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Beluga’s birthday answers

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

1. The white beluga whale, which lives in the arctic.
2. Only five.
3. The A300.
4. Airbus aircraft parts.
5. The size of the cargo hold, it is possibly the biggest plane in terms of the volume it can carry.
6. 47 tonnes.
7. 90 minutes.
8. He loves it and thinks it’s beautiful.
9. It has flown valuable artwork, satellites and even helicopters around the world.
10. It indicates that Airbus is very busy building many planes.

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Beluga’s birthday

Here’s a video about the Airbus Beluga, the plane which celebrated its 20th birthday last Saturday.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level: 5+

Have a great weekend!!

1. What is this plane named after?
2. How many are in service nowadays?
3. Which plane was the foundation for the Beluga?
4. What does it usually transport?
5. What makes the Beluga unique, according to Stephane Gosselin?
6. What’s the payload capacity of the Beluga?
7. What is the new expected turnaround time for the Beluga in the future?
8. How does Gerard Baeza feel about flying the Beluga?
9. What special missions has the Beluga had in the past?
10. What does a busy Beluga indicate?

Airbus’ Beluga celebrates 20 years in the air

The Beluga, both the oddest looking and one of the most popular aircraft in the Airbus family is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the air. The cargo plane affectionately named after the Arctic white whale is responsible for ferrying crucial parts including new wings and fuselage sections between factories across Europe.

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Asiana Airlines’ first A380 answers

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 3+

1) The name of Airbus’ cargo plane is called the Beluga, originally it was called the Super Transporter, but the name Beluga became popular because of its shape and Airbus began to officially use this new name.

2) In 1991 Airbus began developing the Beluga after their Boeing Super Guppies became too small for their cargo transport needs. The first step in the design process was to build the A300. The lower part of the Beluga is the same as the A300. They have the same engines, wings and landing gear.
The Super Guppy opened like a door, with the cockpit moving to the side to allow cargo loading. This was a slow process because lots of cables had to be disconnected first, and reconnected after loading. Airbus wanted to be able to open the cargo hold door without removing these electrical cables, so they built the Beluga with a very high cargo storage area (7.7m), and moved the cockpit down a little. As a result, the Beluga’s cockpit doesn’t move during loading and unloading, and everything is faster because cables don’t need to be connected or disconnected.
Today, Airbus uses five Belugas to transport its parts from its manufacturing facilities to its assembly plant. In January 2014, CNN released a report saying that Airbus plans to build a larger Beluga in the future, called the Beluga XL and based on the A330, whether redesigned or not, it seems likely that this plane’s important function will continue well into the future.