The Super Guppy | Behind the Wings on PBS

[okikuma]

My Dad was friends with Jack Conroy, the developer of the Pregnant and Super Guppies. Jack came up with the idea on the back of a napkin at the old Skytrails Restaurant on Van Nuys Airport. Every week, my Dad would take me to the airport to follow the progression of the assembly of the two prototypes. We were also present to watch the first flights. Wonderful memories.

Wayne

From its incredible history to its unique design features, we're taking an inside look at the Super Guppy! In 1962, President Kennedy made the bold claim to put an American on the moon by the end of the decade. However, the components required for Apollo were massive and assembled nationwide. For Apollo to launch on time, NASA needed an aircraft larger than anything the world had ever seen. Since Apollo, the Super Guppy has completed hundreds of missions for NASA, the DOD, and even worldwide. Five Super Guppies were constructed, and today only one remains flying.

 

[Aerofoam]

I just saw the white one with boarded up windows at the Pima Air Museum last week....
Another factoid, a McCulloch J-2 is hanging in the same room across from an SR-71..........

 

[Gyro-nut]

I remember seeing this for the first time at Wurtsmith AFB back in the late '80s. I'd never heard of it until I saw it sitting on the ramp.
What a strange and remarkable craft!

 

[Aerofoam]

I remember seeing this for the first time at Wurtsmith AFB back in the late '80s. I'd never heard of it until I saw it sitting on the ramp.
What a strange and remarkable craft!

I bet that was a WTH!!! moment!!!!

 

[Gyro-nut]

I bet that was a WTH!!! moment!!!!

It absolutely was. We were flying home and still several miles out when the co-pilot stated, "I think there's a blimp on the ramp" and then a few moments later "WTH is that thing?". Being on the B-52, the other 4 of us couldn't wait to get out of the aircraft and see what was so curious. I truly was quite a site.
We walked over to the craft and all around it; the pilots asking a million questions. We weren't allowed inside due to the security clearance required.

 

[StanFoster]

Wayne....Thanks for the guppy post. I am in a deer stand on the edge of my woods in east central Illinois. My grandson is with me trying to get his first deer.

 

[Roundwing]

I remember seeing one at Smyrna Tenn, many years ago. They had used it to haul in a Skycrain helicopter. The chopper was used to put large items on the roof of a new assembly plant being constructed near there.
Lucky me, I got to see two rare items on the same trip.

Rick

 

[okikuma]

I have a friend named Ron that flew the Pregnant and Super Guppies out of Santa Barbara Airport. Ron just celebrated his 97th birthday. My wife and I ordered some German food and visited him at his home last month for an afternoon.

Ron's personal history is amazing. Born in Berlin, His mom and dad packed Ron and his sister up and fled Germany to England before the start of WW2. While in England, Ron's dad became an economic adviser to Winston Churchill. Ron joined the RAF after the end of the war. After a stint in the RAF, Ron was hired as a commercial pilot and flew all around Western Europe in the 1950s. He met his wife in Berlin, married and they immigrated to the USA in the late 1950s to fly commercially here in the States including Aerospace Lines. When Aerospace Lines closed down, Ron decided to take a local job with the office of Santa Barbara County Airports to be closer to home with his wife and growing daughter, Ron eventually became the senior administrator of the airports until his retirement.

I emailed Ron’s daughter and shared the link to the Super Guppy video for Ron to enjoy.

Wayne