Photo Beluga A300-600ST

[Guest HeliFLYer]

Hi all,I am always very impressed when I see this Airbus Beluga A300-600ST here at our small Bremen airport EDDW, unloading unfinished wings from England and loading them after assembly for Toulouse/France or Hamburg. It is a really BIG aircraft, a HEAVY load and they do it REGULARLY .. it is not a FLY! theme but I want to share it with you!RegardsGeorg HeliFLYer EDDWhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94892.jpg

[Guest Steve Brown]

:-lol Georg its a small world we live in. These fly right over my house from Hawarden Airport. I see it all the time. But rarely like this. Great picture :-) Stevehttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/94902.jpg

[Guest Paul Brooks]

Hi George,I believe the next generation wings for the A380 are going to be delivered by sea from Mostyn on the Dee Estuary, where they have had to dredge the channel to enable the barges to access the pick-up point.I am not sure where they are to be delivered to by sea, whether it is to one of the Channel ports or if they are taken all the way round to the Mediterranean Sea via the Straits of Gibraltar.It is obviously quite a complex programme. It should be quite a sight when those wings arrive, though I think that the first pair have already been delivered for the prototype aircraft.Paul

[Guest hkmiller]

Nice picture.

[Guest HeliFLYer]

Hi Paul, Steve, "hkmiller" and all FLYers,thank you for the information and interest.It is really a logistical masterpiece, with all those facilities spread over Europe, transport by barge, ship and on landway.In my hometown Bremen they have the centre (development, testing facility and production) for all high lift components - wing flaps, slats, tracks/fairings and sheet metal parts. As I read in an local newspaper, the flaps have the dimension of the wing of a small airbus jet!And don't forget, Airbus A380 is a real multinational project, not only European, think of the engineering design centre in Wichita, Kansas, USA (since 2002), the engines. Even China participates now.Good luck for this bird!RegardsGeorg HeliFLYer EDDW