Airbus BelugaXL

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Airbus Beluga XL
File:Airbus Beluga XL rendering.jpg
Computer rendering of Beluga XL
Role Outsize cargo freight aircraft
Manufacturer Airbus
First flight 19 July 2018[1]
Introduction Expected 2019[2]
Status Flight Testing
Primary user Airbus Transport International
Produced 2016-present
Number built 1 (F-WBXL)
Developed from Airbus A330-200

The Airbus Beluga XL (Airbus A330-743L) is a large transport aircraft due to enter into service in 2019. It is based on the A330 airliner, to be the successor to the Airbus Beluga. The XL has an extension on the fuselage top like the Beluga. It is being designed, built and will be operated by Airbus to move oversized aircraft components. The aircraft made its first flight on 19 July 2018.

Development

In 2013 the five original Belugas could not cope with production growth and Airbus evaluated the Antonov An-124 and An-225, Boeing C-17 or Dreamlifter, and A400M before choosing to modify one of its own.[3] The program was launched in November 2014 to build five aircraft to replace the existing five Belugas, the design freeze was announced on 16 September 2015.[4]

Fleet

The existing Belugas will not be withdrawn from service when the Beluga XL is introduced ; a mixed fleet is to operate for at least five years as the increased production rate of single-aisle aircraft requires the ability to move more parts.[5] 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: another operator could use them for civil or military logistic applications.[6]

The Beluga fleet will rise to eight when three XLs will be delivered as the five originals stay in service before being withdrawn from 2021. The original Beluga fleet is reaching its limits, flying five times daily and six days per week: 10,000h in 2017 while some parts move on the surface. An original Beluga takes triple the time to move the A330 parts compared to the parts of an A320, climbing to nine times for the A350 parts.[7]

As of 19 July 2018 there is only one Beluga XL, F-WBXL, although a second aircraft is in production.

Production

The aircraft's lower fuselage will be assembled on the A330 final assembly line, and then be moved to another facility for the year-long process of assembling the upper fuselage and the lowered nose fuselage.[5] The first section has arrived in Toulouse in November 2016.[8] Final assembly started on 8 December 2016.[9] The first large sections: one central and two lateral rear section panels, arrived on 12 April 2017 at the Toulouse Final Assembly facility (L34) from Aernnova’s factory in Berantevilla, Spain.[10]

Constructed by Stelia Aerospace in Meaulte, its 12×4m, 8.2t nose section was delivered in May 2017.[11] The 9 m wide, 8 m long and high, 2.1 t upper front fuselage part, framing the cargo door, was delivered from Stelia Rochefort on 7 July 2017.[12] The 3.1t, 10m long and 8m high door was delivered by Stelia Rochefort in September 2017.[13]

In October 2017, 75% of the first BelugaXL structural assembly was done with systems, mechanical and electrical integration underway before tail elements, already received, are integrated. Its maiden flight is scheduled for summer 2018 before 10 months of flight tests necessary for its certification campaign and a 2019 service entry. The second aircraft will enter final assembly line in December 2018 and the three remaining each following year.[2]

After mating the vertical fin, tail cone and horizontal stabiliser including the outboard vertical surfaces, the main freight door will be attached from mid-November before power-on at the end of 2017. The flight test campaign will use a single, instrumented aircraft.[14] The front cargo door was attached in December 2017.[15] In January 2018, the second arrived in Toulouse for its transformation, in two months less after lessons learned from the first.[16]

Testing

The first BelugaXL rolled out of the assembly line on 4 January 2018, unpainted and with no engines. Fewer than 1,000 flight test hours are planned for its certification campaign.[6] After fitting its engines, it will be ground tested for months to assess its systems operation, while bench tests in Toulouse and Hamburg, on flight simulators and in laboratories, simulate flight loads on full-scale copies of specific joints between the upper bubble and the lower fuselage, clearing the aircraft for flight then type certification.[16]

In March 2018, the first (MSN1824) was having its engines fitted while the second (MSN1853) was 30% converted. After successful landing-gear and flight-control system checks, MSN1824 will be fuel and ground tested. The third will begin its conversion before the end of 2018. MSN1853 will be first operational in 2019 after proving work in 11 European stations, while MSN1824 flight instrumentation will be disassembled.[7] It was rolled out with its engines but no winglets in April 2018.[17]

It passed the Ground Vibration Test in early June 2018, with ONERA and DLR measuring its dynamic behaviour compared to flight envelope theoretical models.[18] The flight-test programme should last 600h. The second plane 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.[19] The first flight was on 19 July 2018.[1]

Design

With 30% more capacity than the existing Beluga, it will be able to carry two A350 XWB wings instead of one.[4] Its new fuselage is 6.9 m longer and 1.7 metre wider than the Beluga, and it will be able to lift a payload 6 tons heavier.[20] Its aft section is based on the A330-300 while its forward on the A330-200 for centre of gravity reasons, and the reinforced floor and structure comes from the -200F. The A330 wings, main landing-gear, central and aft fuselage form a semi-built platform with few systems, without the aft upper fuselage while the upper central fuselage is cut off, facilitated by the metal construction. The enlarged freight hold is mounted in three months with 8,000 new parts on the junction line.[7]

The unpressurised hold begins with the tail adapted by Spain's Aernnova and continues by building the upper fuselage with two side panels and a crown for each section, for a maximum diameter of 8.8m. Produced by Stelia Aerospace, its main freight door has 24 latches and the nose includes the cockpit while a four-seat courier section is supplied by Airbus. Its vertical stabiliser is 50% larger, it has auxiliary fins on the horizontal stabiliser and two ventral fins beneath the empennage. It will operate at M0.69 up to 35,000ft over 2,300 nmi instead of the original 900 nmi.[7] Deharde Aerospace and the P3 group provide the upper fuselage while Aciturri produces the horizontal tail plane extension, auxiliary and ventral fins.[3]

Specifications

Data from Airbus[4]

General characteristics

  • Capacity: 53 t (117,000 lb) payload
  • Length: 63.1 m (207 ft 0 in)
  • Wingspan: 60.3 m (197 ft 10 in)
  • Height: 18.9 m (62 ft 0 in)
  • Wing area: 361.6 m2 (3,892 sq ft)
  • Aspect ratio: 10.1
  • Max takeoff weight: 227,000 kg (500,449 lb)
  • Maximum landing weight: 187 t (412,000 lb)
  • Maximum zero fuel weight: 178 t (392,000 lb)
  • Empty weight: 125 t (276,000 lb)
  • Fuselage diameter: 8.8 m (29 ft)
  • Cargo hold: 2,615 m3 (92,300 cu ft) volume[20]
  • Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce Trent 700 turbofan, 316 kN (71,000 lbf) thrust each

Performance

  • Range: 4,100 km (2,500 mi, 2,200 nmi) at max payload

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b "First BelugaXL becomes airborne for its maiden flight" (Press release). Airbus. 19 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b "BelugaXL is readied for electrical power-up as integration of the no. 1 giant airlifter continues" (Press release). Airbus. 9 Oct 2017.
  3. ^ a b Jens Flottau (Mar 26, 2018). "Bigger Beluga To Aid With Airbus Production Ramp-Up". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
  4. ^ a b c "Beluga XL programme achieves design freeze" (Press release). Airbus. 16 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b Jens Flottau (24 November 2014). "New Airbus Beluga Fleet To Enter Service In 2019". Aviation Week. pp. 38–39.
  6. ^ a b "Le premier Airbus BelugaXL assemblé fait sa première sortie à Toulouse". AAF (in French). 4 Jan 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d David Kaminski-Morrow (21 March 2018). "Second BelugaXL will be first into service". Flight Global.
  8. ^ "Like Matryoshka dolls: the 1st section of the #BelugaXL has arrived in Toulouse". Twitter. Airbus. 3 November 2016.
  9. ^ "Final assembly of the 1st of 5 #BelugaXL has just started in Toulouse". Twitter. Airbus. 8 December 2016.
  10. ^ "First large sections road convoy reaches final assembly hangar in Toulouse" (Press release). Airbus. 12 April 2017.
  11. ^ David Kaminski-Morrow (30 May 2017). "PICTURE: Beluga XL cockpit section delivered to Airbus". Flight Global.
  12. ^ "STELIA Aerospace livre le Fuselage Supérieur Avant du 1er BelugaXL". Actualité Aéronautique Francophone (in French). 7 July 2017.
  13. ^ David Kaminski-Morrow (19 Sep 2017). "Airbus receives first Beluga XL main door". Flight Global.
  14. ^ David Kaminski Morrow (10 Nov 2017). "Airbus narrows Beluga XL maiden flight window". Flightglobal.
  15. ^ @Airbus (December 5, 2017). "Open sesame! A #BelugaXL without a massive front cargo door wouldn't be a #BelugaXL, don't you think?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ a b "First BelugaXL transporter rolls off assembly line" (Press release). Airbus. 8 January 2018.
  17. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (9 April 2018). "BelugaXL emerges with its Trent engines". Flightglobal.
  18. ^ "Airbus BelugaXL Passes Ground Vibration Test" (Press release). Airbus. 6 June 2018.
  19. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (9 July 2018). "ANALYSIS: How a 'full-digital approach' renewed Airbus's Beluga". Flightglobal.
  20. ^ a b "Airbus Beluga" (PDF). AERTEC Solutions.

Further reading

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