The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Turbines Story!

The first two of the four SGT-201 freighters ever built made their maiden flights in the early 1970s and were deployed by NASA in the Apollo programs, for instance. After those projects were discontinued, the French company Aéromaritime gave the Super Guppy registered as F-BTGV a new lease on life in November 1971, and the Super Guppy registered as F-BPPA a fresh start in August 1973, transporting the extremely large and heavy aircraft parts for Concorde and Airbus models to the final assembly plant in Toulouse. With a wingspan of 47.61 m and a height of 14.85 m, the Super Guppy reached speeds of 460 km/h at a maximum altitude of 7620 m. The aircraft was given its distinctive colorful livery and Airbus Skylink lettering on the fuselage in the 1980s.

With its voluminous fuselage, the Super Guppy was in service for almost a quarter of a century, contributing significantly to the success of Airbus, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer. The F-BTGV took to the skies for the last time on 1 July 1996, bound for the museum in Bruntingthorpe, England. From 2009 onward, it was lovingly and devotedly maintained and restored there by the “Super Guppy Restoration Project”. Eleven years later, however, the Super Guppy had to leave when the privately run museum closed its doors in March 2020 - the former exhibition space is now occupied by a car dealership.

Only five Super Guppies ever took to the skies, and we’re thrilled to bring this historic freighter home to you as an Aviationtag. By the way, these freighters are named after the guppy fish, a live-bearing fish with a hugely swollen belly when pregnant.