Airbus 'Beluga Whale' takes flight for the first time

[mfcorey1]

Airbus’ BelugaXL made its first flight on Thursday, circling the skies over southwest France.

The super-transporter is one of the largest aircraft in existence, six meters longer (19.6 feet) and one meter (3.2 feet) wider than its predecessor, the BelugaST transporter.

The flight, which took-off from Blagnac in Toulouse, signified the start of a 10-month testing period before the plane can start flying commercially. Typically, the Beluga series has been used by Airbus to transport aircraft wings from factories to its assembly lines in Europe.

One wing factory is sited at Hawarden airport in North Wales. To allow the supersized plane to land, Hawarden is erecting new blast fences and resurfacing its runway.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/airbus-%e2%80%98beluga-whale%e2%80%99-takes-flight-for-the-first-time/ar-AAAj6fu?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

[Eugene]

1. cute paint job

[Sneederbunk]

2. The next Air Force I?

[msongs]

3. after brexit they might not be going to wales anymore nt

[VMA131Marine]

6. A no deal Brexit would result in Airbus pulling out of the UK

That would mean a loss of 14,000 jobs with Airbus directly and another 100,000 with suppliers and contractors. The Tory governments own projections for the impact of a no deal Brexit on the UK economy are for 2.8 million jobs lost and a 10% decrease in GDP. That's a depression level contraction of the UK economy.

[hunter]

4. It's loaded like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Beluga

[mfcorey1]

5. Wow!

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Successor to the Super Guppy -- two of which were built by Airbus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Spacelines_Super_Guppy

Apparently, the Beluga has twice the weight capacity of the Super Guppy Turbine, whatever its dimensions. I got to see the Pregnant Guppy up close when I was about grade school age.