The Boeing 377, sometimes called the Stratocruiser, was an airliner made by Boeing after World War II. It was made from the C-97 Stratofreighter, which was a type of Boeing B-29 Superfortress used to move troops around. The Stratocruiser first took off on July 8, 1947.[1]
The Stratocruiser had four piston engines. It had a pressurized cabin and two decks. Airlines could fly for much longer with the Stratocruiser, to places like Hawaii.[1]
However, the Stratocruiser was a lot more expensive than the Douglas DC-6 and Lockheed Constellation. Only 55 Stratocruisers were made for airlines.
Design and development
The Boeing 377 used the bottom and the wings of the B-50 Superfortress. The 377 was bigger than the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-6 and it could fly for longer. Boeing stopped making the 377 in 1950.[2]
Pressurization (first used on the Boeing 307) meant that if the plane was flying at 15,500 ft (4,700 m), to the passengers it would be like they were on the ground.
History
56 Stratocruisers were made. 55 of these were made for airlines.
The Stratocruiser flew to Hawaii as well as many other places. It was one of the only planes with two decks (another one was the Breguet Deux-Ponts) until the Boeing 747 was made.
10 aircraft with better engines and more fuel. It was called the "Super Stratocruiser".
Many other types were made, but most of them only had changes made to the shape of the windows.
Aero Spacelines Guppy
The Pregnant Guppy
A company called Aero Spacelines started changing 377s to planes called Guppies in 1960s. There were three types: the Pregnant Guppy, Super Guppy, and Mini Guppy.[1]
The first of them was the Pregnant Guppy. After this they made the Super Guppy and then the Mini Guppy. The Super Guppy and the Mini Guppy had turboprop engines.
Users
American Overseas Airways StratocruiserBOAC Stratocruiser G-AKGJ "RMA Cambria" at Manchester operating a New York flight in 1954
The Stratocruiser had 13 hull-loss accidents between 1951 and 1970. A hull-loss accident is when a plane is damaged so badly it cannot be fixed. 140 people died in these. The worst accident happened on April 29, 1952.
Capacity: Up to 100 passengers on main deck plus 14 in lower deck lounge; typical seating for 63 or 84 passengers or 28 berthed and five seated passengers.
Length: 110 ft 4 in (33.63 m)
Wingspan: 131 ft 3 in (40.01 m)
Height: 38 ft 3 in (11.66 m)
Wing area: 1,769 sq ft (164.3 m2)
Empty weight: 83,500 lb (37,875 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 148,000 lb (67,132 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360-B6 Wasp Major 28-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) each
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