Toulouse-Blagnac, France — 19 July 2018 — Under the command of Christophe Cail, captain and experimental test pilot at the head a crew of 5, the first Airbus Beluga XL #1MSN 1824 (F-WBXL) performed a seamless maiden flight today in front of thousands of cheering Airbus employees waiving flags and as many enthusiasts lining the Colomiers departmental public road west of Blagnac airport.
Let’s recall that the engineless BelugaXL #1 rolled out of the assembly line on 4 January 2018, unpainted. After fitting its engines, it was ground tested for months to assess its systems operation, both in Toulouse and Hamburg. Simulation of flight loads on full-scale copies of specific joints between the critical upper bubble and the lower fuselage, clearing the aircraft for flight and forthcoming type certification.
The first aircraft MSN1824 will be soon followed by the second Beluga XL (MSN1853) now half converted using A330-200 and A330-300 sub-parts.The third Beluga XL will begin its conversion before the end of 2018. Aircraf #4 and 5 will be completed by 2020 and 2021. Beluga #2 MSN1853 is set to be the very first operational aircraft with ATI in 2019 once proving work in eleven Airbus regular European stations is over. MSN1824 flight instrumentation will be disassembled once AESA certification is won and it is scheduled to join the fleet in early 2020. Beluga #2 had its lower fuselage completed by mid-June before upper shell structural work and freight door fitting after summer for a completion by September or October.
The core flight-test programme should last some 600 hours says Bertrand George, and no less than 30GB of precious flight data will be recorded during each flight hour. The Beluga XL will be one of the flying keystones of the Airbus production network providing the Airbus A350 and A320 family with the necessary added push to cope with the ramp up of commercial airliners production required during the owing decades.
Capable of airlifting some 52 tons at a maximum speed go Mach 0.7, and with 30% more capacity than the existing Beluga ST, the Beluga XL will be able to carry two A350XWB sets of wing instead of one thanks to its twin Rolls Royce Trent 700 turbofans providing 316 kN of thrust each. The new FBW aircraft is 6 m (20 ft) longer and one metre wider than the older Beluga using only traditional hydraulic controls. Its aft section is based on the A330-300 while its forward is on the A330-200 for obvious CG issues, while the reinforced fuselage flooring and structure comes from the -200F. The A330 wings, main landing-gear, central and rear fuselage section form a semi-built platform with few systems. The enlarged freight hold is mounted in three months with 8,000 new parts on the junction line says Véronique Roca, the Beluga XL’s chief engineer.
The existing Beluga STs will not be withdrawn from service when the Beluga XL is introduced as of mid- 2019; a mixed fleet is to operate for at least five years as the increased production rate of single-aisle aircraft requires extra Airbus ability to move more parts and sub-assembles around its main production plants in England, France and Germany. The current Beluga fleet flew more than 8000 hours in 2017, doubled from 2014, but the five Beluga fleet is only at its half-life and they should be put on sale after 2022 says ATI (an Airbus subsidiary). Due to the exceptional outsize capacity of the Beluga ST, any another specialized operator could use them for civil or military logistic applications.
The Beluga fleet is to schedule to rise to eight when three Beluga XLs will be delivered, Bertrand George, BelugaXL programme manager says, as the five original Beluga STs are due to remain in active service before their withdrawal after 2021. The original Beluga fleet is today reaching its limits, flying five times daily and six days per week: some 10,000 hours in 2017. Most shuttle flights have about a 2 to 3 hour duration and most are centered in the west European airspace.
