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Super Guppy fuselage collapsed in a 1965 high speed dive during certification tests
The story behind what lead to the Super Guppy having such a massive collapse of the upper fuselage is pretty amazing... and while this pic was used in Caption Contest #47, and the winning caption perfectly asked the question: "What kind of bird did you say it was ?????", in reality it was the result of a high speed dive test done during the final phase of getting the airplane certified. Birds were not involved.
The following story, originally printed in the April 1971 issue of AIR FORCE Magazine, tells the incredible story from the perspective of being inside the airplane when it all happened. It's really interesting to see how close they came to bailing out of the prototype Super Guppy! To learn loads more about this exceedingly unique airplane, check out AllAboutGuppys.com.
THE DAY THE SUPER GUPPY BLEW HER TOP
By Lt. Col. P.G. Smith USAF (Ret.)
(illustration by Gordon Phillips)
MAYDAY! Mayday! Mayday! This is 1038 Victor, the Super Guppy, in flight test over the Mojave Desert. We have had a major structural failure of the upper nose section in a maximum dive and are preparing for bailout!" "1038 Victor, this is Los Angeles Center. May we help you?" "Stand by, Los Angeles, we have a large hole in the nose, and the aircraft is disintegrating and buffeting severely-Thirty-eight Victor will advise intentions." Only seconds before, we had been safely completing flight tests for the huge Guppy-confident that the converted Boeing Stratocruiser would regain from Russia the United States claim to the "world's largest airplane." Certification tests started with the Guppy's maiden flight on August 31, 1965.
We had completed all the tests except the most hazardous maneuvers-the high-speed dives that are required of all aircraft for airworthiness certification. This portion of the flight tests was saved for the last phase and is called VD, for Velocity Dive. But now, twenty-five days later, on September 25, in clear, blue skies over the Mojave Desert, with only the final VD remaining, disaster struck!
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