The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is 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.[2] It did so several times during the Apollo program.
Command module Columbia loading aboard a Super Guppy at Ellington AFB for shipment to North American Rockwell Corporation at Downey, California.
The first Super Guppy, or "SG", was built directly from the fuselage of a C-97J Turbo Stratocruiser, the military version of the 1950s Boeing 377 Stratocruiser passenger plane. The fuselage was lengthened to 141 feet (43 m), and ballooned out to a maximum inside diameter of 25 ft (7.6 m), the length of the cargo compartment being 94 ft 6 in (28.8 m). The floor of the cargo compartment was still only 8 ft 9 in (2.7 m) wide, as necessitated by the use of the Stratocruiser fuselage.[1]
In addition to the fuselage modifications, the Super Guppy used Pratt & Whitney T-34-P-7WAturboprop engines for increased power and range,[1] and modified wing and tail surfaces. It could carry a load of 54,000 pounds (24,000 kg) and cruise at 300 mph (480 km/h).
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.[3]
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 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 13 ft (4.0 m). The overall cargo-compartment 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).[4] 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.[1]
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, leveling the cargo-bay floor and simplifying loading operations.
In the early 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. 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 have since been replaced in this role by the Airbus Beluga, capable of carrying twice as much cargo by weight.
Variantsedit
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.[1]
Aero Spacelines B-377-SGT Super Guppy Turbine (Guppy 201), production version powered by Allison 501-D22C turbo-prop engines,[1] using an enlarged cargo section built from scratch instead of being converted from original C-97J components.
Aircraftedit
N941NA in-flightSuper Guppy on display at Pima Air & Space MuseumNASA Super Guppy N941NA at its home base in El Paso
One Super Guppy remains in service with NASA. Three are on display, and one was scrapped.
Super Guppy Turbine F-BTGV (formerly N211AS), serial number 0001, was on static display at the former British Aviation Heritage Centre, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, United Kingdom. The aircraft was broken up in December 2020, with the cockpit saved by the South Wales Aviation Museum.[6]
Super Guppy Turbine F-BPPA (formerly N212AS), serial number 0002, is on static display in the Musée Aeronautique Aeroscopia near the Airbus facility, Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, France.[7]
Super Guppy Turbine F-GDSG, serial number 0003, is on static display at the Airbus facility, Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport, Germany.[8]
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 Forward Operating Location at the El Paso International Airport, in El Paso, Texas, US.[9] It is the last operational Boeing 377 Stratocruiser in the world.[citation needed]
^ abcdefghiTaylor, Michael J. H. (1980). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation, Volume 1. London: Jane's Publishing Company. p. 176. ISBN0-7106-0710-5.
^Edgar M. Cortright (ed.). Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, The NASA History: 50th Anniversary Edition. Dover. p. 53.
^Smith, Lt. Col. P.G. USAF (April 1971). "The Day The Super Guppy Blew Her Top". Air Force Magazine.
^ ab. NASA.gov. April 7, 2002. Archived from the original on October 6, 1999. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
^. Pima Air & Space Museum. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
^Valduga, Fernando (December 20, 2020). "Primeiro Super Guppy da Airbus começa a virar sucata". Cavok. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^. Musée Aeronautique Aeroscopia. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^"Registration Details for F-GDSG (Airbus Industrie) Aero Spacelines 337SGT-201F Guppy". Planelogger.com. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^Gray, Robert (August 4, 2011). "After shuttle, NASA's plans for El Paso". El Paso Inc. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
^Mondey, David (1981). Encyclopedia of The World's Commercial and Private Aircraft. New York: Crescent Books. p. 9. ISBN0-517-36285-6.
^Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
Bibliographyedit
Taylor, H. A. "Tony" (April–July 1982). "Stratocruiser... Ending an Airline Era". Air Enthusiast. No. 18. pp. 37–53. ISSN 0143-5450.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aero Spacelines Super Guppy and Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Turbine.
Calzada, Ruby (March 25, 2013). "B377PG Super Guppy". NASA. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
Super Guppy website by NASA Aircraft Operations
by NASA Human Spaceflight
at Boeing.com
AllAboutGuppys.com
Super Guppy F-BTGV restoration project March 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
November 01, 2023
aero, spacelines, super, guppy, large, wide, bodied, cargo, aircraft, that, used, hauling, outsize, cargo, components, successor, pregnant, guppy, first, guppy, aircraft, produced, aero, spacelines, five, were, built, variants, both, which, were, colloquially,. The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large wide bodied cargo aircraft that is 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 B 377 SG SGT Super GuppySuper Guppy Turbine used by NASARole Outsize cargo aircraftManufacturer Aero Spacelines BoeingFirst flight August 31 1965 1 Status Active operated by NASAPrimary users Aero Spacelines 1 NASA Airbus Aeromaritime 1 Number built 1 SG 4 SGT 1 Developed from Boeing 377 StratocruiserThe Super Guppy is the only airplane to carry a complete S IVB stage the third stage of the Saturn V rocket 2 It did so several times during the Apollo program Contents 1 Design and development 2 Variants 3 Aircraft 4 Operators 4 1 Current 4 2 Former 5 Specifications Super Guppy Turbine 6 See also 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 External linksDesign and development editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Aero Spacelines Super Guppy news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message nbsp Command module Columbia loading aboard a Super Guppy at Ellington AFB for shipment to North American Rockwell Corporation at Downey California The first Super Guppy or SG was built directly from the fuselage of a C 97J Turbo Stratocruiser the military version of the 1950s Boeing 377 Stratocruiser passenger plane The fuselage was lengthened to 141 feet 43 m and ballooned out to a maximum inside diameter of 25 ft 7 6 m the length of the cargo compartment being 94 ft 6 in 28 8 m The floor of the cargo compartment was still only 8 ft 9 in 2 7 m wide as necessitated by the use of the Stratocruiser fuselage 1 In addition to the fuselage modifications the Super Guppy used Pratt amp Whitney T 34 P 7WA turboprop engines for increased power and range 1 and modified wing and tail surfaces It could carry a load of 54 000 pounds 24 000 kg and cruise at 300 mph 480 km h 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 3 nbsp Super Guppy Turbine F BPPA at Paris Le Bourget Airport in 1981The 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 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 13 ft 4 0 m The overall cargo compartment 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 4 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 1 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 leveling the cargo bay floor and simplifying loading operations In the early 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 In 1982 and 1983 two additional Super Guppy Turbines were built by Union de Transports Aeriens Industries in France after Airbus bought the right to produce the aircraft The four Super Guppies have since been replaced in this role by the Airbus Beluga capable of carrying twice as much cargo by weight Variants editAero Spacelines B 377 SG Super Guppy prototype of a much enlarged version of the Guppy using C 97J components powered by four Pratt amp Whitney T 34 P 7WA turbo prop engines 1 Aero Spacelines B 377 SGT Super Guppy Turbine Guppy 201 production version powered by Allison 501 D22C turbo prop engines 1 using an enlarged cargo section built from scratch instead of being converted from original C 97J components Aircraft edit nbsp N941NA in flight nbsp Super Guppy on display at Pima Air amp Space Museum nbsp NASA Super Guppy N941NA at its home base in El PasoOne 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 amp Space Museum adjacent to Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson Arizona US 5 Super Guppy Turbine F BTGV formerly N211AS serial number 0001 was on static display at the former British Aviation Heritage Centre Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome United Kingdom The aircraft was broken up in December 2020 with the cockpit saved by the South Wales Aviation Museum 6 Super Guppy Turbine F BPPA formerly N212AS serial number 0002 is on static display in the Musee Aeronautique Aeroscopia near the Airbus facility Toulouse Blagnac Airport France 7 Super Guppy Turbine F GDSG serial number 0003 is on static display at the Airbus facility Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport Germany 8 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 Forward Operating Location at the El Paso International Airport in El Paso Texas US 9 It is the last operational Boeing 377 Stratocruiser in the world citation needed Operators editCurrent edit NASAFormer edit BoeingAero Spacelines Aeromaritime AirbusSpecifications Super Guppy Turbine edit nbsp Orthographic diagram of the 377 SGTData from Encyclopedia of The World s Commercial and Private Aircraft 10 NASA gov 4 General characteristicsCrew 4 Length 143 ft 10 in 43 84 m Wingspan 156 ft 3 in 47 63 m Height 48 ft 6 in 14 78 m Cargo bay dimensions 111 ft 25 ft 25 ft 33 83 m 7 62 m 7 62 m Wing area 1 965 sq ft 182 6 m2 Airfoil root Boeing 117 22 tip Boeing 117 9 11 Empty weight 101 500 lb 46 040 kg Gross weight 54 500 lb 24 721 kg payload Max takeoff weight 170 000 lb 77 111 kg Powerplant 4 Allison 501 D22C turboprop engines 4 680 shp 3 490 kW each Propellers 4 bladed constant speed fully feathering propellersPerformance Maximum speed 250 kn 290 mph 460 km h Cruise speed 220 kn 250 mph 410 km h economical cruise at 20 000 ft 6 096 m Range 1 734 nmi 1 995 mi 3 211 km Service ceiling 25 000 ft 7 600 m certified Wing loading 86 5 lb sq ft 422 kg m2 Power mass 0 11 hp lb 0 18 kW kg See also edit nbsp Super Guppy Turbine F GDSG at Paris Le Bourget Airport in 1984Related development Boeing B 29 Superfortress Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy Aero Spacelines Mini GuppyAircraft of comparable role configuration and era Airbus Beluga Boeing Dreamlifter Conroy Skymonster Myasishchev VM TReferences edit a b c d e f g h i Taylor Michael J H 1980 Jane s Encyclopedia of Aviation Volume 1 London Jane s Publishing Company p 176 ISBN 0 7106 0710 5 Edgar M Cortright ed Apollo Expeditions to the Moon The NASA History 50th Anniversary Edition Dover p 53 Smith Lt Col P G USAF April 1971 The Day The Super Guppy Blew Her Top Air Force Magazine a b Johnson Space Center Super Guppy NASA gov April 7 2002 Archived from the original on October 6 1999 Retrieved July 18 2013 Super Guppy Pima Air amp Space Museum Archived from the original on May 21 2014 Retrieved May 19 2014 Valduga Fernando December 20 2020 Primeiro Super Guppy da Airbus comeca a virar sucata Cavok Retrieved January 12 2021 Aero Spacelines Super Guppy SGT 201 Musee Aeronautique Aeroscopia Archived from the original on January 14 2021 Retrieved January 12 2021 Registration Details for F GDSG Airbus Industrie Aero Spacelines 337SGT 201F Guppy Planelogger com Retrieved January 12 2021 Gray Robert August 4 2011 After shuttle NASA s plans for El Paso El Paso Inc Retrieved July 18 2013 Mondey David 1981 Encyclopedia of The World s Commercial and Private Aircraft New York Crescent Books p 9 ISBN 0 517 36285 6 Lednicer David The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage m selig ae illinois edu Retrieved April 16 2019 Bibliography editTaylor H A Tony April July 1982 Stratocruiser Ending an Airline Era Air Enthusiast No 18 pp 37 53 ISSN 0143 5450 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to wbr Aero Spacelines Super Guppy and wbr Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Turbine Calzada Ruby March 25 2013 B377PG Super Guppy NASA Retrieved February 21 2020 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 Archived March 9 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aero Spacelines Super Guppy amp oldid 1176093462, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
