9wingspirit
Aero Spacelines
Supper Guppy Turbine
Display Frame
A large and peculiar wide-bodied cargo aircraft
used to transport oversized cargo components
Five were constructed over two variants all colloquially referred to as Super Guppy's
In February 2021 Motoart released an incredible series of plane tags up-cycled from the salvaged skin of Super Guppy #1
The Super
Guppy Display System is a bespoke four tag frame
designed and manufactured by 9wingspirit
This
display frame consists of anodized aluminium, layered
between two sheets of 3mm acrylic glass and secured by x4 knurled stainless
steel thumb screws
Completed
by two wide based notched transparent supports for stability adding the ability
to provide an inclined display of tag fronts AND backs
Laser
engravings meticulously map out aircraft outline on the front face and history
on the back
The frame
is serialised for additional collectability
Only 18 Super Guppy frames were manufactured
Little
wonder they rapidly sold out
The
producer has vowed to make no further SGT frames
This auction is for the display frame ONLY - tags NOT included
Aircraft History
In 1965
an initial Super Guppy (SG) was built from the fuselage of Boeing 377-10-26
Stratocruiser N1038V as built for Pan Am in 1949 (c/n 15938)
The
fuselage was lengthened to 141’ (43 m) ballooning out to a maximum inside
diameter of 25’ (7.6 m). The length of the cargo compartment as 94’ 6” (28.8
m). The floor of the cargo compartment remained at 8’ 9” (2.7 m), necessitated
by the use of the Stratocruiser fuselage
The Super
Guppy was the only airplane in the world capable of carrying a complete S-IVB
stage 3rd stage Saturn V rocket, performing this role several
times during the Apollo program
A second
version or Super Guppy Turbine (SGT) first flew on the 24th August 1970
utilising Allison 501-D22C turboprops. The main portion of the fuselage was
constructed from scratch enabling the widening of the cargo compartment floor
area to 13 ft (4.0 m). Overall cargo-compartment length was increased to 111’
6” (34 m), and the improved fuselage/engine combination allowed for a maximum
load of 52,500 lb (23,800 kg)
These
design improvements, combined with a pressurized crew cabin permitted a higher
cruising altitude, allowing the SGT to transport more cargo, more efficiently
The SGT
retained the cockpit, wings, tail, and main landing gear of the 377 only. The
nose gear was taken from a B707 and rotated 180 degrees. This dropped the front
of the aircraft slightly which levelled the cargo-bay deck and simplified
loading
In the
early 1970’s, both SGT’s were acquired by Airbus to transport airplane parts
from decentralized production facilities to the final assembly plant in
Toulouse
In 1982/3
two additional SGT’s were built by Union de Transports Aériens Industries in
France after Airbus bought the rights to produce the aircraft
The role
of the SGT’s was replaced by the Beluga in 1995 - based on the A300-600, and
the Beluga XL in 2020 as based on an A330-200
SGT
F-BTGV (formerly N211AS, s/n 0001) – or #1 flew into Bruntingthorpe
Aerodrome, UK on the 1st July 1996 where it remained on static
display under the custody of the British Aviation Heritage Centre
This
ex-RAF facility had long standing synergies with the British motor vehicle
industry since privatisation in 1973 when it was partially acquired by Chrysler
Motor Corporation
While the
South Wales Aviation Museum had made a valiant attempt to restore F-BTGV, the final blow came in March 2020 when Cox Automotive UK acquired the
facility, insisting that previous tenants remove all assets from
the premises – including aircraft, to allow for expansion of its
motoring facility
Being in
an un-airworthy state and too difficult/costly to transport, #1 was regretfully
broken up in December 2020
The
cockpit was salvaged from the tear down and transported to SWAM in St Athan
SG N940NS
(formerly N1038V, s/n 52–2693) is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum
adjacent to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ
SGT
F-BPPA (formerly N212AS, s/n 0002) is on static display in the
Musée Aeronautique Aeroscopia near the Airbus facility, Toulouse–Blagnac
Airport, France
SGT
F-GDSG (s/n 0003) is on static display at the Airbus Hamburg facility at
Finkenwerder Airport, Germany
SGT
N941NA (formerly F-GEAI, s/n 0004) is the last operational B377
Stratocruiser in service with NASA as a transport aircraft based at the El Paso
Forward Operating Location at the El Paso International Airport, TX
Aircraft Specifications
Crew: 4
Length:
43.84 m
Wingspan:
47.63 m
Height:
14.78 m
Cargo bay
dimensions: 33.83 × 7.62 × 7.62 m
Wing
area: 182.6 m2
Airfoil:
Root - Boeing 117 (22%); Tip - Boeing 117 (9%)
Empty
weight: 46,040 kg
Gross
weight: 24,721 kg
Max
takeoff weight: 77,111 kg
Powerplant:
4 × Allison 501-D22C turboprop engines, 4,680 shaft HP or 3,490 kW each
Propellers:
4-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propellers
Maximum
speed: 250 kn/460 km/h
Cruise
speed: 220 kn/410 km/h
Economical
cruise alt 20,000’/6,096 m
Range:
1,734 nmi/3,211 km
Certified
service ceiling: 25,000’/7,600 m certified
Wing
loading: 86.5 lb/sq ft/422 kg/m2
Power/mass:
0.11 hp/lb/0.18 kW/kg
***Tags are NOT included, provided as a contrast only***