Air Logistics : THE SHAPE MATTERS!

Most of us wonder what it would be like to witness a whale in the sea with our very own eyes. How about seeing a whale in the air above your head? Won’t that be a sight? But frankly, whales have not evolved to the extent of growing wings and taking off in the air. Nevertheless, human being human, they are just eager to make everything possible. Relating the human possibilities to the whales, here they go, by designing, constructing and operating an air plane that looks just like the white whale. White whales are also known as the Beluga. Hence, the A300-600ST which was initially called the Super Transporter officially adopted the name Beluga for its shape resembling the whale species. Talking about the shape of the plane, it had recently earned the title of “The World’s Strangest Plane”.

Let’s peek through a little more about this strange looking flying object. Why did Airbus come up with such an odd aircraft? Well, Airbus being a corporation formed in the year 1970 by major aerospace companies of different countries like the Great Britain, France, Germany and Spain, they had the plane parts as well as components manufactured in the respective countries. The final assembly was done in Toulouse, France or Hamburg, Germany or in Seville, Spain.

Due to urgency of growing business, geographical differences, logistical issues, increasing cost and the need for rapidity, Airbus found that road as well as sea modes of transportation are not the most desirable methods to carry their plane parts from one country to another for assembly. Airbus was in need of oversize cargo freight aircraft. They, then decided to operate a fleet of 2 Super Guppy planes to carry the large plane parts and components to their assembly plant locations. A point to note is that Super Guppies (Model No : B-377-SG/SGT) were manufactured Aero Spacelines had Boeing’s involvement to a great extent. Being competitors, it is no surprise that teasers were put out that “every Airbus is delivered on the wings of a Boeing.

  

As time went by, the aging Super Guppies were found to be too expensive to be maintained and were unable to meet the production demand of Airbus. So, they needed a larger air carrier to accommodate the oversized cargo. That is when, in 1991, Airbus began designing another aircraft with the idea of the A300-600 wide-body airliner as the base model, constructing in 1992 and took the aircraft to the air in 1995. The aircraft is none other than the strangest looking plane today, the Airbus Beluga. You may want to see the how a Super Guppies differs from an Airbus Beluga.

The notable milestones of the Airbus Beluga are inclusive of carriage of the Airbus manufactured A380 plane parts and a large painting called Liberty Leading The People. However, the Beluga is not the largest plane in the world and it does not have to be one. All it was designed for was to carry the adequate oversized cargo.

Nevertheless, Airbus’ growing needs is positioning the organization to design a replacement aircraft which will be longer but will maintain the appearance of the shape of Beluga. It might be based on another Airbus manufactured aircraft model, the A330 and it may possibly be known as the Beluga XL. So, it must be remembered that in air logistics, the size alone is not the key factor, the shape matters too.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi