Airbus Beluga

E40417

The Airbus Beluga is a large, whale-shaped cargo aircraft designed for transporting oversized aerospace components and other outsize freight.

Aliases (1)

Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf cargo aircraft
transport aircraft
wide-body aircraft
aircraftCategory specialized transport
aircraftConfiguration twin-engine jet
aircraftFamily Airbus A300-600ST
basedOn Airbus A300
cargoDoorLocation forward upper fuselage
cargoHoldVolume 1400 m3
cargoLoadingMethod nose-mounted cargo door
cockpitLocation lowered cockpit
countryOfOrigin European Union
France
crew 3
cruiseSpeed Mach 0.7
designFeature enlarged upper fuselage
pressurized cargo hold
reinforced structure for heavy loads
engineModel General Electric CF6
engineType turbofan
firstFlight 1994-09-13
fuselageShape bulbous
whale-shaped
height 17.25 m
ICAOTypeDesignator A3ST
introduced 1995
landingGear tricycle landing gear
length 56.16 m
manufacturer Airbus
maximumPayload 47000 kg
maximumTakeoffWeight 155000 kg
namedAfter beluga whale
nickname Beluga
numberBuilt 5
operator Airbus
primaryMission transport Airbus aircraft sections
transport wings and fuselage sections
primaryUser Airbus Transport International
rangeWithMaxPayload 1660 nautical miles
reasonForLoweredCockpit to allow unobstructed cargo loading
role aerospace component transport
outsize cargo transport
status in service
successor Airbus BelugaXL
tailConfiguration T-tail
typicalCruiseAltitude 35000 ft
wingOrigin Airbus A300-600 wing
wingspan 44.84 m

Referenced by (3)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Airbus
Airbus ("Airbus BelugaXL")
product
Airbus Beluga ("Airbus BelugaXL")
successor

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