Aero Spacelines Super Guppy

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 Guppy
Super Guppy Turbine used by NASA
Role Outsize cargo aircraft
Manufacturer Aero Spacelines / Boeing
First flight August 31, 1965[1]
Status Active, operated by NASA
Primary users Aero Spacelines[1]
NASA, Airbus, Aeromaritime[1]
Number built 1 SG, 4 SGT[1]
Developed from Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

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.

Design and development
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-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]

Super Guppy Turbine F-BPPA at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in 1981

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.

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.[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
N941NA in-flight
Super Guppy on display at Pima Air & Space Museum
Picture from the rear of a Super Guppy Turbine airplane
NASA 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 N940NS (previously N1038V), serial number 52–2693, is on display at the Pima Air & 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 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.

Operators

Current

Former

Specifications (Super Guppy Turbine)
Orthographic diagram of the 377-SGT

Data from Encyclopedia of The World's Commercial and Private Aircraft,[10] NASA.gov[4]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 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 propellers

Performance

  • 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
Super Guppy Turbine F-GDSG at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in 1984

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
  1. Taylor, Michael J. H. (1980). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation, Volume 1. London: Jane's Publishing Company. p. 176. ISBN 0-7106-0710-5.
  2. Edgar M. Cortright (ed.). Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, The NASA History: 50th Anniversary Edition. Dover. p. 53.
  3. Smith, Lt. Col. P.G. USAF (April 1971). "The Day The Super Guppy Blew Her Top". Air Force Magazine.
  4. "Johnson Space Center Super Guppy". NASA.gov. April 7, 2002. Archived from the original on October 6, 1999. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  5. "Super Guppy". Pima Air & Space Museum. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  6. Valduga, Fernando (December 20, 2020). "Primeiro Super Guppy da Airbus começa a virar sucata". Cavok. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  7. "Aero Spacelines Super Guppy SGT 201". Musée Aeronautique Aeroscopia. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  8. "Registration Details for F-GDSG (Airbus Industrie) Aero Spacelines 337SGT-201F Guppy". Planelogger.com. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  9. Gray, Robert (August 4, 2011). "After shuttle, NASA's plans for El Paso". El Paso Inc. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  10. Mondey, David (1981). Encyclopedia of The World's Commercial and Private Aircraft. New York: Crescent Books. p. 9. ISBN 0-517-36285-6.
  11. Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved April 16, 2019.

Bibliography
  • Taylor, H. A. "Tony" (April–July 1982). "Stratocruiser... Ending an Airline Era". Air Enthusiast. No. 18. pp. 37–53. ISSN 0143-5450.
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