Super Guppy

[CTHOG]

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE — Officials at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville got a rare sight Wednesday when the whale-shaped NASA Super Guppy landed to refuel.
The massive aircraft, which resembles a whale with its extra-large cargo area, is delivering a 23,000 pound mockup of the cockpit and nose of the shuttle to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Ohio.
The plane landed around noon at the Little Rock base, where a small crowd of airmen gathered to watch and take photos.
Some, including Little Rock Air Force Base spokesman Arlo Taylor, ventured on board, getting a close-up look at the cavernous storage area and the surprisingly cramped cockpit of the Guppy.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Taylor said after the quick tour inside. "It's a great opportunity to see a piece of history."
The Guppy, manned by a NASA crew, is the only one of its kind left flying. Several others remain in Europe, crew members said, but they're all in museums.
Rick Hull, project pilot for the Guppy and a former chief of safety at Johnson Space Center, said the aircraft gets a warm reception wherever it lands. The crew recently made a delivery to the Boeing Museum in Seattle and arrived to find some 2,000 spectators eager to see it.
"It's unique," Hull said, standing beneath one of the wings while the Guppy was refueled. "I'm just glad to be flying it. It's a fun airplane."

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Anyone get to see it while it was here?

[gotyacovered]

one picture from 500+ yards away is all they give us? weak.

thanks for posting BTW.

[GusMcRae]

 
That thing doesn't even look like it should fly empty,,,,, doesn't look very aerodynamic.  Maybe it helps to fill it with Helium.   

[bvillepig]

It dwarfs the C130 in the background.  I am guessing thats a C130. A flying whale.

General characteristics

Crew: Four
Length: 143 ft 10 in (43.84 m)
Wingspan: 156 ft 3 in (47.625 m)
Height: 46 ft 5 in (14.148 m)
Empty weight: 101,500 lb (46,039 kg)
Useful load: 54,500 lb (24,720 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 170,000 lb (77,110 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × Allison 501-D22C turboprops, 4,680 hp (3,491 kW) each
* Cargo bay dimensions: 111 ft x 25 ft x 25 ft (33.8 m x 7.62 m x 7.62 m)
Performance

Cruise speed: 252 mph (288 mph, 467 km/h)
Range: 1,734 nm (1,986 mi, 3,219 km)
Service ceiling: 32,000 ft (9,753.6 m)

[Flying Razorback]

That's definitely a Herk in the background.  An H-model.

I wish I had been on base earlier in the day, I probably would have gone and checked it out too.  Unfortunately I've been on the night sim schedule for a while.

It's pretty ridiculous looking.  That's for sure.