4 ms·

Is this a case of biomimicry? Is the peculiar design functional?

• nuccy 7y ago
  The shape is just a result of the engineering decisions to reach Airbus's goal: transport fuselages to Toulouse. Those are relatively light, but big, so building a tube-like structure above the main "chassis" of the plane yields to this kind of shape, which we then recognize as a similarity to beluga.
  • faitswulff 7y ago
    Ah, so it was all after-the-fact. Thank you.
• tempguy9999 7y ago
  It certainly is not functional. It cannot fly in air. Like penguins, it can only 'fly' using a liquid medium. Hence the nickname. Coming soon to a river near you.
  • deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]