Conroy Aircraft was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by

John M. Conroy John Michael Conroy (December 14, 1920 – December 5, 1979) was an American actor, aviator, and later businessman, whose company Aero Spacelines developed the Pregnant Guppy, Super Guppy, and Mini Guppy cargo aircraft. He later founded Con ...

in Goleta, California, in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

after he resigned as president of

Aero Spacelines Aero Spacelines, Inc. was an American aircraft manufacturer from 1960 to 1968 that converted Boeing 377 Stratocruisers into the famous Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy, Guppy line of airplanes, re-engineered to transport oversized cargo such as ...

. The company imitated Aero Spacelines' success with its Guppy aircraft by converting a Canadair CL-44 to carry oversized cargo as the

Conroy Skymonster The Conroy Skymonster (CL-44-0) is a 1960s United States specialized cargo aircraft based on the Canadair CL-44 freighter, with an outsize fuselage. Design and development The aircraft was designed by John M. Conroy as a transport aircraft t ...

. Starting in 1969, the company converted several turboprop aircraft to haul specialty cargo: the Stolifter, based on the Cessna Skymaster; the Turbo Three and the Tri-Turbo-Three, based on the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

, and the Turbo Albatross, based on the Grumman Albatross. The company was reorganized in 1972 as Specialized Aircraft, and moved to Camarillo Airport in

Camarillo, California Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...

Turbo-Three Corporation

Conroy formed the Turbo-Three Corp. to support his aircraft; Turbo-Three proposed the

Conroy Virtus The Conroy Virtus was a proposed American large transport aircraft intended to carry the Space Shuttle. Designed, beginning in 1974, by John M. Conroy of the Turbo-Three Corporation, it was to incorporate a pair of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress f ...

aircraft to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

for use as a

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

carrier aircraft, but the design was not taken up. Turbo-Three Corporation ceased operations sometime around the death of Conroy and the FAA's decision in 1979 that the Tri Turbo-Three must be recertified, not certified under the standing DC-3 certification.

References

External links

aerofiles.com
{{Conroy aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Santa Barbara County, California Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1968 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1972 1968 establishments in California 1972 disestablishments in California Defunct manufacturing companies based in California