Comments by "H. de Jong" (@h.dejong2531) on "Super Guppy: The Weirdest Plane Ever Made" video.

  1. The original design of the 747 was a freighter with a high wing, like the C-5: it was designed as a competitor to the C-5. Aircraft with 2 passenger decks go back way before the 747.
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  2. The An-225 is comparable to the C-5 Galaxy: large enough for military trucks, with enough payload to transport tanks. The Guppies were developed for cargo with an even larger cross-section but far less weight.
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  3. No. Only the general planform is similar. Airbus use fuselages with a circular cross-section, the Boeing 707 didn't (it has a double-bubble cross section). Everybody uses underwing podded engines because that's the most practical solution. The wings are far more advanced than the simple wing shape used on the B707.
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  4. Where's that museum in Wales? I'd like to visit someday.
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  5. You have to be not very bright to believe the Apollo flights were faked, despite all of the evidence that proves they are real.
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  6. He's making a 10-minute video about an airplane that only has a very indirect link to Von Braun. Going by your standard, it would have to be a 9-hour video detailing everything ever done wrong by anyone ever involved with the Guppy project. In reality, that's what encyclopedias are for.
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  7. The Belugas are designed to fly into small airports (e.g. Hamburg), so they are optimized to carry cargo with lots of volume but little weight. The A380 would need an entirely new fuselage: the floor of the second deck is an essential part of the structure. This is why the A380F failed: that deck in the middle could not be removed, and it got in the way of freight ops.
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  8. Props are more efficient but limited to lower speeds (and noisier). So for passenger aircraft, turbofans are popular (faster), for air freight speed matters less.
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  9. The Guppies were built to carry cargo that is voluminous but light. The payload of the aircraft has not increased.
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