![]() The new BelugaXL is fitted with two Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines which will pack around 30% more thrust than the current General Electric power plants. The blast fencing, also known as jet blast deflectors – are a safety device that redirects the high energy exhaust from a jet engine to prevent damage and injury. The work includes the resurfacing of the runway, new turn pads to both ends of the existing runway and the erection of three blast fences, one to each end of the runway and one adjacent to the existing Beluga apron. ![]() With a wingspan of 60 metres – 35% bigger than of the existing Beluga – along with increased capacity and take-off weight, Hawarden Airfield will be upgraded to a ‘Code E’ aerodrome and will require modifications ahead of the new transporter coming into service. The sheer size of the BelugaXL means new safety measures at Hawarden airport will need to be brought in including a huge ‘blast fence’ which will sadly will obscure some of the view of the runway from a popular vantage point. This but hasn’t gone quite to plane though – an Airbus Beluga was expected to do a flypast with the new Beluga XL its declared an emergency and returned to Toulouse-Blagnac airport /9sAHh8GOTZ Īirport fire crews were put on standby as F-GSTA made its approach at around 10.25am – thankfully it landed safely, the nature of the emergency is not known. Not everything has gone to plan though this morning, a Beluga ST – the transporter which is a familiar sight in the skies above Deeside, was due to perform a flypast with the new Beluga XL, however, it declared an emergency and had to return to Blagnac in Toulouse. Meanwhile, monitoring the aircraft systems and performance in real-time at the flight-test-engineer’s (FTE) station were Laurent Lapierre and Philippe Foucault. The crew in the cockpit on board this flight comprised: Captain Christophe Cail, Co-Pilot Bernardo Saez-Benito Hernandez and Test-Flight Engineer Jean Michel Pin. The aircraft is the first of five BelugaXL to enter into service later in 2019 and to gradually replace the BelugaST transporters.
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