NASA's unique 'Super Guppy' aircraft takes center stage at Wisconsin air show

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WLUK) — Of the more than 10,000 planes that will pass through the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture air show, one in particular stands out.

The control tower of Wittman Airport in Oshkosh welcomed NASA's "Super Guppy" on Sunday.

It's unique, there's only one in the world, we draw a crowd wherever we go," said David Elliott, a flight engineer on the Super Guppy.

"This thing, this is quite the airplane, I never seen something quite like it," said Jonathan Bates, from Austin, Texas.

This is Bates' first time at AirVenture.

My uncle, he's been a pilot for the last 50 years and he's been volunteering about that same length, and this is the first year I got the invitation up here," said Bates.

It's also his first time seeing this type of aircraft.

"I didn't even know that there's something existed like this, I don't even know how that flies," said Bates.

Having a cargo area that's 25 feet in diameter and 111 feet long, the Super Guppy can carry items virtually impossible to fit inside other cargo aircraft.

The Super Guppy was designed to move large, oversized space hardware from the manufacturing facilities to the launchpad," said Elliott.

Elliott says the first was built in 1962, when the U.S. was on the race to get to the moon.

"We had rockets being built, Saturn rocket boosters being built on the west coast in California, that had to be put on barge and sent through the Panama Canal to get to the launchpad in Florida," he said.

Doing it that way, took two to three weeks.

The original Pregnant Guppy as it was called at the time, was built to cut that down to two to three days," said Elliott.

The plane on display in Oshkosh, known as a Super Guppy Turbine, was built in 1982.

It's unique hinged nose opens 110 degrees, so cargo can be loaded through the front of the aircraft.

"If you take a look at her, she's a little ungainly and that's how she flies," said Brett Pugsley, one of five pilots for the Super Guppy.

Pugsley says it's a special experience, that makes him feel connected to larger projects.

I think it's also really special about the missions we're doing for NASA right now," he said. "We're moving a lot of different space parts around the United States to support and get ourselves back to the moon.

"We have about six to eight missions a year on this plane alone, so we're still putting people in space, we're still pressing to get to the moon, and hopefully sometime after that, we'll get to Mars," said Elliott.

See all of the pictures of the Super Guppy here.