Back in October, Airbus pulled back the curtain so we could take a look at the production process for the company's five new BelugaXL super transporters. The first Beluga XL rolled off of the assembly line in January.
Super transporters are the massive cargo aircraft that will be used to ship oversized aircraft components.
The company recently rolled the first BelugaXL out of the paint shop and unveiled the livery, or paint job and graphics, which makes sense since it was rolled out of the paint shop.
After surveying 20,000 employees who had to choose between six different designs, the Airbus brain trust went with a giant, smiling beluga whale. More than 40% were in favor of the marine mammal with a wry grin.
The aircraft's first flight is planned for this summer, but it will first undergo ground tests.
Airbus has been working on the BelugaXL since the company decided to build the aircraft in late 2014 to meet the need to transport increasingly larger Airbus components. It is 1.66 m taller, 6.95 m longer, and will have 30% more capacity than the previous generation. The XL will also increase payload lifting capacity by six tons.
Am I the only one that finds it odd that an aircraft manufacturer would paint its brand new flying machine with something found in the ocean? Baby beluga in the deep blue sea? Hopefully not the BelugaXL, that would be expensive.