Conroy CL-44-0 Guppy
The aircraft was designed by Jack Conroy as a transport aircraft that could be used to ferry three Rolls-Royce RB.211 jet engines from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Palmdale, California. The engines were to be installed on the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar Airliner. The Skymonster is based on the Canadair CL-44 freighter (itself a derivative of the Bristol Britannia). It features an enlarged fuselage, like the Mini Guppy which was produced by Jack Conroy’s previous company, Aero Spacelines.
Conroy CL-44-0 Guppy, registration RP-C-8023, is a fairly unique aircraft and images are taken at Bournemouth airport UK in March 2007.
Robert Hodgson
All images- Robert Hodgson
Robert,
your fotos of ‘our’ Guppy are great!
What chances of letting us have one for our Summer Edition of the Newsletter-which is circulated to 180 members, 90% of whom are either ex Canadair, Flying Tiger, Conroy A/c-or like me, just flew in her and loved her to bits!
Hi Malcolm,
Thank you for your interest in my photos of the Guppy.
Please give me your email address and I’ll send them to you.
My email address is roberthdgsn@aol.com
I first saw the Guppy in the 1970’s when it was with Trans Meridian based at Stansted. The sad news is that there is talk of scrapping the aircraft at Bournemouth where it has been for a long time because plans to fly it to Heavylift Australia have fallen through I would guess mainly due to economical reasons.
Best Regards
Robert Hodgson
Hello all,
Jack Conroy was my Great Uncle, his brother my Grand Father passed away when I was too young to appreciate history. I am looking for information about my Great Uncle Jack, anything is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Douglas M Conroy
conroyad@msn.com
Hi DOuglas-Do get in touch with the CL44 Association-we have several members who knew Jack very well.
Incidentally, the Guppy is STILL in one piece-she looks good but the engines have been removed.
Thanks to google, I just came across this wonderful blog post (now almost 6 months old).
I am a writer in Los Angeles, CA, very close to VNY, where the very first Guppy was conceived and built. I am in the process of putting together a project about Jack Conroy’s life. I am interested in talking to anyone who knew him or worked with him. Thanks for the info about the CL44 Association — I will definitely get in touch. Incidentally, I think these are the best Guppy photos I’ve ever seen. Nice work.
Thanks
margy bloom
margybloom@mac.com
Very Interesting, I recall 19 horses shipped from Darwin Aus. to Singapore