Aero Spacelines Super Guppy
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox aircraft
The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Turbine is a large, wide-bodied four engine turboprop cargo aircraft used for hauling outsize cargo components. It was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, the first of the Guppy aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines. Five were built in two variants, both of which were colloquially referred to as the "Super Guppy".
The Super Guppy is the only airplane to carry a complete S-IVB stage, the third stage of the Saturn V rocket.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It did so several times during the Apollo program.
Design and development
Template:More citations needed
.jpg)
The first Super Guppy, or "SG", was built directly from a retired USAF Boeing YC-97J Stratofreighter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The fuselage was lengthened to Template:Convert, and ballooned out to a maximum inside diameter of Template:Convert, the length of the cargo compartment being Template:Convert. The floor of the cargo compartment was still only Template:Convert wide, as necessitated by the use of the Stratocruiser fuselage.<ref name="Janes"/>
In addition to the fuselage modifications, the Super Guppy used Pratt & Whitney T-34-P-7WA turboprop engines for increased power and range,<ref name="Janes"/> and modified wing and tail surfaces. It could carry a load of Template:Convert and cruise at Template:Convert.
After a month of tests, Super Guppy suffered fuselage collapse on September 25, 1965, when undergoing high speed dives during certification tests. After starting a dive at 10,000 feet the upper fuselage collapsed. The plane had been carrying 30,000 pounds of borate in 100-pound sacks, which were damaged and spilled powder that temporarily blinded the crew. With the help of a DC-9 chase plane, the crew was able to land on the dry bed of Rogers Dry Lake and save the aircraft. After that, Guppy's upper superstructure was redesigned and rebuilt at Edwards Air Force Base.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The second version was officially known as the Super Guppy Turbine (SGT), although the first Super Guppy also used turboprop engines. However, this variant used Allison 501-D22C engines. Unlike the previous Guppy, the main portion of its fuselage was constructed from scratch. By building from scratch, Aero Spacelines was able to widen the floor of the cargo compartment to Template:Convert. The overall cargo-compartment length was increased to Template:Convert, and the improved fuselage and engines allowed for a maximum load of Template:Convert.<ref name="sfnasa-jscsg" /> These design improvements, combined with a pressurized crew cabin that allowed for higher-altitude cruising, allowed the SGT to transport more cargo than its predecessors.<ref name="Janes"/>
The SGT retained only the cockpit, wings, tail, and main landing gear of the 377. The nose gear was taken from a Boeing 707 and rotated 180 degrees. This dropped the front of the aircraft slightly, levelling the cargo-bay floor and simplifying loading operations.
In the early 1970s, two SGT aircraft were used by Airbus to transport airplane parts from production facilities to the final assembly plant in Toulouse. In 1982 and 1983, two additional Super Guppy Turbines were built by Union de Transports Aériens Industries in France after Airbus bought the right to produce the aircraft. The four Super Guppies were later replaced in this role by the Airbus Beluga, capable of carrying twice as much cargo by weight.
Variants
- Aero Spacelines B-377-SG Super Guppy, prototype of a much enlarged version of the Guppy using C-97J components, powered by four Pratt & Whitney T-34-P-7WA turbo-prop engines.<ref name="Janes"/>
- Aero Spacelines B-377-SGT Super Guppy Turbine (Guppy 201), production version powered by Allison 501-D22C turbo-prop engines,<ref name="Janes"/> using an enlarged cargo section built from scratch instead of being converted from original C-97J components.
Aircraft
.jpg)
One Super Guppy remains in service with NASA. Three are on display, and one was scrapped.
- Super Guppy N940NS (previously N1038V), serial number 52-2693, is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum near Tucson, Arizona.<ref name="pimaguppy">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Super Guppy Turbine F-BTGV (formerly N211AS), serial number 0001, was on static display at the former British Aviation Heritage Centre at the Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome. The aircraft was broken up in December 2020 with the cockpit preserved by the South Wales Aviation Museum.<ref name="cavok20201220">Template:Cite news</ref>
- Super Guppy Turbine F-BPPA (formerly N212AS), serial number 0002, is on static display at Aeroscopia near the Airbus factory at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport in France.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Super Guppy Turbine F-GDSG, serial number 0003, is on static display near the Airbus factory at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport in Germany.Template:Cn
- Super Guppy Turbine N941NA (formerly F-GEAI), serial number 0004, is still in service with NASA as a transport aircraft and is based at the El Paso International Airport.<ref name="elpaso20110804"/>
Operators
Current
Former
Specifications (Super Guppy Turbine)
See also
References
Sources
External links
Template:Commons category multi
- Template:Cite web
- Super Guppy website by NASA Aircraft Operations
- Super Guppy website by NASA Human Spaceflight
- Boeing B-377 historical website at Boeing.com
- AllAboutGuppys.com
- Super Guppy F-BTGV restoration project Template:Webarchive
Template:Aero Spacelines aircraft Template:B-29 family Template:Outsized cargo aircraft