Ahead of its Time (1943)
The period between the First World War and WWII is so distant that it's doubtful many people think about passenger air travel during those decades. If they do, what comes to mind are scary-looking wooden and canvas biplanes held together by a maze of guy wires.
If my father was dreading many noisy, bumpy and nerve-wracking hours on one of those all the way to Miami while on his way to the airfield at Rio in early 1943, he would have been delighted to see one of Pan Am's Boeing S-307 Strato-Clippers waiting on the apron for its lucky passengers.
Above, Pan American's three Boeing S-307s are parked together for an undated publicity shot. The one that carried my father is in the center, bearing registration number NC19910. There's some confusion as to whether it was Clipper Flying Cloud or Clipper Comet. Wikipedia isn't sure.
The Boeing S-307 story is too long to fit here but it doesn't need to, since Wikipedia has all the facts a person could possibly want about this pioneering airliner. Simply saying that it was pressurized with four engines mounted on a wing that was below the body doesn't begin to do it justice.
It's a shame Father wasn't as interested in aircraft as I am, because I would have loved to hear his impressions.
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The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner (or Strato-Clipper in Pan American service, or C-75 in USAAF service) is an American stressed-skin four-engine low-wing tailwheel monoplane airliner derived from the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, which entered commercial service in July 1940.
It was the first airliner in revenue service with a pressurized cabin, which with supercharged engines, allowed it to cruise above the weather.
As such it represented a major advance over contemporaries, with a cruising speed of 220 mph (350 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) compared to the Douglas DC-3s 160 mph (260 km/h), at 8,000 ft (2,400 m) then in service.
When it entered commercial service it had had a crew of five to six, including two pilots, a flight engineer, two flight attendants and an optional navigator, and had a capacity for 33 passengers, which later modifications increased, first to 38, and eventually to 60.
/ / /
The noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy designed the passenger cabin, with furnishings provided by Marshall Field's.
It was divided into four compartments, each with six deep comfortable reclining chairs which could be converted into 16 sleeping berths.
Each compartment was provided with adjustable air conditioning vents, reading lights, and a call button.
Nine additional seats were provided along the port side of the aircraft, while washrooms which doubled as dressing rooms were provided at both ends of the cabin.
The rear washroom was for women and was named the "ladies charm room", which aside from the walls being covered in heavy plate glass mirrors, in its 34 sq ft (3.2 m2) it two dressing tables, each with a sink, plush upholstered stools, soft indirect lighting provided by fluorescent lamps, ashtrays, hot and cold running water, shelves with towels, and a separate cubicle was provided for the toilet.
The men's washroom was in front as the "Men's Lounge", and also had a separate cubicle for the toilet, and two sinks, along with outlets to run an electric razor.
A somewhat cramped galley of 28 sq ft (2.6 m2) provided hot food was situated at the rear of the cabin, behind which was positioned the rear hemispherical pressure bulkhead.
Up to 412 cu ft (11.7 m3) or 6,590 lb (2,990 kg) of baggage could be stowed under the floor of the cabin, between the wing spars, and behind the rear spar, which was accessible in flight through a hatch in the cabin floor, or on the ground through three hatches on the underside of the fuselage.
Extensive use was made of the latest in sound proofing, and the Dynafocal engine shock mounts were designed to reduce vibrations from being felt by the passengers.
The air conditioning system used both electrical and mechanical systems, which drew air in through vents in leading edge of each wing near the roots to bring outside air to two engine driven superchargers that compressed the air, which was then passed through radiator condensers to cool the air, and it was then run through channels to the vents in the cabin.
External hookups allowed ground air conditioner units to cool the cabin air when the engines were off.
/ / /
In 1937 Pan American Airways placed their first order for two Stratoliners, which they soon increased to six. Deliveries to Pan Am started in March 1940, and they had received their first three before war intervened and civil aircraft production halted. The other three would not be built. All three were named for historically notable Clipper ships. Pan Am carried out their first revenue flight on July 4, 1940, with service between Miami, Brownsville, Texas and Los Angeles. Unlike TWA, Pan Am did not exclusively assign their aircraft to specific routes, and instead they were used for their Latin American routes and ranged from Miami and Los Angeles to Brazil.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_307_Stratoliner#Pan_American...(Pan_Am)
Ahead of its Time (1943)
The period between the First World War and WWII is so distant that it's doubtful many people think about passenger air travel during those decades. If they do, what comes to mind are scary-looking wooden and canvas biplanes held together by a maze of guy wires.
If my father was dreading many noisy, bumpy and nerve-wracking hours on one of those all the way to Miami while on his way to the airfield at Rio in early 1943, he would have been delighted to see one of Pan Am's Boeing S-307 Strato-Clippers waiting on the apron for its lucky passengers.
Above, Pan American's three Boeing S-307s are parked together for an undated publicity shot. The one that carried my father is in the center, bearing registration number NC19910. There's some confusion as to whether it was Clipper Flying Cloud or Clipper Comet. Wikipedia isn't sure.
The Boeing S-307 story is too long to fit here but it doesn't need to, since Wikipedia has all the facts a person could possibly want about this pioneering airliner. Simply saying that it was pressurized with four engines mounted on a wing that was below the body doesn't begin to do it justice.
It's a shame Father wasn't as interested in aircraft as I am, because I would have loved to hear his impressions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner (or Strato-Clipper in Pan American service, or C-75 in USAAF service) is an American stressed-skin four-engine low-wing tailwheel monoplane airliner derived from the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, which entered commercial service in July 1940.
It was the first airliner in revenue service with a pressurized cabin, which with supercharged engines, allowed it to cruise above the weather.
As such it represented a major advance over contemporaries, with a cruising speed of 220 mph (350 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) compared to the Douglas DC-3s 160 mph (260 km/h), at 8,000 ft (2,400 m) then in service.
When it entered commercial service it had had a crew of five to six, including two pilots, a flight engineer, two flight attendants and an optional navigator, and had a capacity for 33 passengers, which later modifications increased, first to 38, and eventually to 60.
/ / /
The noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy designed the passenger cabin, with furnishings provided by Marshall Field's.
It was divided into four compartments, each with six deep comfortable reclining chairs which could be converted into 16 sleeping berths.
Each compartment was provided with adjustable air conditioning vents, reading lights, and a call button.
Nine additional seats were provided along the port side of the aircraft, while washrooms which doubled as dressing rooms were provided at both ends of the cabin.
The rear washroom was for women and was named the "ladies charm room", which aside from the walls being covered in heavy plate glass mirrors, in its 34 sq ft (3.2 m2) it two dressing tables, each with a sink, plush upholstered stools, soft indirect lighting provided by fluorescent lamps, ashtrays, hot and cold running water, shelves with towels, and a separate cubicle was provided for the toilet.
The men's washroom was in front as the "Men's Lounge", and also had a separate cubicle for the toilet, and two sinks, along with outlets to run an electric razor.
A somewhat cramped galley of 28 sq ft (2.6 m2) provided hot food was situated at the rear of the cabin, behind which was positioned the rear hemispherical pressure bulkhead.
Up to 412 cu ft (11.7 m3) or 6,590 lb (2,990 kg) of baggage could be stowed under the floor of the cabin, between the wing spars, and behind the rear spar, which was accessible in flight through a hatch in the cabin floor, or on the ground through three hatches on the underside of the fuselage.
Extensive use was made of the latest in sound proofing, and the Dynafocal engine shock mounts were designed to reduce vibrations from being felt by the passengers.
The air conditioning system used both electrical and mechanical systems, which drew air in through vents in leading edge of each wing near the roots to bring outside air to two engine driven superchargers that compressed the air, which was then passed through radiator condensers to cool the air, and it was then run through channels to the vents in the cabin.
External hookups allowed ground air conditioner units to cool the cabin air when the engines were off.
/ / /
In 1937 Pan American Airways placed their first order for two Stratoliners, which they soon increased to six. Deliveries to Pan Am started in March 1940, and they had received their first three before war intervened and civil aircraft production halted. The other three would not be built. All three were named for historically notable Clipper ships. Pan Am carried out their first revenue flight on July 4, 1940, with service between Miami, Brownsville, Texas and Los Angeles. Unlike TWA, Pan Am did not exclusively assign their aircraft to specific routes, and instead they were used for their Latin American routes and ranged from Miami and Los Angeles to Brazil.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_307_Stratoliner#Pan_American...(Pan_Am)