PAN AM AIRLINES INTRODUCES THE BOEING STRATOCRUISER 49964
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- Опубликовано: 8 дек 2016
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This exciting promotional film for Pan Am's new "double deck Clipper", the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, was made in the last 1940s as the airplane entered worldwide service. Although the film is extremely persuasive about the aircraft's capabilities, the 377 was a disappointment for Boeing with only 55 aircraft plus prototype built before its production was cancelled. The plane suffered from a poor safety record (including a crash-landing at sea in the Pacific documented elsewhere on our RUclips channel) and 11 out of the 56 aircraft produced were lost in accidents through 1960.
The film includes some rare footage from Pan Am's history (including some awkward model shots of early aircraf) beginning at the 8:00 mark. The Consolidated Commodore Flying Boat is seen at 8:30, and the Sikorsky S-42 Brazilian Clipper is seen at 8:50. Check out the shots of the swimsuit-clad men removing the plane's landing gear! The China Clipper Martin M-130 is seen at 9:23 and the Boeing 307 at 9:30. The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner was the first commercial transport aircraft to enter service with a pressurized cabin. The Boeing 314 is seen at 9:50, and the Douglas DC-4 at 9:58 as well as a Lockheed Constellation or Connie.
The Boeing B-17 "Buck Shot" is seen at the 10:58 mark followed by the B-29 and B-50 aircraft.
The film includes footage of trans-Atlantic routes, and a trip to Brazil and Hawaii by Pan American.
The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on July 8, 1947. Its design was advanced for its day; its innovative features included two passenger decks and a pressurized cabin, a relatively new feature on transport aircraft. It could carry up to 100 passengers on the main deck plus 14 in the lower deck lounge; typical seating was for 63 or 84 passengers or 28 berthed and five seated passengers.
The Stratocruiser was larger than the Douglas DC-6 and Lockheed Constellation and cost more to buy and operate. Its reliability was poor, chiefly due to problems with the four 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major radial engines and their four-blade propellers. Only 55 Model 377s were built for airlines, along with the single prototype.
The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a civil derivative of the Boeing Model 367, the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter, which first flew in late 1944. William Allen, who had become President of The Boeing Company in September 1945, sought to introduce a new civilian aircraft to replace reduced military production after Second World War.[4] Although in a recession in late 1945, Allen ordered 50 Stratocruisers, spending capital on the project without an airline customer.[5]
On November 29, 1945 Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) became the launch customer with the largest commercial aircraft order in history, a $24,500,000 (equivalent to $322,600,000 in 2015) order for 20 Stratocruisers. Earlier in 1945 the Boeing C-97 had flown from Seattle to Washington, D.C. nonstop in six hours and four minutes; with this knowledge, and with Pan Am President Juan Trippe's high regard for Boeing after their success with the Boeing 314 Clipper, Pan Am was confident in ordering the expensive plane.
As the launch customer, Pan Am was the first to begin scheduled service, from San Francisco to Honolulu in April 1949. At the end of 1949 Pan Am, BOAC and American Overseas Airlines (AOA) were flying B377s transatlantic, while Northwest Orient Airlines was flying in the United States; in January 1950 United began flights from San Francisco to Honolulu. The last flight of the 377 with United was in 1954, the last with BOAC was in 1959, and the last Northwest was in September 1960. By November 1960 only a weekly Pan Am Honolulu to Singapore flight remained, and the 377 was retired by Pan Am in 1961.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
Sad to say, "Clipper Golden Gate," seen in the early sequences of the film crashed upon landing in Manila on June 2, 1958. My family lived in Manila at the time, and the house was not too far from the airport. We heard the plane fly over, and at lunch, heard that the plane had crashed moments after the fly-over. The weather was grim that morning, with heavy rain and heavy winds, and while the main cause of the crash was the landing gear collapsing, the weather was also found to be a factor. That sais, oh, boy: did I love those Stratocruisers! Yes, they had berths; yes, they had sleeper seats; yes, it had the lower lounge (there was kind of an unspoken understanding that children were allowed down there in the daytime, but come cocktail time, Adults Only); and yes, you had the full meals (yum!); yes, the cabin crew had time to be more than flying hash-house waiters/waitresses; and yes, each child aboard was invited up the tour the cockpit. (Heavy sigh.) Those sure were the days!
My brother when he left the Navy, went to work for Pan American, at Idlewild Airport in NYC. Part of his Navy training was in Avionics and he work with others on this Airliner. He was with Pan Am until it's demise. He was two years short of retirment, but in all his time with Pan Am, he loved the StratoCruiser the best of all the aircraft that was in Pan Am's livery. This video/film reminds me of a simpler time in the USA. Thank you for showing it.
My family and I actually flew in the plane in the video, the Clipper Golden Gate. In 1958, it crash landed in Manila and crushed the downstairs lounge as we landed with no landing gear in a violent storm.
The safety record of the 377 was appalling. Propellor failures caused several fatal crashes and at least one non-fatal ditching in the Pacific. I had a friend many years ago who flew as a stewardess on 377s for PAA. Her best friend was among the crew of Clipper Romance Of The Skies which vanished over the Pacific Ocean.
I always loved flying and was fortunate to go through USAF pilot training in class 61-F. I flew the KC-97G model for 4 years on active duty at both Lockbourne AFB in Columbus Ohio and Pease AFB in Portsmouth NH. The airlines were hiring in May of 1965 and I started with UAL. 34 years later I retired as a 747-400 Captain. It's been a great ride and I'm still flying a Cessna 150 Texas taildragger now just for fun.
Amused to notice that the Time Magazine appearing at
Well that's it! This video has convinced me! I'm booking my next flight with Pan Am so I can fly on one of these new Stratocruisers!😆
Nice video. This was the first airplane I ever flew on, when I was a kid. We were immigrating to the US and flew from Frankfurt, Germany to NYC in 1953. It was a long trip but I enjoyed every second of it. Watching them starting the engines, then when brought to full power prior to takeoff, it was visceral. I still have some seat pocket PAA memorabilia from that flight.
Sadly, I missed the Stratoliner. I came in with the DC-7 and 7c. It's the reason why flying bores me so much I hate it. Dirty people dressed like they were going to wash cars...pushing and shoving like it was free seating....taking their shoes off...arguing with flight personnel....and on my first flight I had a steak dinner served to me on airline china by a fully uniformed stewardess in heels. The passengers were all dressed; I was wearing a suit and I was only 15 years old. Breaks my heart to see those mini bags of peanuts and other garbage available now, much less those overpriced boxes of junk food you can buy for $20. We called it "The Romance of Flight". Now it's more like a Greyhound bus with wings.
Boeing Stratocruiser N1023V featured towards the beginning of this wonderful time capsule film...damaged beyond repair in landing accident (single passenger fatality when broken prop struck cabin, otherwise all aboard survived) in Manila, 1958.
2:24
In 1957 my dad and I flew in this plane from Sydney to Los Angeles with Pan American. In 1958 we flew the same route in the Lockheed Constellation with Qantas. The Connie was quieter and faster. But you can see the dna for the B29.
‘It’s a meal any house wife would be proud to serve’
As an aviation geek, this video was amazing to watch. Simply amazing how far we have come since the 1940's with aircraft. I love how they used to make these movie style clips to showcase aircraft, its a real shame they don't do it anymore. Thanks so much for uploading this classic.
Amazing. The planes that connected the world for the fist time. While expensive, travel was a sign of class and achievement. Thank you to the men and women who made us what we are today.
Ironic that while people have gotten bigger their seat space has been minmised...thank you share holders
A transportation company tried to restore Pan Am as a regional carrier back in the early 2000's. The parent company, Pan Am Railways, which is a freight company based in Massachusetts, set up headquarters at Pease International Airport in Portsmouth, NH. When you treat passengers like cargo freight, things don't go well. And it didn't. The general public was thrilled to have a carrier closer than Boston or Manchester, NH. Pan Am had a great opportunity to capture a large segment of Seacoast NH and Southern Maine. Sadly, inept management and lack of focus on passengers brought an end to Pan Am's rebirth.
Look at the width of those seats, those were the days, my friend, and edible food too. Ah yes, one could still get something for a buck, like a pack of cigs. and get enough change back for a cup of coffee, or two!
This was when passengers were treated like human beings, not cattle.
I remember being a little kid in the late 70's and flying Delta unescorted with my sister - ages five and eight!