Conroy Aircraft was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by John M. Conroy in

Goleta, California Goleta ( ; ; Spanish for "schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 200 ...

, in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

after he resigned as president of Aero Spacelines. The company imitated Aero Spacelines' success with its Guppy aircraft by converting a

Canadair CL-44 The Canadair CL-44 was a Canadian turboprop airliner and cargo aircraft based on the Bristol Britannia that was developed and produced by Canadair in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although innovative, only a small number of the aircraft were ...

to carry oversized cargo as the Conroy Skymonster. 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 the 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 ...

, 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, California, United States. 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 and ...

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 agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

for use as a

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, 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. ...

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.

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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