Super Guppy Cometh

AMAZING AIRCRAFT:  Number one on our hit parade this weekend was being on hand at The Museum of Flight when the super goofy looking Super Guppy arrived on the scene. 


The event was highly publicized in the days leading up to its arrival, and we knew parking would be limited, so we headed down to the museum right when it opened, at 9:30 a.m.


We happily killed a little time looking around at the lovely aircraft on display in the Great Gallery. Also in the gallery we found the newly installed "Spirit of Flight" juried photography exhibit, including Miss Annabelle in my entry, "Sky High."

At about 10 a.m. we headed to the patio outside the museum's cafe, looking forward to what was supposed to be a 10:30 fly over of the Guppy. There, we learned it was an hour behind schedule. Bummer. And so we killed time on the patio, reading magazines and watching other aircraft take off and land, and checking flight schedule updates via Twitter and Facebook.


One of the planes that taxied up to the Museum of Flight was this NASA escort/chaser plane. Pretty sharp looking, eh? (And yes, I know I'm a sucker for the NASA name and logo.)

Finally, around 11:30, we left the patio and went down into the parking lot to get a better view of the runway. Eventually, from the north and above the control tower, we saw something rumbling our way. The black smoke trailing it was an indication it wasn't the typical plane landing at Boeing Field, and as it grew closer, you could see that its "forehead" was super duper wide compared to other airplanes. 


Incredibly, the front part of the entire plane hinges open, like a door, at 90 degree angle to allow the massive cargo on board be extracted.


The first thing we noticed - even from miles away - was the Super Guppy's bulbous nose busting through the clouds. The plane literally left a big ol' hole its shape in the clouds behind it.

The first time it approached the field was just for a fly by. The pretty-close up glimpse of Super Guppy and its escort plane made the large crowd very, very happy. :)

Above, it's heading south right over the crowd gathered at Boeing Field. Below, it has made a turn and is heading north, over Lake Washington, to give people all over Seattle a thrill. 

 Tell me that plane doesn't look like a whale cruising through the air!


Finally, after about a half hour, Super Guppy came back, this time to land!

    

Super Guppy made what looked to be a perfect landing and it taxied down the runway right past us. Wheeeeeeee!

And soon, it rolled to a stop. 

Almost immediately, we saw the crew pop out ... 

Below the plane's pilot, NASA astronaut Greg C. “Ray-J” Johnson leans out a cockpit window.

And here's a view of the whale/plane head on ... 

                                

 Two of the three people in this photo below were on the plane. Guess which one wasn't. ;)

Oh, and it's worth mentioning that inside the Super Guppy was NASA’s Full Fuselage (Shuttle) Trainer. It's the first piece of the super cool "puzzle" that will be assembled in TMoF's Space Gallery. Can't wait!

As we left town this morning for a quick road trip to fro Vancouver, we passed by Boeing Field and got one more quick glimpse of the Guppy. It will be back in a few weeks with more shuttle trainer parts. We're looking forward to its return.