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pilot, and Lee
Mansdorf, an aircraft salesman and entrepreneur, formulated the Guppy concept one evening over dinner. They decided to create a company to manufacture outsized aircraft. Conroy hired Robert W. Lillibridge as vice president of manufacturing and engineering, and a team was assembled for
279:. These items were too large to be safely transported by rail or truck. Shipping by sea was time-consuming, expensive, and risky, with the danger of damaging the cargo on turbulent seas. But no aircraft of the day was large enough.
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made early use of the
Pregnant Guppy to transport the first and second stages of Titan II GLV from the Martin Co. in Baltimore, Maryland, to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Subsequent versions of the Guppy series hauled the
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crew capsule, from its
Michoud Manufacturing Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the capsule underwent its first uncrewed test flight aboard the
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rocket. In
November 2019, NASA used the aircraft to transport the Orion capsule from the Kennedy Space Center to the Mansfield Lahm Airport in Ohio for thermal and vacuum tests.
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In 1967, Aero
Spacelines encountered financial difficulties and was acquired by Unexcelled Inc. That corporation was sold to Tracor Aviation. Conroy organized a new company,
329:, which built more airplanes for transporting oversized cargo. By November 1968, NASA had paid Aero Spacelines $ 11,591,633 in contracts. Conroy ceased operations in 1972.
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As of March 2021, one Super Guppy was still in operation. NASA uses it to transport vehicles, and leases it to third parties when not in use.
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the project. Financing was provided by venture capitalist
William Ballon, a
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Tripp, Robert S. Spring 2002, American
Heritage of Invention and Technology
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In early 2016, NASA used that aircraft to transport the main structure of
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This article is about the airplane manufacturer. For aerospaceline, see
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was an
American aircraft manufacturer from 1960 to 1968 that converted
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It's a Plane: One man's obsession, it helped get us to the moon
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Aero
Spacelines was formed with only one customer in mind: the
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Pregnant Guppy : THE PLANE THAT WON THE SPACE RACE
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Aero Spacelines produced three Guppy aircraft models.
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Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States
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532:Bloom, Margy. May / June 2010, PILOTMAG Magazine
16:1960s aircraft manufacturer in the United States
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265:National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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298:. In 1960, Aero Spacelines began working at
493:Airlife's commercial aircraft and airliners
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376:List of preserved Aero Spacelines aircraft
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122:Learn how and when to remove this message
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549:Site about The Guppy Family of Aircraft
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560:The Day the Super Guppy Blew Her Top
436:"NASA website, updated 12 July 2012:
544:Page about Airbus Industrie's Beluga
60:adding citations to reliable sources
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148:Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy
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374:Further information:
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609:377PG Pregnant Guppy
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245:Aero Spacelines Inc.
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362:Super Guppy
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368:Mini Guppy
304:Boeing 377
223:Mini Guppy
82:newspapers
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649:Category
599:aircraft
554:NASA.gov
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381:See also
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277:Florida
259:History
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181:Founder
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