Remembering the Boeing Stratocruiser Part 1

by Brian A L Jones

In the early 1950s, as a young aircraft “spotter” in London Airport's (or LAP as it was known then) Northside spectators' enclosure a particular thrill was seeing then state of the art four engine airliners – Douglas DC-6s, Lockheed Constellations and Boeing Stratocruisers, start their engines and then taxi by to take off. Their massive radial engines emitted vast clouds of oil-exhaust smoke as the propellers rotated slowly at first, then, as all cylinders functioned, settled down to a constant smooth motion.

It was hard to choose which represented the pinnacle of airliner development, Douglas were workmanlike, Lockheed had the promise of aerodynamic superiority and Boeing provided a vision of luxury.

Sadly all of those magnificent machines would have but a brief period of ascendancy before the large and fast jets that came at the end of the decade would consign them to secondary tasks or the scrap yard. No example of a Stratocruiser, as originally built for airline service, now exists.

In this article I have chosen to focus on the contender which was built in the smallest numbers as a civil airliner and had the least number of operators, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser, the last civil design produced to have a 3-- number. For the Jet Age Boeing would adopt 7-- designations. The Stratocruiser story commenced with a United States Army Air Force requirement for a commodious freight aircraft for which Boeing rapidly developed the Model 367 Stratofreighter, (Air Force designation C-97) which used large elements of the Model 345, the B-29 bomber, which was already in volume production. An enlargement of the lower fuselage of the bomber to form a “double bubble” cross section produced an upper level suitable for transportation of personnel or large items such as vehicles, while the substantial underfloor area provided for cargo uplift with loading doors, to the much modified fuselage. The freighter initially retained the Wright R- 3350 engines and the tail fin of the B-29 (first six aircraft designated XC-97) while adding a hydraulically-operated rear ramp and clamshell rear doors under the rear fuselage.The intervention of Juan Trippe, famed Pan American Airlines innovator, resulted in later versions adopting the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major engines.

The Stratofreighter first flew on 9th November 1944, but the first Stratocruiser, in fact one of two Pan American production aircraft which Boeing initially retained for testing, did not take to the air until 8th July 1947.

Only 56 Stratocruisers were constructed for six original customers – Pan American World Airways, American Overseas Airlines (AOA), B.O.A.C., United Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Svensk Interkontinental Luftrafik (SIL) a forerunner of Scandanavian Airlines System . SIL in fact never accepted their aircraft, which were purchased by B.O.A.C. The AOA fleet was absorbed into that of Pan Am after negotiations and agreement concerning the division of areas of influence of those airlines. Transcontinental and Western Air Lines (TWA) placed an order for 10 aircraft, which was cancelled before construction commenced.

At 360 pounds per square foot of surface, the Stratocruiser almost certainly had the highest wing loading of any piston engine airliner.

Pan American launched trans-Atlantic services with the Stratocruiser from Idlewild, New York to Orly, Paris in 1950.

Despite the small number produced, the integrity of Boeing's airframe design resulted in incredible modifications to some of the Stratocruisers that had completed passenger service. Out of five purchased and named Anak (giant), the Israel Air Force converted two aircraft to swing-tail transports, the last one departing from service in December 1975. Others provided the basis for progressively larger Guppy modifications to accommodate large rocket or airliner components.

A fairly late “first” for the Stratocuiser was the a landing by Pan American's N1030V Clipper America on 15 October 1957 in Antarctic at McMundo Sound US scientific base, a feat not previously achieved by a large airliner.

I hope that the following photos and other illustrations will remind our young at heart members of a golden age of travel (if you could afford it and were willing to accept the higher risks involved) which is unlikely to be reflected in future aviation developments.

The first part of this article will mainly focus on Stratocruisers operated by Pan American and American Overseas Airlnes, BOAC and other first purchasers will follow soon.

Please note that the photographs used to illustrate this article are largely publicity shots originating with Boeing Airplane, Pan American or American Overseas Airlines, these have been collated from various publically available sources, mainly web-based.

Stratocruisers under construction in Seattle. Note that the fin folds down onto the starboard tailplane.

Cabin crew representatives of the airline launch customers are assembled on the fuselage section of a Stratocruiser.

A view of a roomy Stratocruiser cockpit with a focus on the flight engineer's panel – the chair strikes a homely note! The fourth crew member, the navigator / radio officer had a position to the left behind the Captain's seat.

An obviously posed photograph of the passenger cabin. Note the sleeping berths hinged up into the cabin roof and the top of the staircase just left of centre which led down to the lounge / bar area.

A publicity photo showing the load components of a Stratocruiser flight including crew, passengers and luggage / freight.

A favourite Pan American publicity photo showed a lady hoisted onto the horizontal tailplane. Similar photos may be found of stranded females on Constellations and Douglad DC types.

In the days when china crockery and metal eating utensils were the norm for service to passengers, this stewardess

appears to be running out of counter space.

Note the apparent lack of lap-straps in this view of the lower deck lounge (though they were later fitted). With no provision for access by persons with impaired mobility such a facility could not be entertained today The lounge could

accommodate up to 14 seated occupants but had to be evacuated, with passengers occupying main cabin seats for landing.

In the days before health and safety airport workers lifted heavy weights while balancing with one leg on airstairs and the other on an unsecured trolley.

A Pan American passenger occupying an upper berth receives a cup of tea to accompany her breakfast.

(R A Scholefield)A Pan American Stratocruiser crosses the access road to Idlewild Airport (now J F Kennedy) at New York in the early

1950s.

Dad and junior use the mens' washroom, with mirrors that provide a somewhat scary set of reflections.

Pan American N1031V trails smoke from a rich fuel mixture as it departs Heathrow's North Apron and passes the Northside Spectators' enclosure.

Stratocruisers remained in service with Pan American long enough to receive the new livery developed for its new jet fleet of Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s.. Note the chin radar installation under the nose, a system pioneered by

Northwest Airlines.

The ultra sophisticated Stratocruiser was a strange second hand choice for any airline, let alone one operating outside a first world environment such as Venezuelan company, Rutas Aereas Nacionales SA (RANSA) . This aircraft YV-C-ERI was formerly Pan American's N1022V and before that NX90700, the very first Stratocruiser. RANSA purchased four

Stratocruisers for use as freighters between 1961 and 1966 when the airline failed, it resulted in the four aircraft being broken up at Miami.

With wide aisles and three other cabin crew members to support her serve a maximum of 75 passengers (53 in the main cabin plus two four seat family cabins).this lady was no doubt convinced that she had the best stewardess position in

the world.

The spectators depicted on this invitation for the event pictured on the next page are dressed in the formal fashion adopted by most embarking passengers at that time. As will be seen fine San Francisco weather resulted in crowds

arriving in less formal dress.

This wonderful photo was taken at the 1954 inauguration of a new terminal at San Francisco International Airport. While the Clipper takes pride of place, it can be seen that the visiting public were given access or close up inspection opportunities of a Southwest Airways Martin 404, a Japan Air Lines Douglas DC-6B, a USAF Convair B-36 and a

Boeing B-47 Stratojet. The flags strung along the antenna wire of the Stratocruiser might have given aircrew an idea of how to dry their laundry en route!

In days when flying was still an adventure, a number of Pan American's Stratocruisers set out on journeys that they would not complete successfully. Despite being among the pioneer pressurised airliners, airframe failure never seemed to feature in accident losses though a steward and a passenger were lost in separate incidents through unsecured cabins doors. Engine failures and runaway propellers and undercarriage collapses all contributed to attrition in the fleet.

29 April 1952 – N1039V - all on board killed when engine separated and aircraft crashed in Brazilian Jungle.

26 March 1955 – N1032V – engine separated, aircraft ditched in Pacific Ocean – two of eight crew and two of fifteen passengers killed.

16 October 1956 – N90943 – two engines failed over Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and San Francisco, while the aurcraft was on the final leg of a round the world flight – all on board, seven crew and 31 passengers were saved after aircraft ditched alongside US Coast Guard ship November.

9 November 1957 – N90944 – eight crew and forty-four passengers were lost crashed in the Pacific Ocean and it was not until 14 November that debris and bodies were found. No satisfactory explanation for the crash as insufficient wreckage found.

2 June 1958 – N1023V – a passenger was killed by a propeller blade which separated after an undercarriage collapse and penetrated the passenger cabin at Manila, Phillipines. (This aircraft was the first Stratocruiser delivered to Pan American).

10 April 1959 N1033V undershot runway, crashed at Juneau, Alaska and burnt out – all on board escaped.

Pan Am flight 943 had to descend and ditch in the Pacific Ocean on 16 October 1956 after the failure of two engines. This dramatic photo was taken from the USCG ship November.

The Pregnant Guppy, a conversion designed by Lee Mansdorf and Jack Conroy for their company Aero Spacelines Inc. at Van Nuys Airport, California, utilised an ex-PAA Stratocruiser, N1024V and a section of BOAC's G-AKGJ with a massive increase to the upper fuselage structure. It first flew on 19 September 1962 and was used to transport NASA

rocket sections from the West Coast of the USA to Cape Canaveral.

After a merger between American Overseas Airlines and Pan American on 25 September 1950, the former's Stratocruisers were transferred into the latter's fleet. N90941 above was damaged beyond repair on the 9th July 1959

after a belly landing at Tokyo.

Stratocruisers could be boarded or disembarked at either deck of the passenger cabins.

References

Take Off (part work) no 66 (1989)

Take Off (part work) no 72 (1989)

Airlife's Classic Airliners Boeing Stratocruiser - Robert Hewson (2001)

The Observers Book of Aircraft 1955 edition – William Green and Gerald Pollinger – Warne

A number of the photos were sourced from Pinterest.September 2018