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What:  The Beluga — the A330-743L — It is also called the “Beluga, & Beluga XL – 30% more capacity”

• It is nicknamed — “The Flying Whale.”
• It is one of the biggest aircraft in the world.
• The Beluga XL: “One of the aviation world’s most hotly anticipated planes, the Airbus Beluga XL, has entered full-time service, having made its first operational flight on January 9, 2020.”

Who: It was built by Airbus — a European aerospace corporation

When: The first Beluga was put into use in 1994;
The Beluga XL made its first flight in 2014.

Details:

• “When we talk about large airplanes, this fellow gets the gold medal. No other plane is coming close to this mega-flyer. It’s so large that size is only fathomable when used in terms of comparison. Size isn’t the only thing going for it though, check out these other features that The Airbus Beluga XL Plane is boasting about. This bad boy is full of bells and whistles, making it the coolest plane up in the clouds.”
• Three crew members on board — two pilots and a loadmaster
• “Every Beluga manufactured is a modified Airbus A300-600 jet.”
• “The alterations of the A series jets include making cuts and inserting a wider fuselage area that gave the craft a huge bubble on top. This gave the Beluga a large hump that massively increased its cargo capacity. “
• “The lower cockpit made it possible to unload the cargo from the front of the plane.”
• “The Beluga XL is not for passenger flights. The purpose of this humongous plane is to carry parts for other planes. Airbus is a large company with many facilities around the world, and the Beluga can transport humongous planes and parts in its large body.”
• It can fly at a speed of “567 miles per hour.
• It flies at an altitude of 35,000 feet, and it has a massive fuel capacity on a full tank of 15,600 gallons.”
• The Beluga XL is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines.”
•  It is 63 meters long and 60 meters wide, 18 meters high — 207 feet X 200 feet X 60 feet
• The ” Beluga XL Airbus is 127 tons. The max takeoff weight is 227 tons.”
• “Although the cargo area is temperature-controlled, it is not pressurized.  It therefore cannot carry certain types of cargo, such as live animals. It is also somewhat hindered by its payload capacity—only 47 tons.”  It would have to fly at around 8,000 feet to accommodate life — animal and human life.
• If it carried people, it could accommodate 850 passengers.
• It can fly 4 million miles a year before fully serviced.
• Carrying freight by ship versus flight:  12 hours compared to 4-5 days at best

Key Biblical Concepts:

• purpose
• design
• usefulness
• creation
• giftedness
• diversity

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Sermonic Example:

One of the largest airplanes in the world is called “The Beluga” — because it has an appearance of a Beluga Whale.  It is massive and no other plane comes close to its size!  It is not designed to carry people.  If it were used for passengers, 850 people could be accommodated — some of the largest passenger airplanes made today reach a maximum of 300-400 passengers.

But, this airplane is not designed for passengers.  It is an airplane that carries parts for airplanes.  It is an airplane’s airplane!  It was designed and created for that purpose.

The abilities, intellect, skills, genius, and creativity of men are amazing.  From 1903 — when the  Wright brothers finally figured out how to fly a 600 lb aircraft — with a 40-foot wingspan — with one 12 horsepower engine — to fly less than 900 feet for 60 seconds  . . . . to the present . . . . less than 100 years later . . . . is incredible!

The Beluga’s is different from all other aircraft because it was created and designed for a specific purpose.  AND that purpose dictated its appearance.  It wasn’t created for passengers, but for cargo — for humongous cargo — for rapid transportation of humongous cargo which would take 4-5 days by ship — and can now be transported in 12 hours.

Much of the unique appearance comes from the cockpit’s placement.  The cockpit is not on the front top but on the front bottom.  Its purpose and design make the aircraft look like a Beluga whale with a large hump/bubble on the top — here is a picture of it . . . . .

Weighing over 200 tons and with almost 200 feet of wingspan — two engines each delivering 71,000 lbs of thrust — able to ply 2000 miles when carrying 15,000 gallons of fuel!

An example of the REMARKABLE creativity and abilities of man — men who are made a little lower than the angels!!

And men and women are made in the image of God — Who has designed and created every person for a unique purpose!  While many factors are the same, there are features and design elements that make us different and that is why we also “look” different in personality, temperament, stature, intellect, propensities, and even appearance.

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Other Information & Links:

1. Links:
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/meet-beluga-airbuss-flying-whale-cargo-plane-172983
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airbus-beluga-xl-enters-service/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Beluga_XL

Beluga XL Airbus replaced the Airbus Beluga – A cargo aircraft

https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-airplanes-list-airbus-boeing-passenger-cargo-military-2019-8?op=1
https://www.thetravel.com/airbus-beluga-xl-plane/

Beluga XL: facts and figures of a ‘worthwhale’ project

Boeing’s Alternative:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Dreamlifter
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116822235075569896
https://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2005/june/ts_sf05.html
“On July 1, 2020, a Dreamlifter arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport, carrying 500,000 face masks to be used by Utah school children and teachers as part of the state’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”