The
Pregnant Guppy was based on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser and was used by NASA to transport rocket parts for its space program. This AC was broken up in the late 70s.
The original design for the
Super Guppy was another straight modification of a Boeing 377 but using P&W turboprop engines.
The second variant was known as the Super Guppy Turbine (despite the original using turboprops) and used Allison 501 turboprop engines. The main difference was that the entire cargo space was redesigned from scratch, and only the cockpit, tail and the wings of the 377 really remained the same.
The
Mini-Guppy was again based on the cockpit, wings and tail of the 377, but with an entirely new fuselage. It was however, due to it's smaller size, powered by the original P&W R-4360 engines of the 377.
Only 2 mini-guppys were ever built, of which 1 survives.
1 Super Guppy and 4 Super Guppy Turbines were built of which all survive to the present day. 1 SGT is still in service with NASA.
Airbus Industries have replaced their fleet of Super Guppy Turbines with the
A-300 Beluga.
After selling his Supper Guppy designs, John M. Conroy went on to design the
Skymonster CL-44-0 based on the Canadair CL-44 freighter.
This collection contains;
1 Mini-Guppy
1 Super Guppy
4 Super Guppy Turbines (1 Aircraft currently absent)
1 Conroy Skymonster CL-44-0
4 Beluga A300-600ST (5 Placemarks)
As yet, I have not managed to find any imagery containing the new Beluga XL A330-743L
Cheers,
Sean.