Outsize cargo conversion of the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
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 components of
NASA
's
Apollo program
.
[1]
The Pregnant Guppy was the first of the Guppy line of aircraft produced by
Aero Spacelines
.
[1]
The design inspired later designs, such as the
jet-powered
Airbus Beluga
and
Boeing Dreamlifter
.
Development
[
edit
]
In 1960, NASA was using
barges
to transport increasingly large rocket components from manufacturers on the West Coast to test and launch sites on the East Coast, a method that was slow and expensive. Meanwhile, U.S. airlines were disposing of their obsolete
piston-engined
Boeing 377 Stratocruisers
in favor of the newer jet-engined airliners. Aircraft broker Leo Mansdorf was stockpiling surplus Stratocruisers at
Van Nuys
for resale.
Ex-
USAF
pilot
John M. Conroy
realized that these aircraft could be modified to transport the large but relatively light rocket components.
[1]
Conroy presented his plans for an extensively modified Stratocruiser to NASA, where an official commented that the bloated aircraft resembled a pregnant
guppy
. Although NASA was lukewarm on the concept, Conroy
mortgaged
his house and founded
Aero Spacelines International
to build and operate the concept aircraft.
[1]
Conversion work was undertaken by
On Mark Engineering
. The Pregnant Guppy (registered N1024V)
[2]
used an ex-
Pan Am
airframe. A 5-meter section from an ex-
British Overseas Airways Corporation
aircraft (G-AKGJ) was added immediately behind the wing. A new upper fuselage of 6-meter diameter was added, giving the aircraft a "triple-bubble" appearance when viewed from the front. The entire rear section, including tail surfaces, was detachable to allow cargo to be loaded directly into the fuselage. The wing, engines, tail, nose, and cockpit were unchanged.
The aircraft first flew on September 19, 1962, piloted by Conroy and co-pilot
Clay Lacy
.
[3]
When Van Nuys traffic control realized that Conroy intended to take off, they notified police and fire departments to be on alert. However, the huge aircraft performed flawlessly. It differed in handling from a Stratocruiser only in a slight decrease in speed caused by the drag of the larger fuselage.
The Guppy delivered the
S-IV
Saturn I rocket
stage three weeks faster than a barge,
[4]
for a cost of $16.00 (equivalent to $157.18 today) per mile (1.6 km).
[5]
Operational history
[
edit
]
In the summer of 1963, the Pregnant Guppy began flying NASA cargo. 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
. As the space program grew through the late 1960s, it became apparent that the one original aircraft clearly could not handle the whole transport load, so 25 more Stratocruisers and ex-USAF C-97s were purchased to construct four
Super Guppy
aircraft, which were even longer and larger than the original.
The various Guppy aircraft served throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. After the Apollo program ended, the aircraft transported airliner sections.
[1]
The original Pregnant Guppy, though, was in poor condition by this point and retired soon after the end of the Apollo program.
The Pregnant Guppy was sold to American Jet Industries in 1974 and registered N126AJ. Although plans were floated to renovate the transport and return it to service, in the end it was scrapped at
Van Nuys Airport
in 1979. The rear fuselage and tail assembly, along with various other parts, were used to build the final
Super Guppy Turbine
. Registered N941NA, this aircraft is currently in service with NASA and is the last Guppy aircraft still in operation.
[6]
Specifications (B377PG Pregnant Guppy)
[
edit
]
Data from
Jane's All The Worlds Aircraft 1965?66
,
[7]
Jane's All The Worlds Aircraft 1971?72
[8]
General characteristics
- Crew:
3
- Capacity:
34,000 lb (15,422 kg)
+
- Length:
127 ft 0 in (38.71 m)
- Wingspan:
141 ft 3 in (43.05 m)
- Diameter:
20 ft 4 in (6.20 m) cabin height
- Height:
31 ft 3 in (9.53 m) to top of fuselage; 38 ft 3 in (12 m) overall
- Wing area:
1,769 sq ft (164.3 m
2
)
[
citation needed
]
- Cargo compartment : volume:
29,187 cu ft (826 m
3
)
- Cargo compartment : total length:
80 ft (24 m)
- Cargo compartment : constant-section length:
30 ft (9 m)
- Cargo compartment : max height:
19 ft 9 in (6 m)
- Cargo compartment : max width:
19 ft 9 in (6 m)
- Cargo compartment : max width:
8 ft 7 in (3 m)
- Airfoil
:
root:
Boeing 117 (22%);
tip:
Boeing 117 (9%)
[9]
- Empty weight:
91,000 lb (41,277 kg)
- Max takeoff weight:
133,000 lb (60,328 kg) (later increased)
- Powerplant:
4 ×
Pratt & Whitney R-4360-B6 Wasp Major
28-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) each
- Powerplant:
4 ×
Aerojet-General 15KS-1000-A1
solid-fuel assisted take-off rocket engines, 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) thrust each for 15 seconds
- Propellers:
4-bladed
Hamilton-Standard
Model 34E60-387 constant-speed fully-feathering propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed:
320 kn (370 mph, 590 km/h)
[
citation needed
]
- Cruise speed:
195 kn (224 mph, 361 km/h) normal operating speed
See also
[
edit
]
Related development
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Taylor, Michael J.H. . “ Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. Studio Editions. London. 1989.
ISBN
0-517-69186-8
- ^
B-377 PREGNANT GUPPY AIRPLANE
, NASA/Glenn Research Center, 1965-09-15
, retrieved
2020-02-21
- ^
"All About Guppys"
.
- ^
Bilstein, Roger E. (1996).
Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles
. The NASA History Series. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA History Office. pp. 313?319. SP-4206. Archived from
the original
on 2004-10-15
. Retrieved
2010-05-03
.
- ^
"Saturn Transportation Equipment"
.
Stages to Saturn
. NASA
. Retrieved
2014-01-20
.
- ^
Dean, William Patrick (2018).
Ultra=Large Aircraft, 1940-1970: The Development of Guppy and Expanded Fuselage Transports
. pp. 186?187.
- ^
Taylor, John W. R., ed. (1965).
Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1965?66
. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.
- ^
Taylor, John W. R., ed. (1971).
Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1971?72
(62nd ed.). London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company. p. 218.
ISBN
9780354000949
.
- ^
Lednicer, David.
"The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage"
.
m-selig.ae.illinois.edu
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
Works cited
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
- "Model 377 Stratocruiser Commercial Transport"
by Boeing. Retrieved October 5, 2006.
- "All About Guppys"
, by Daren Savage. Updated September 17, 2006. Retrieved October 5, 2006.
- 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
- "Boeing 377 Pregnant Guppy"
by Kenneth W. Shanaberger. Updated August 31, 2004. Retrieved October 5, 2006.
- "The Plane That Won The Space Race"
by Margy Bloom. Retrieved May/June 2010.
- "The Pregnant Guppy"
Historic Wings: Daily Stories. Retrieved September 19, 2012
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