The historic aircraft skin of the Super Guppy will be available at Aviationtag from April 2021 as a collector’s item, key and luggage tag in a strictly limited and exclusive edition. It has been available to pre-order since February 16, 2021.
The F-BTGV freighter - an Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Turbine (SGT-201) - was built in the 1960s as a direct enhancement of the Super Guppy (SG-201) based on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser for NASA. Its four Allison 501-D22C turboprops meant it could now take a load 25 tonnes - almost seven tonnes more than its predecessor.
The first two of the four SGT-201 freighters ever built made their maiden flights in the early 1970s and were deployed by NASA in the Apollo programs, for instance. Once the projects were dis- continued, the French company Aéromaritime gave the Super Guppy registered as F-BTGV a new lease on life in November 1971 and the Super Guppy registered as F-BPPA a new start in August 1973 transporting the extremely large and heavy aircraft parts for the Concorde and Airbus models to the final assembly factory in Toulouse. Boasting a wingspan of 47.61 m and a height of 14.85 m, the Super Guppy reached speeds of 460 km/h at a peak altitude of 7620 m.
The aircraft was given its distinct colored livery and Airbus Skylink lettering on the fuselage in the 1980s.
The Super Guppy with its voluminous fuselage was in service for almost a quarter of a century, contributing to the success of Airbus, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, in a major way. The F-BTGV took to the skies for the last time on 1 July 1996, headed for the museum in Bruntingthorpe, England. There, from 2009 onwards, it was lovingly and devotedly maintained and restored by the “Super Guppy Restoration Project”. Eleven years later the Super Guppy had to leave, though, as the privately run museum closed its doors in March 2020.
A total of just five Super Guppies ever took to the skies and now the historic freighter is being reborn as an Aviationtag.
To make an Aviationtag, parts of the outer skin are disassembled and cut at our very own manufactory in Cologne until they are small enough be punched into the distinct Aviationtag shape. The final step in this upcycling process is precise laser engraving. Each of the strictly limited-edition Aviationtags features the aircraft type and registration number, the edition number and size. Each Aviationtag may differ from other serial numbers in thickness, color and structure and is one of a kind. The engraved data can even be used to locate registered users thanks to Aviationtag’s own dedicated Lost & Found Service.
