V-Flyer

Saw the weirdest thing today at Chester airport...I had no idea this sort of thing existed. I tried to take a pic but it didn't come out well. Sorry this is terribly nerdy but I've no one else to tell.......the Airbus Beluga...!!! Apparently it transports wings...anyway, sorry but had to share, I was quite excited to see it. How on earth does it fly; the wings looked so small..and what huge overhead lockers the pilots must have...

Here is a pic I just googled off the web

yes very weird looking but flies!

It got it's name from the Beluga Whale.

It flies like an a320 on landing I think aswell which is slow for the weight it carries (correct if I'm wrong)

Thanks Tonty, that's a super pic.

Airbus have a fleet of A300 based Beluga transporters which are used to ferry major components to the assembly plants in Europe.
They are also developing 5 new versions based on the A330 to match increased demand as they ramp up production of the A350 XWB.
As you say they look extremely odd but are ideal for their purpose.

Wow...looks even stranger than the 747 Dreamlifter.....which performs the same function, only for Boeing.

G-VROS.....

Im sure ive seen them at Cardiff Airport. BA have a maintenance site there.