This article is about the airplane manufacturer. For aerospaceline, see airline and spaceline.
Aero Spacelines, Inc. was an American aircraft manufacturer from 1960 to 1968 that converted Boeing 377 Stratocruisers into the famous Guppy line of airplanes, re-engineered to transport oversized cargo such as space exploration vehicles.
Aero Spacelines was formed with only one customer in mind: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA needed to transport outsize cargo from manufacturing plants such as the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. These items were too large to be safely transported by rail or truck. Shipping by sea was time-consuming, expensive, and risky, with the danger of damaging the cargo on turbulent seas. But no aircraft of the day was large enough.
John M. "Jack" Conroy, a retired United States Air Force pilot, and Lee Mansdorf, an aircraft salesman and entrepreneur, formulated the Guppy concept one evening over dinner. They decided to create a company to manufacture outsized aircraft. Conroy hired Robert W. Lillibridge as vice president of manufacturing and engineering, and a team was assembled for the project. Financing was provided by venture capitalist William Ballon, a World War II combat veteran also from the Army Air Corps. In 1960, Aero Spacelines began working at Van Nuys Airport, California, to transform a Boeing 377 airliner into the Pregnant Guppy.[1]
NASA's Project Gemini made early use of the Pregnant Guppy to transport the first and second stages of Titan II GVL from the Martin Co. in Baltimore, Maryland, to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Subsequent versions of the Guppy series hauled the S-IVB, the third stage of the Saturn booster from California to Florida.[citation needed]
In 1967, Aero Spacelines encountered financial difficulties and was acquired by Unexcelled Inc. That corporation was sold to Tracor Aviation.[citation needed] Conroy organized a new company, Conroy Aircraft, which built more airplanes for transporting oversized cargo.[citation needed] By November 1968, NASA had paid Aero Spacelines $11,591,633 in contracts.[2] Conroy ceased operations in 1972.
As of March 2021, one Super Guppy was still in operation. NASA uses it to transport vehicles, and leases it to third parties when not in use.[3]
In early 2016, NASA used that aircraft to transport the main structure of Orion crew capsule, from its Michoud Manufacturing Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the capsule underwent its first uncrewed test flight aboard the Space Launch System rocket.[4] In November 2019, NASA used the aircraft to transport the Orion capsule from the Kennedy Space Center to the Mansfield Lahm Airport in Ohio for thermal and vacuum tests.[5]
List of aircraft
Aero Spacelines produced three Guppy aircraft models.
Tripp, Robert S. Spring 2002, American Heritage of Invention and Technology
NASA.gov
The Day the Super Guppy Blew Her Top
January 23, 2023
aero, spacelines, this, article, about, airplane, manufacturer, aerospaceline, airline, spaceline, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, chall. This article is about the airplane manufacturer For aerospaceline see airline and spaceline This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Aero Spacelines news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Aero Spacelines Inc was an American aircraft manufacturer from 1960 to 1968 that converted Boeing 377 Stratocruisers into the famous Guppy line of airplanes re engineered to transport oversized cargo such as space exploration vehicles Aero Spacelines Inc An Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy at the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook OregonFounded1960 63 years ago 1960 FounderJohn M ConroyDefunct1968 1968 ProductsPregnant Guppy Super Guppy Mini GuppySuper Guppy F BPPA operated for Airbus Contents 1 History 2 List of aircraft 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditAero Spacelines was formed with only one customer in mind the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA needed to transport outsize cargo from manufacturing plants such as the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Louisiana to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida These items were too large to be safely transported by rail or truck Shipping by sea was time consuming expensive and risky with the danger of damaging the cargo on turbulent seas But no aircraft of the day was large enough John M Jack Conroy a retired United States Air Force pilot and Lee Mansdorf an aircraft salesman and entrepreneur formulated the Guppy concept one evening over dinner They decided to create a company to manufacture outsized aircraft Conroy hired Robert W Lillibridge as vice president of manufacturing and engineering and a team was assembled for the project Financing was provided by venture capitalist William Ballon a World War II combat veteran also from the Army Air Corps In 1960 Aero Spacelines began working at Van Nuys Airport California to transform a Boeing 377 airliner into the Pregnant Guppy 1 NASA s Project Gemini made early use of the Pregnant Guppy to transport the first and second stages of Titan II GVL from the Martin Co in Baltimore Maryland to Cape Canaveral Florida Subsequent versions of the Guppy series hauled the S IVB the third stage of the Saturn booster from California to Florida citation needed In 1967 Aero Spacelines encountered financial difficulties and was acquired by Unexcelled Inc That corporation was sold to Tracor Aviation citation needed Conroy organized a new company Conroy Aircraft which built more airplanes for transporting oversized cargo citation needed By November 1968 NASA had paid Aero Spacelines 11 591 633 in contracts 2 Conroy ceased operations in 1972 As of March 2021 one Super Guppy was still in operation NASA uses it to transport vehicles and leases it to third parties when not in use 3 In early 2016 NASA used that aircraft to transport the main structure of Orion crew capsule from its Michoud Manufacturing Facility in New Orleans Louisiana to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida where the capsule underwent its first uncrewed test flight aboard the Space Launch System rocket 4 In November 2019 NASA used the aircraft to transport the Orion capsule from the Kennedy Space Center to the Mansfield Lahm Airport in Ohio for thermal and vacuum tests 5 List of aircraft EditAero Spacelines produced three Guppy aircraft models Pregnant Guppy 1962 1 built Super Guppy 1965 5 built Mini Guppy 1967 2 builtSee also EditAirbus Beluga Boeing Dreamlifter Conroy SkymonsterReferences Edit Mondey p 9 NASA gov NASA website updated 12 July 2012 377SG 201 is still in use Archived from the original on February 15 2013 Retrieved February 11 2013 NASA transports its Mars crew capsule in the belly of a really weird cargo plane February 2016 NASA govExternal links EditPregnant Guppy THE PLANE THAT WON THE SPACE RACE Bloom Margy May June 2010 PILOTMAG Magazine It s a Plane One man s obsession it helped get us to the moon Tripp Robert S Spring 2002 American Heritage of Invention and Technology Page about Airbus Industrie s Beluga Site about The Guppy Family of Aircraft NASA gov The Day the Super Guppy Blew Her Top Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aero Spacelines amp oldid 1127418150, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
