超萌運輸機 酷似大白鯨全球僅5架

If you ever find yourself in the French city of Toulouse, you might just see one of the oddest-looking aircraft in the world.
如果你去過法國圖盧茲，那你可能有緣一睹世界上長得最怪異的飛機之一。

Popularly known as the "Beluga," because of its strong resemblance to the white Arctic whale, the Airbus A300-600ST (ST stands for Super Transporter) is unique not only in appearance, but also for the essential role it performs in European aviation.
空客A300-600ST（ST爲超級運輸機的縮寫）因爲形似大白鯨而得了“大白鯨”的綽號，但它的獨特之處不僅體現在外表上，它在歐洲航空業中也有着重要地位。

Airbus' production centers are scattered all over the continent, a legacy of its origins as a pan-European consortium.
空客作爲歐洲航空公司的聯合企業，生產中心分佈在歐洲大陸各處。

Each factory specializes in the completion of a specific section of an aircraft.
每家工廠都有自己負責生產的特定飛機部件。

The five Belugas, all operated by Airbus, link these plants and take the different aircraft sections to the final assembly line, either in Toulouse or Hamburg.
五架“大白鯨”全部由空客公司運營。“大白鯨”在工廠之間穿梭，將飛機的各個部件運送到位於圖盧茲或漢堡的總裝廠。

Belugas have occasionally been chartered to fly satellites, helicopters and even works of art.
有時“大白鯨”也會被租用出去，用於運輸火箭、直升機甚至是藝術品。

Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" flew from Paris to Tokyo on a Beluga -- the canvas wouldn't fit into any other plane.
德拉克羅瓦的名畫《自由引導人民》就是用“大白鯨”從巴黎運抵東京的。其他任何飛機都沒法裝下這幅巨大的油畫。

With the Beluga nearing two decades of indefatigable service, it's starting to show its age and limitations.
“大白鯨”服役已近20年時間，漸漸出現老化的情況並顯現出一些侷限性。

Though no decisions have been made, Airbus is looking at potential replacement solutions.
雖然還沒有決定，但空客正在尋找潛在的替代方案。

Tentatively called Beluga XL, the Beluga's replacement is likely to be based on the A330 airframe.
“大白鯨”的繼任機型暫且命名爲“大白鯨XL”，很可能是基於A330機身結構改造而成。