Unbelievable footage from the ground shows ‘strangest’ plane Airbus Beluga above London
- A recent clip shared to Instagram shows an Airbus Beluga taking off from London
- Beluga is one of the largest aircraft in the world
- Airbus gave it a ‘face’, and it looks like the plane is always ‘smiling’
Published on Sep 10, 2024 at 12:22 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Sep 10, 2024 at 5:21 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
The Airbus Beluga is one of the strangest and most striking aircraft ever built.
It looks fascinating and massive in the pictures, and even more so from the ground.
In a new clip of the aircraft taking off from London Heathrow Airport, the plane looks unbelievable.
Also, it kind of looks like it’s smiling.
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One of the strangest-looking planes in the world
The Airbus Beluga is a strange plane, with an even stranger interior.
The inspiration from the plane comes from the Beluga whale which, ironically, happens to be one of the smallest whales to have ever existed, whereas the Beluga airplane is one of the largest aircraft in the world.
Levity aside, the Beluga looks amusing, in part, because it looks like it has a face that’s smiling all the time.
You can clearly see that in the clip shared to Instagram by Kleeven and reposted by u1ub2.
Airbus built the Beluga to transport large aircraft parts to and from several huge factories.
It’s not an airplane you see every day, and it even has its own airline.
Airbus Beluga size and capacity
Beluga is a massive plane with a gigantic engine.
It’s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 turbofan engines rated at 71,000lbs of thrust each.
The doors are massive, too.
They are 7.5 meters high at the opening and 8.1 meters wide, they’re wider than some aircraft.
It has a cargo capacity of 78,000 cubic feet – or 2,209 cubic meters – equivalent to around 40-50 metric tons.
The future of this plane is uncertain.
Last year, Airbus produced what was supposed to be the last Beluga aircraft.
But all Belugas are still operational and, with a bit of luck, we’ll be able to admire it for decades to come.
Alessandro is an automotive journalist with 10 years of experience covering supercars, automotive history, emerging vehicle technology, and luxury transportation. He wrote the first article published on SupercarBlondie.com when the website launched in 2022 and has since built a reputation for insightful reporting across the automotive and transportation industries. His expertise is grounded in hands-on experience. Alessandro has driven every Tesla model ever produced, from the original Roadster to the Cybertruck, and regularly covers the latest developments in electric vehicles and automotive innovation. His passion for transportation extends beyond cars, he has even flown a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reporting spans everything from classic American muscle cars and rare automotive discoveries to luxury yachts, private aircraft, high-end watches, and cutting-edge vehicle technology. Known for his deep knowledge of automotive history and ability to uncover the stories behind iconic vehicles, Alessandro brings readers a blend of historical context, technical expertise, and first-hand experience.
