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Robin Reid | all galleries >> Picture A Day (Year One) >> September 2004 > September 21: Tillamook Air Museum
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September 21, 2004 Robin Reid

September 21: Tillamook Air Museum

Tillamook, OR



We started today with a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory, visited the Air Museum, and paused to photograph and gape at several breathtaking Oregon coastal scenes as we headed south to Florence. The weather has been perfect (finally) and our drive was leisurely and relaxing.

I selected this “guppy” aircraft for today’s PaD because it is more unique than the traditional Oregon beach and lighthouse images.


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Guest 25-Sep-2004 21:48
Weirdest looking plane I've ever seen.. nice shot!
Ray :)25-Sep-2004 00:53
Great head on shot. Just to add to the notes, the ‘new’ Guppy is based on the Airbus A300 airliner and I managed to photograph it earlier this month. CLICK HERE and you can see that it can indeed fly!

Robin’s photo here is of the original type which is based on Boeing’s Stratocruiser and Stratotanker designs. These beauties were built in the late forties and early fifties, and some were converted to Guppies between 1962 and 1980. A useful link ishttp://www.allaboutguppys.com/
brother_mark23-Sep-2004 15:22
A bizarre looking plane and you've chosen an angle that really emphasizes it strangeness! Looks like a loopy exclamation mark.
Stu23-Sep-2004 11:53
Deformed!
Karen Leaf22-Sep-2004 23:56
Looks like some wierd bug on steroids. Funny plane.
virginiacoastline22-Sep-2004 20:47
LOL! @ Ian M!!! Laffed my BUTT off!!!
Pepe Zyman22-Sep-2004 18:44
You can throw away all the aerodynamic laws with this baby!
Guest 22-Sep-2004 14:12
It could fly? this big head airplane? Lol. Great subject Robin!!!
Herb 22-Sep-2004 13:11
What an ugly looking plane, enjoy Florence spend a wonderful week there last October.
Ian Morehouse22-Sep-2004 11:32
I gather it is used mainly to carry Robins photographic gear around the country. LOL
Lou Giroud22-Sep-2004 11:10
On this photo, Robin, as it is an air museum, it shows probabely the first development of the Super Guppy plane that Boeing made once for Nasa Rocket parts and which has been replaced by Airbus A300's.
Lou Giroud22-Sep-2004 11:08
Just to add that the Guppy has been developed by British Aerospace and Dassault to carry the parts of the Airbus-planes to their final mounting site. The type is the A300-600ST Super Guppy or with company name Beluga Transporter from Airbus. Airbus and Arianespace belong to same basic Aeronautical Builders Groups anyway.
Lou Giroud22-Sep-2004 11:01
Now, Robin, if you could expalin us what a Guppy is good for. The plane is indeed strange in shape and it's major Goal is to carry the single parts of the Ariane Space research Telecommunication-Satellite launcher missile, Ariane and Vega, which are build by different companies in France, UK and Germany. They bring the parts to Kourou in French Guiana and more recently to Boikonur in Russia since Arianespace is in joint venture with the russian Soyuz Developpers Group. Note that in the mean time, the Guppy is used for other similar transports as well and is even used for cosmonaute's gravty-less training.
Gary Winters22-Sep-2004 06:16
That is, if you'll permit me, the ugliest plane I"ve ever seen. But I'm glad to have seen it!
Gayle P. Clement22-Sep-2004 05:23
Quite an airship, Robin.
Guest 22-Sep-2004 04:37
I don't believe I have ever seen this type of plane..! Or Guppy Plane... Looks big!