BoeingFan7879
NASA Aero Spacelines Super Guppy N941NA
The Super Guppy is an aircraft I have always wanted to see in person, and I finally got to see it this past weekend!
The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft used to haul outsized cargo components. It was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, the first aircraft produced by the Aero Spacelines Company. Only five were built in two variants, called the "Super Guppy." This is the only aircraft in the world that carried a complete S-IVB stage, the 3rd stage of the Saturn V rocket, and was used extensively during the Apollo space program in the 1960s.
The first Super Guppy, or "SG," was built directly from the fuselage of a C-97J Turbo Stratocruiser, the military version of Boeing’s 377 Stratocruiser. The fuselage was lengthened to 141 feet (43 m) and ballooned to a maximum inside diameter of 25 ft (7.6 m). The cargo compartment was 94 ft 6 in (28.8 m). However, the cargo compartment floor was still only 8 ft 9 in (2.7 m) wide, as necessitated by using the Stratocruiser fuselage.
In addition to the fuselage modifications, the Super Guppy uses four Pratt & Whitney T-34-P-7WA turboprop engines for increased power and range and modified wing and tail surfaces. It could carry a maximum payload of 54,000 pounds (24,000 kg) and cruise around 300 mph (480 km/h).
After a month of tests, one Super Guppy suffered a collapse of the fuselage on September 25th while 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, damaged and spilled powder that temporarily blinded the crew. With the help of a DC-9 chase plane, the crew could land on the dry bed of Rogers Dry Lake and save the aircraft. After that, the upper superstructure was redesigned and rebuilt at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The second version was officially known as the Super Guppy Turbine (SGT), although it used turboprop engines like the first Super Guppy. This variant used Allison 501-D22C turboprops. Unlike the previous Guppy, the central portion of its fuselage was constructed from scratch. By building from scratch, Aero Spacelines was later able to widen the cargo compartment floor to 13 ft (4.0 m). The cargo compartment’s length was increased to 111 ft 6 in (34.0 m), and the improved fuselage and engines allowed for a maximum load of 52,500 lb (23,800 kg). These design improvements, combined with a pressurized crew cabin that allowed for higher-altitude cruising, allowed the SGT to transport more cargo than previous versions.
The SGT retained only the cockpit, wings, tail, and main landing gear from the 377. The nose gear, however, was from the Boeing 707 and rotated 180°. This dropped the front of the aircraft slightly, leveling the cargo bay floor and thus simplifying loading operations.
In the 1970s, the two Super Guppy Turbines were used by Airbus to transport airplane parts from decentralized production facilities to the final assembly plant in Toulouse, France. In 1982 and 1983, respectively, two additional Super Guppy Turbines were built by Union de Transports Aériens Industries in France after Airbus had bought the right to produce the aircraft. The four Super Guppies have since been phased out (one was later scrapped) and replaced in this role by the Airbus Belugas and Beluga XLs, which still operate today. Three of the remaining four are on display: two in the United States, one in the UK, one in Germany, and one resides at the Musée Aeronautique Aeroscopia at the Airbus factory in France.
NASA Aero Spacelines Super Guppy N941NA
The Super Guppy is an aircraft I have always wanted to see in person, and I finally got to see it this past weekend!
The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft used to haul outsized cargo components. It was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, the first aircraft produced by the Aero Spacelines Company. Only five were built in two variants, called the "Super Guppy." This is the only aircraft in the world that carried a complete S-IVB stage, the 3rd stage of the Saturn V rocket, and was used extensively during the Apollo space program in the 1960s.
The first Super Guppy, or "SG," was built directly from the fuselage of a C-97J Turbo Stratocruiser, the military version of Boeing’s 377 Stratocruiser. The fuselage was lengthened to 141 feet (43 m) and ballooned to a maximum inside diameter of 25 ft (7.6 m). The cargo compartment was 94 ft 6 in (28.8 m). However, the cargo compartment floor was still only 8 ft 9 in (2.7 m) wide, as necessitated by using the Stratocruiser fuselage.
In addition to the fuselage modifications, the Super Guppy uses four Pratt & Whitney T-34-P-7WA turboprop engines for increased power and range and modified wing and tail surfaces. It could carry a maximum payload of 54,000 pounds (24,000 kg) and cruise around 300 mph (480 km/h).
After a month of tests, one Super Guppy suffered a collapse of the fuselage on September 25th while 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, damaged and spilled powder that temporarily blinded the crew. With the help of a DC-9 chase plane, the crew could land on the dry bed of Rogers Dry Lake and save the aircraft. After that, the upper superstructure was redesigned and rebuilt at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The second version was officially known as the Super Guppy Turbine (SGT), although it used turboprop engines like the first Super Guppy. This variant used Allison 501-D22C turboprops. Unlike the previous Guppy, the central portion of its fuselage was constructed from scratch. By building from scratch, Aero Spacelines was later able to widen the cargo compartment floor to 13 ft (4.0 m). The cargo compartment’s length was increased to 111 ft 6 in (34.0 m), and the improved fuselage and engines allowed for a maximum load of 52,500 lb (23,800 kg). These design improvements, combined with a pressurized crew cabin that allowed for higher-altitude cruising, allowed the SGT to transport more cargo than previous versions.
The SGT retained only the cockpit, wings, tail, and main landing gear from the 377. The nose gear, however, was from the Boeing 707 and rotated 180°. This dropped the front of the aircraft slightly, leveling the cargo bay floor and thus simplifying loading operations.
In the 1970s, the two Super Guppy Turbines were used by Airbus to transport airplane parts from decentralized production facilities to the final assembly plant in Toulouse, France. In 1982 and 1983, respectively, two additional Super Guppy Turbines were built by Union de Transports Aériens Industries in France after Airbus had bought the right to produce the aircraft. The four Super Guppies have since been phased out (one was later scrapped) and replaced in this role by the Airbus Belugas and Beluga XLs, which still operate today. Three of the remaining four are on display: two in the United States, one in the UK, one in Germany, and one resides at the Musée Aeronautique Aeroscopia at the Airbus factory in France.