Always thought this was a great aircraft and just wondered if there was one preserved or even flying out there somewhere?

As I recall, there are no Boeing 377 airframes in existence that were not scrapped or modified into the Guppys. I believe only 55 were built.

There is a Stratoliner though..

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Plane.../Boeing-307-Stratoliner/0434168/L/


The last flyable stratoliner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLLWgUSsYI

[Edited 2010-10-28 09:33:09]

Quoting keesje (Reply 2): There is a Stratoliner though..

Another is at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in IAD.

I don't know if there's any 377's around. I do know there's a few of the C-97/KC-97's around with one being restored to flying condition at Floyd Bennett Field by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation.

Got to be one of the BEST cockpit windows ever.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Pan-A...377-10-26-Stratocruiser/0089855/L/

well related to that are there any C-97's out there still flying? I thought I saw one parked in Israel...

Quoting keesje (Reply 2): The last flyable stratoliner

Quoting Stitch (Reply 3): Another is at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in IAD.

it was saved, repaired and flew to IAD for display... it's the same plane!

Apparently, Clay Lacy purchased a C-97 from Hawkins and Powers and is planning to restore
it as a 377 with a 1950's era United paint scheme.

If anyone can do it, Clay Lacy can.

Do a search to get more information; I found many links (here's one):

http://www.warbirdinformationexchang.../viewtopic.php?f=3&t=35887&start=0

Quoting kanban (Reply 6): I thought I saw one parked in Israel

That would make sense as they had some pretty old airframes at one time.

Quoting FlyHossD (Reply 8): Apparently, Clay Lacy purchased a C-97 from Hawkins and Powers and is planning to restore it as a 377 with a 1950's era United paint scheme.

That would be very nice!

The last one I saw in ops. was at MIA back in the late 1980's. Had a navy blue tail. Agro Air or something like that. Don't recall if it was a -97 or a -377.
It was fun to watch. I used to stand at the RR spur next to Eldorado and watch it come and go. Those big old Pratts sounded beautiful.

Quoting milesrich (Reply 1): As I recall, there are no Boeing 377 airframes in existence that were not scrapped or modified into the Guppys. I believe only 55 were built.

I think total production was 56, and 12 were written off in accidents, 7 of which involved Pan Am aircraft. Two of the 12 hull losses were after Guppy conversion.

Israel had some of Pan Ams 377s for their air force.If there is one over there it could be a 377,but probably is a C97.The ones operating out of MIA with the blue tail were C97s.
Sparky

Sadly, the answer is no, there are no Boeing Stratocruisers left. None of the Israeli Air Force ex-Pan American Strats have survived; only one or two of their C-97s have been preserved at Beersheba.

The last true Stratocruiser was an ex-Northwest Orient bird (N76403); she was parted out at Mojave in the early 1980s, donating parts to the Aero Spacelines Guppy program:

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Photo © Richard Vandervord

View Large View Medium

Photo © Bob Groenendijk


A nunber of C-97s have been preserved, the Strat's military equivalent. Only one is now airworthy, the Angel of Deliverance, owned by the Berlin Airlift Historic Foundation:

View Large View Medium Photo © Tom Turner

View Large View Medium Photo © Michael F. McLaughlin

This beautiful aircraft is hangared at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, NY, in the same builting as the collection of the Historic Aircraft Restoration Project

Another close contender is the Balair aircraft preserved at the Pima Air and Space Museum:

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Photo © Bruce Leibowitz

There were 3 versions of the guppy series airplanes, the first was the pregnant Guppy, based on the Boeing 337, the second series was the Super Guppy, or SG based on the Boeing C-97J, the last was the Super Guppy Turbine, or SGT which used the wings, tail and the cockpit of the C-97, but the fuselage was built new to allow for a wider main cabin floor and had a pressurized cockpit for flying at higher altitudes.

JetStar

Quoting ImperialEagle (Reply 9): The last one I saw in ops. was at MIA back in the late 1980's. Had a navy blue tail. Agro Air or something like that. Don't recall if it was a -97 or a -377.

I believe there where 3 A/C. They were originally parked at Arrow Air on South side of a/p. Later they were on North side in front of the old Pan AM hangers I used to see them in Santo Domingo when I flew there. There was also a Connie there that used to make it to MIA occasionally.

Unrelated to this, but I remember seeing a Super Connie with the name "Orula." I drove past it just hours before it crashed after takeoff Dec 15,1973. I just now found it listed @ http://aviation-safety.net/photos/di...to.php?id=19731215-1&vnr=2&kind=PC

I hadnt heard them called the Supper Guppy Turbine before.The first Pregnat Guppy was a frequent visitor to Redstone Airfield here in HSV to transport missle stages to the cape.The Super Guppy that Nasa used for years had Pratt&Whitney turboprops and three bladed props like a C133.It was also in here often.the Army also used a C124 with the same turboprops to carrie Jupiter missle stages to the cape.
Sparky

Didn't Airbus have one or more of the Super Guppies for a while before they built the Beluga?

They had 4 or 5 of the Allison powered airplanes.Nasa is using one of them now hauling space station hardware.
Sparky

There is whats left of one hiding in Moses Lake, but you have to know where to look (not visible on Google Earth)

Quoting JETSTAR (Reply 13): the last was the Super Guppy Turbine, or SGT which used the wings, tail and the cockpit of the C-97, but the fuselage was built new to allow for a wider main cabin floor and had a pressurized cockpit for flying at higher altitudes.

By the way, who built these?

I recall working at MIA airport in the early 90s there was an operator that had two 337s. I'd watch them taxi our early in the morning with white smoke pouring out the exhaust. They flew cargo down to Mexico somewhere. the story is that one day they couldn't find a captain for the flight so two FOs took off for the trip to Mexico. When they got there the practice was to place a wedge of wood on the control column to keep the elevator out of the way. The FO flying as captain forgot to remove it and they crashed on the subsequent takeoff. This is a story I heard and would like to see if it is correct or urban legend. Anybody heard this?

There is one at the don Q Inn in Dodgville, WI - Static

But there is this video from I believe Wisconsin Public TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLrITQ1lbQs

And the Landing video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS_ogd5MRmo

I think there is one at Tilamook Oregon!

Quoting F9Animal (Reply 22): I think there is one at Tilamook Oregon!

It's a Guppy:

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Photo © Royal S King

Wow, just found this great picture.

Book, Air Disaster Vol4 by Macarthur Job. Great series of books.

just look at all those 377's

I don't know what it is about these big Boeings- but I love 'em!!!

I'm sorta surprised no one has mentioned these sites yet~

http://www.ovi.ch/b377/

And on the Guppy side~

http://www.allaboutguppys.com/

EVERYTHING you've ever wanted to know (and then some...)



StudeDave



[Edited 2010-10-29 12:34:47]

Quoting readytotaxi (Reply 24): just look at all those 377's

Aren't they mostly C-97's? Considering that only 55 377's were built, I doubt that there were ever that many in one place at one time.

Quoting SEPilot (Reply 26): Aren't they mostly C-97's?

I'd think not-- I see too many windows on 'em...



StudeDave

Quoting StudeDave (Reply 27):

That's what I was thinking.  

Quoting SEPilot (Reply 19): Quoting JETSTAR (Reply 13): the last was the Super Guppy Turbine, or SGT which used the wings, tail and the cockpit of the C-97, but the fuselage was built new to allow for a wider main cabin floor and had a pressurized cockpit for flying at higher altitudes. By the way, who built these?

I believe they were all built by Aero Spacelines.

JetStar

Quoting SEPilot (Reply 16): Didn't Airbus have one or more of the Super Guppies for a while before they built the Beluga?

Quoting sparky35805 (Reply 17): They had 4 or 5 of the Allison powered airplanes.Nasa is using one of them now hauling space station hardware.

One of the Airbus aircraft is preserved at their Hamburg Finkenwerder (XFW) assembly plant.

View Large View Medium Photo © Augustas Didzgalvis

View Large View Medium Photo © Augustas Didzgalvis

Quoting readytotaxi (Reply 24): Wow, just found this great picture.

The aircraft in the foreground gives a good view of the B377's hinged vertical tail (sitting on the right horizontal stabilizer). It was designed to fold down to permit use of hangars with lower roofs.

Quoting JETSTAR (Reply 29): I believe they were all built by Aero Spacelines.

The first two Guppy aircraft were built in Van Nuys, California. The remainder at Santa Barbra Airport, Goleta, California.

When I was in the USAF I flew on a C-97 (Wright Patterson to Offutt).

When I got out of the USAF I went to work for Tex Johnson Inc, which was located in the same hangar was Aero Spacelines.

About a year later I helped unload a couple of L-1011 wings that were delivered by Guppy to Lockheed in Palmdale from AVCO in Nashville.

Also a friend, Van Sheppard was killed in the crash of the Mini Guppy, Edwards AFB May 1970.
Van was the Vice President Aero Spacelines/President of Tex Johnson Inc and a former F-100 production test pilot.