Photo Credit: NASA. Many of the drawings were done by STRATO, E. Stanly and A.M. Kaplan. 17.8k SemedianIndustries. The plane flew perfectly and when they landed, the tower controllers recalled the crash trucks and fire engines. Conversion work was undertaken by On Mark Engineering. For more photos of the Pregnant Guppy, Super Guppy and Super Guppy Transport, visit: While, planes’ performances are somewhat shape dependant, but aesthetics really aren’t anything to simply ignore and overdoing them is perhaps even more awful. Even before the Pregnant Guppy made its first flight, however, both NASA and Conroy knew they needed a roomier plane. The design also inspired similar … The idea for this ridiculous looking plane was originally NASA’s, for carrying bits of … Flying is one thing and flying with grace like the Concorde is another. Not your average flying fish. • "Model 377 Stratocruiser Commercial Transport" by Boeing. cool 3.1 years ago. section of fuselage from a second Stratocruiser … The new plane had cost over $1,000,000. The aircraft first flew on September 19, 1962, piloted by Conroy and co-pilot Clay Lacy. The Super Guppy was built using a Boeing C-97 cargo plane. With the beginning of the 1960s, Kennedy had declared that America was on the way to the Moon.  NASA found it had a problem shipping newly constructed rockets from its west coast contractors to Cape Canaveral in Florida.  The original plan, putting them on ocean-going barges through the Panama Canal, proved unworkable.  The trip took two to three week and, on arrival, the fragile rocket boosters were dented, dinged and corroded from the salt spray.  On hearing of NASA’s quandary, John Conroy had looked across the field at Van Nuys where his friend, aircraft broker Leo Mansdorf, had been storing B377 Stratocruisers that he had acquired, uncertain if they had any resale value.  Surely, the big planes could be used, he thought, and it just might solve two problems — NASA’s and Mansdorf’s. ... Guppy prop plane download for FSX. @twv23 thx. However, the huge aircraft performed flawlessly, the only difference in handling being a slight decrease in speed caused by extra drag of the larger fuselage. May / June 2010, PILOTMAG Magazine 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 Because of the Pregnant Guppy, NASA was … Conroy presented his plan for the modified plane to NASA, where an official said it looked like a pregnant guppy. The construction was done in three main phases. I was raised in Van Nuys, near Balboa Boulevard and a few miles from the Van Nuys Airport. A Super Guppy, with its nose and cockpit opened for loading, takes in the X-24B and HL-10 lifting bodies for transportation to WPAFB in May 1976. Aero Spacelines fabricated a large dome that was mated to the top of the fuselage, which resulted in the iconic Pregnant Guppy. The Super Guppy is the descendant of the Pregnant Guppy, the first Guppy aircraft produced by the company. [1] The design also … I’d like to talk to you sometime if you did any work on the Stinson project for Wardlow. Thus, in the Spring of 1963 the plane was readied for its heavy lift test flight at Mojave, California.  Sandbags and a full fuel load pegged the plane at its projected maximum gross weight.  The pilot that day was Jacky Pedesky.  As the plane lumbered down the runway, everything was within operating limits.  When the pilot pulled back on the control yokes, the plane rotated and slowly rose into the air — too slowly, in fact.  It seemed only barely able to climb.  Without sufficient runway ahead to land, they had no choice but to press on.  The airspeed was pegged at 128 kts — the plane was lumbering along just above the ground.  Gingerly, they inched upward into slowly rising terrain ahead.  For every foot they climbed, the terrain rose underneath the plane equally. There were a few others in the past but this is the last operating Guppy in the world. At first the Super Guppy supported NASA’s Gemini Program’s Titan II transportation requirements.  The plane would position to Baltimore, Maryland, and pick up Titan II rocket stages and fly them to Cape Canaveral.  Based on the success of the aircraft and his new contracts with NASA to also support the Apollo Program, John Conroy built a larger version of the aircraft with an even larger cargo hold.  This would be based on a YC-97J, which he called the Super Guppy.  In the end, he built 25 of the Super Guppy modifications to address the large demand from NASA for heavy lift of high cubic volume equipment and rocket components.  Each aircraft was customized to the requirements of NASA’s upcoming space flight needs.  The B377 could transport Apollo S/C and components, while the YC97J was specially built to carry S-IVB stages, instrument units, LEM adapters and F-1 engines.  After negotiations, Conroy and NASA settled on a price of $16 a mile for flights of the larger Super Guppy. Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy byl velký nákladní letoun s objemným trupem postavený ve Spojených státech amerických pro leteckou přepravu rozměrných nákladů, a to hlavně komponentů lunárního programu Apollo pro NASA. Retrieved October 5, 2006. My background was flying in Navy P-3 Orions, so Gene and I had plenty of great flying stories to share. At just over 19’ in diameter, this massive cavity was specifically designed to carry the second stage of a Saturn rocket for the Apollo program. The Super Guppy … 3.0 years ago. 2.9 years ago. The owner of Strato was a man named Abraham Moses Kaplan. My uncle had a plane there and would take me and my Dad flying a couple of times each month. 628 twv23. That was a memorable experience for sure. The name stuck. The plane flew much as a normal Boeing 377, with the exception of some additional drag. Thanks to all of you for your hard work and dedication on the Guppy project and countless others that made this country great. NASA pilots Joe Vensel and Stan Butchart would work with John Conroy to evaluate the plane at Dryden.  Photo Credit:  NASA. "Model 377 Stratocruiser Commercial Transport", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aero_Spacelines_Pregnant_Guppy&oldid=990907994, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 27 November 2020, at 05:26. Letoun Pregnant Guppy byl první z řady letounů Guppy vyrobených společností Aero Spacelines. In August 1962 I was a draftsman at Strato Engineering, a Burbank firm subcontracted to AeroSpace and charged with making drawings for the conversion process on the Pregnant Guppy. The Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy was a heavy cargo plane used for transporting large and bulky items by air. Photo credit: NASA/MSFC/Janet Sudnik The Super Guppy also benefited from upgraded engines, which are the same as those in Lockheed's P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft, though its cruising speed of 250 … Those were the days when you could ride your bike into the airport and ride around looking at some really cool planes. Did it get bought out? 3.1 years ago. Carrying the S-IV Saturn I rocket stage, the Guppy saved three weeks' transit time versus barge,[4] for a cost of $16.00 (equivalent to $131.9 today) per mile (1.6 km).[5]. The Pregnant Guppy was sold to American Jet Industries and registered N126AJ for scrap and it was finally scrapped at Van Nuys in 1979. In 1960, U.S. airlines were disposing of their obsolete piston-engined Boeing 377 Stratocruisers in favor of the newer jet-engined airliners. [1] The Pregnant Guppy was the first of the Guppy line of aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines. As the plane taxied out toward the runway, the air traffic controllers on duty looked at amazement at the monstrous addition bolted to the top of the fuselage.  Surely, nothing that weird could fly, they reasoned.  With a sinking feeling, they realized that the pilot intended to take off.  What they were looking at seemed a monstrosity — an ex-Pan Am Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, lengthened at the center point with a 5 meter long extender piece taken off a different B377 (this one ex-BOAC) with a huge, bulbous cargo hold ballooned over the top of the fuselage.  When the pilot stopped at the hold short line and requested permission to take off for a first test flight, the tower controller first reached for the phone to scramble the crash trucks and fire engines.  With that accomplished, he intoned, “Aero Spacelines, you’re cleared for take off….”  As the plane started to roll, all eyes were on it — and not a few bets were placed that it wouldn’t fly. 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". I am attempting to find out what happened to Strato Engineering. The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is used for hauling outsize cargo components. This monster, designed for Apollo rocket stages, could easily swallow a … [1] The design inspired other later designs, such as the jet-powered Airbus Beluga and Boeing Dreamlifter. First, Aero Spacelines had to lengthen the fuselage enough fit the 40 ft. long Saturn S-IV stage. The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is used for hauling outsize cargo components. By eagleworks4u in forum FSX Replies: 3 Last Post: 12-24-2009, 02:50 PM. Pregnant Guppy : THE PLANE THAT WON THE SPACE RACE Bloom, Margy. This was done by adding a 16 ft. 8 in. The Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy was a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft built in the United States and used for ferrying outsized cargo items, most notably NASA's components of the Apollo program. Photo Credit: NASA. “ Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. np. The Super Guppy's most precious cargo was the lunar-excursion module Eagle and the command ship Columbia flown by Apollo … Thanks Charlie, “My favorite thing about the Guppy is that it is unique. ui_manufacturer=Boeing ui_type=377 "Pregnant Guppy" ui_variation="NASA" ui_typerole="Four Engine Prop" ui_createdby="A2A … 1989. The Pregnant Guppy on the ramp in preparation for NASA test flights and pilot evaluation in October 1962. Once on the ground, the engineers lightened the aircraft by 8,000 pounds before the next test flight.  After a demonstration flight for NASA with a mock-up of the rocket booster on board, the airline signed a contract to fly on revenue runs — Conroy and Aero Spacelines were in business. Because of the restrictions of land travel, passing ov… Air shipment seemed reasonable enough.  The rocket components were extremely lightweight, though the problem was that they were simply huge.  No aircraft had a cargo hold large enough as just one stage of the rocket was 40 feet long and 18 feet in diameter.  Conroy started working the problem, literally on the back of a napkin with Mansdorf.  Together, they thought that it might be possible to modify a B377 by adding a larger cargo bay atop the fuselage.  He prepared a rough design series with some drawings and presented the idea to NASA in person, hoping for funding. I own some of the old Wardlow STC’s for the conversions to the Stinson SR-10F. The Pregnant Guppy was the first of the Guppy line of aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines. [1], Conroy presented his plans for an extensively modified Stratocruiser to NASA, where an official commented that the bloated aircraft resembled a pregnant guppy. Do you have any info on what happened to the company? Among its early duties was transporting the first and second stages of the Gemini program's Titan II from the Martin Co. in Baltimore, Maryland to Cape Canaveral. Here are some of the strangest and/or ugliest looking aircrafts from around the … Built from a heavily modified KC-97 Stratotanker, the Pregnant Guppy featured the largest cargo compartment of any aircraft ever built. He had a storied aircraft career from his time as a Thunderbolt pilot in WW2 through many commercial and military aviation projects all the way into the 1990s, including his time at Strato. The stairs were down so we parked our bikes and went inside. He would have to borrow fuel for the cross country flight.  Conroy had over $1 million invested in the project — he was flat broke and had a long line of creditors hounding him. Data from Jane's All The Worlds Aircraft 1965–66,[6] Jane's All The Worlds Aircraft 1971–72[7], Outsize cargo conversion of the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. My wife tells the story about how her dad pulled her out of school one day and took the family to the Van Nuys airport to watch the first Guppy test flight referenced in this article. By the way, Airbus actually used a fleet of Super Guppies to transport airplane pieces before they developed their Belugas. A bulbous looking whale of an airplane, the Super Guppy was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, an equally goofy looking giant cargo plane. [1] The Pregnant Guppy was the first of the Guppy line of aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines. The various Guppies were modified from 1940's and 50's-vintage Boeing Model 377 and C-97 Stratocruiser airframes by Aero Spacelines, Inc., which operated the aircraft for NASA. Photo Credit: NASA. Designed by Aero Spacelines, an American aircraft manufacturer from 1960 to 1968, the Super Guppy was introduced in 1965. The aircraft was named for its striking resemblance to a pregnant guppy … Aero Spacelines B377PG Pregnant Guppy on ramp in preparation for flight tests and pilot evaluation The various Guppies were modified from 1940's and 50's-vintage Boeing Model 377 and C-97 Stratocruiser airframes by Aero Spacelines, Inc., which operated the aircraft for NASA. So Aero Spacelines created the Very Pregnant Guppy, with an inner diameter of 25 feet and a cargo compartment 94Vi feet long. Eugene Stanley is my father-in-law. Pregnant Guppy The Aero Spacelines B-377PG Pregnant Guppy, seen here, was flown to Dryden for tests and evaluation by pilots … I can personally attest to the fact that many times I had to drive to the Van Nuys Airport, climb up the scaffolding surrounding the plane and find a specific location of modification, make drawings on a yellow tablet, take some tiny black and white photos and return to Strato to make the drawings match what was already built.