earlier than expected Beluga ST
The only small unexpected in the party, this Thursday morning, since he had to return to settle before the scheduled schedule after a technical problem. The Beluga "old model", Beluga ST, rested after the triggering on board – an untimely priority – of an alarm which stopped following spontaneously, but as the landing procedure was already launched, the the plane has just shortened the procedure, according to Airbus.
The Beluga XL ready to take off. / Photo DDM, Michel Labonne
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Unusual dimensions
As the name suggests, the Beluga XL is larger than the Beluga ST that the inhabitants of the Toulouse region are used to seeing flying in the sky. From 2019, the year of its commissioning, this cargo plane will allow Airbus to transport larger aircraft parts, such as a complete A350 wing kit, between its European factories. The European aircraft manufacturer has launched the production of five aircraft.
To bring all these elements on board, Airbus engineers have planned a front door cargo gigantic dimensions: a surface of 140 m2 it weighs 3, 1 tons alone! The other dimensions of the aircraft are 63.1 meters long, a wingspan of 60.3 meters and a height of 18.9 meters. Its maximum take-off weight has also been increased from 155 tons to 227 tons. Even his range of action has been expanded since the Beluga XL will be able to transport his precious cargo over a distance of 4000 km against 2779 km for his older brother.
The look of this more true-to-life cetacean was chosen at during an internal vote of employees of Airbus.
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