“Guppy” (Guppy fish) – is the name of a special cargo aircraft series with an exceptionally large cargo hold designed for transporting oversized goods.
The most well-known among the gigantic cargo planes is perhaps the Airbus A300-600ST Beluga from France. However, today we will take a trip back in time to explore the ancestor of all super odd cargo planes.
Guppy cargo plane.
In the 1960s, the United States invested heavily in space programs and required a new cargo aircraft capable of carrying items that, while not extremely heavy, were extremely bulky.
The first version of the Guppy was directly constructed from the fuselage of a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser – a cargo variant.
At that time, pilot and aerospace engineer John Conroy proposed a bold idea: to modify the fuselage of the “Boeing” to increase the volume of the hold while minimizing any aerodynamic drawbacks.
The aircraft manufacturing process.
He based his design on the model of a pregnant guppy fish, naming the aircraft “Pregnant Guppy.” Guppy fish are one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish known for their ease of care, rapid reproduction, and a wide variety of colors.
Conroy’s company performed a “transformation” on the Boeing 377 to create the “flying pregnant woman” Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy.
Once the concept was approved by NASA, Conroy mortgaged his house to fund the establishment of Aero Spacelines. Together with On Mark Engineering, Conroy’s company executed the “transformation” of the Boeing 377, resulting in the “flying pregnant woman” Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy. On September 19, 1962, Conroy personally took his creation for its maiden flight.
Inside the cargo hold of the Guppy aircraft.
Until the late 1970s, the “Pregnant Guppy” diligently served NASA, transporting spacecraft components, including the largest cargo, one of the stages of the “Saturn I” rocket. By 1979, the first “guppy fish” manufactured based on an aging “Boeing” had completely worn out and was dismantled for scrap metal.
In 1965, the “Pregnant Guppy” transported S-IV – the second stage of the “Saturn I” rocket.
Besides “Pregnant Guppy”, Conroy’s company also built three additional aircraft of this series: Aero Spacelines Super Guppy (first flight in 1965), Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy (1967), and Conroy Skymonster (1969).
The special design of the “Guppy” aircraft series.
This unique design of the “Guppy” series was studied and utilized by French engineers to create subsequent aircraft such as the Airbus A300-600ST Beluga (1994) and Boeing 747 Dreamlifter (2006).
Some key specifications of the Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy:
- Crew: 3
- Length: 38.71 m
- Wingspan: 43.05 m
- Maximum takeoff weight: 63,945 kg
- Engines: 4 Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major piston engines
- Maximum speed: 515 km/h
- Cruising speed: 235 km/h
