Ultra-Large Aircraft, 1940-1970: The Development of Guppy and Expanded Fuselage Transports

In 1962, a unique transport aircraft was built from the parts of 27 Boeing B-377 airliners to provide NASA with a means of transporting rocket boosters. With an interior the size of a gymnasium,
The Guppy
was the first of eight wide-body cargo planes built by Aero Spacelines. More than half a century later, the last Super Guppy is still in active service and the design concept is used on next-generation transports.

This comprehensive history of expanded fuselage aircraft begins in the 1940s with the military’s need for a long-range transport. The author covers the development of competing designs by Boeing, Convair and Douglas, and their many technical challenges and catastrophic failures. Behind-the-scenes maneuvers of financiers, corporate raiders, mobsters and other nefarious characters provide an inside look at aviation development from the drawing board to the scrap yard.