Aero Spacelines 377SGT Super Guppy
The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy was built to carry outsized aerospace components that would not fit inside any normal cargo aircraft. Its enormous bulbous fuselage was grafted onto a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser-derived airframe, and the nose hinged open for loading. NASA used Super Guppies to move Saturn rocket stages and other space-programme hardware across the United States. The aircraft looks almost cartoonish, but it solved a critical logistical problem before the Beluga and Dreamlifter existed.
Did you know?
Super Guppies replaced the piston engines of their Stratocruiser-based airframe with turboprops borrowed from the C-133 Cargomaster, adding the power needed to fly with such an oversized fuselage.
Specifications
| Length | 43.8 m (144 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 47.6 m (156 ft) |
| Height | 14.8 m (48 ft) |
| Crew | 4 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 79.4 t |
| Range | 3,000 NM (5,556 km) |
| Maximum speed | 250 kt (463 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 25,000 ft (7,620 m) |
| Rate of climb | 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s) |
| Fuel capacity | 22,960 l |
| Engines | 4x Allison 501-D22C |
| Units built | 4 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Aero Spacelines 377SGT Super Guppy starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Aero Spacelines, the 377SGT Super Guppy family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.
Browse all aircraft types, or learn to tell Airbus from Boeing.