Miss Conenginality, No. 1 - Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
Today's featured model is a blast from the past, the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser!
Image: San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
Serving for just over a decade (1949-1963), the Stratocruiser was a member of that weird generation between the flying boat era and the introduction of turboprops and early jets, contemporary to the early Constellation models and the DC-6. For the day it was a pretty advanced design - it had to be, to compete with the two aforementioned giants. It had a pressurized cabin and impressive range but most notably it had two passenger decks and could seat over 100 people, and was Pan Am's choice to replace the luxury overseas transport offered by their old Boeing 314 flying boats - they placed the most expensive order in history at the time, for 20 planes. In a very early example of the US government deciding Boeing was their favorite, mail routes flown by Stratocruisers were heavily subsidized for Pan Am and Northwest.
Sounds great! Only problem is that nobody can afford to operate it and the propellers fall off and overspeed whenever they feel like it. Nearly a quarter of the 56 examples built were destroyed in accidents and Boeing lost seven million dollars.
But this blog isn't about those sorts of things. We Eat Babies Airlines can get a good rating if it has a good livery and the Christmas Bullet could get a feature if I liked how it looked. And can we talk about how the Stratocruiser looks like a plane dressed up as a blimp?
Those wings look way too skinny to lift her! Physics is truly incredible. Look how big those nacelles are compared to the wings! What is this thing!
Image: San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
How did we get here? Why did they design it to look like this? Well, it's actually a bit of a story. We did not start out here. We started out with the B-29 Superfortress, a decidedly normal-looking WWII-era bomber probably best known for the whole...nuclear bombs thing. We then added a second lobe (and some other modifications) for the C-97 Stratofreighter. And then the war ended and, as was not especially uncommon back then, the decision was made to develop an airliner variant of what had been a military cargo plane, and the Stratocruiser was born.
I do think it really shows that this was a development of a more normal airframe, but I think that almost makes it even more charming. The Stratocruiser is a strange plane, a very large bumblebee made of metal and held together with dollar bills and chewing gum.
Image: William Simpson/US Coast Guard
Here's one being successfully ditched (as Pan Am flight 6), because why not!
And, thankfully, the world of aviation wasn't content to stop there. As aircraft grew in size and the space race began in earnest there arose a need for outsize cargo carriers. Today you may be familiar with the Airbus Beluga and Boeing Dreamlifter, but you may be a little less familiar with NASA's outsize cargo aircraft, used to carry full rocket stages. The only Stratocruiser-derived aircraft still in service: NASA's Aero Spacelines Super Guppy.
Yes, this feels like the end stage of the Stratocruiser's evolutionary line. This is correct. I love her, and I hope you all do too.
The Stratocruiser is a strange curiosity for sure, an odd-looking relic of a long-bygone era...and so irresistibly silly that I can't help but love it.