The Airbus A300-600ST Beluga is a modified version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner to carry aircraft parts and oversized cargo. The Beluga XL, based on the Airbus A330 with similar modifications and dimensions, was developed by Airbus to replace the type in January 2020.
Airbus was originally a consortium formed by the major British, French, German, and Spanish aerospace companies. Historically, each of the Airbus partners makes an entire aircraft section, which would then be transported to a central location for final assembly; even after the integration of Airbus into a single firm, the arrangement remained largely the same.
When Airbus started in 1970, road vehicles were initially used for the movement of components and sections; however, growth in production volume soon necessitated a switch to air transport. From 1972 onwards, a fleet of four highly modified Super Guppies took over. These were former Boeing Stratocruisers from the 1940s that had been converted with custom fuselages and the adoption of turbine engines. Growing Airbus production required greater capacity than could be provided by the existing fleet.
Several different types of aircraft were examined for potential use, including the Antonov An-124, Antonov An-225, Ilyushin Il-86, Boeing 747, Boeing 767, Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, and McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III; the use of any existing aircraft was eventually discounted due to a lack of internal space to accommodate the desired components. Boeing made their own offer to convert several Boeing 767s for the requirement, but this was viewed as inferior to developing a purpose-built aircraft using Airbus' existing wide-body twin-engined Airbus A300-600R instead.
In September 1992, construction work began on the first aircraft, the maiden flight of which took place in September 1994. In addition to the first aircraft, four more Belugas were constructed at a rate of roughly one per year; from start to finish, each airframe reportedly took roughly three years to complete
The fleet is made available for hire by third parties for charter flight. Over time, the Beluga has been used to carry a variety of special loads, including space station components, large and delicate artwork, industrial machinery, and intact helicopters.
In November 2014, Airbus announced that it was proceeding with the development of a larger replacement based on the Airbus A330-200, replacing the last old Beluga in 2025. In May 2015, Airbus confirmed that the new aircraft will have a 1 m wider cross-section than its predecessor and provide a 12% increase in payload. Five aircraft will be progressively assembled.
The A300-600ST Beluga shares many design similarities, although substantially differing in appearance, to the Airbus A300 it was based upon. The wings, engines, landing gear, and the lower part of the fuselage remain identical to those used on the conventional A300, while the upper part of the fuselage forms an enormous horseshoe-shaped structure 7.7 m in diameter. In comparison with the Super Guppy, the payload was more than doubled and the volume increased by more than 30 per cent. The vertical stabilizer uses a modified Airbus A340 fin with a 1.12 base extension while the tailplane was strengthened and fitted with auxiliary fins to maintain directional stability. The tailplane trim tank was also deleted. The cockpit of the Beluga is pressurized but the cargo deck is not, making it inaccessible during flight and unsuitable for cargoes that require a pressurized environment, such as live animals. However, the cargo deck is fitted with a heating module to keep the cargo within an appropriate temperature range.
source:world of airliners
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