iscover
What really made the programme though was the production of 888 C-97 aircraft for the USAF which flew the aircraft from late 1949 right through till 1978 when the Texas Air National Guard retired their last KC-97. (Boeing)
Profile – Boeing Stratocruiser
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According to the advertising of the time it was its spaciousness, luxurious lower deck lounge bar and Pullman-style sleeping accommodation that made the Boeing Stratocruiser so popular with its passengers – popularity it retained even when it became outclassed by newer and more modern airliners. During a long flight, one could relieve the monotony by leaving his or her seat and wandering around, get away from the others by visiting the lounge which was reached via a spiral staircase from the main cabin or just relax by the cocktail bar . . .
Boeing’s Stratocruiser & Stratofreighter
The Model 377 Stratocruiser was in fact the civil counterpart of the C-97 Stratofreighter which in turn had been derived from the B-29 Superfortress bomber.
The B-29 had its origins in a design Study of March 1938, in which the US Chief of Staff requested industrial proposals for a completely new strategic bomber to be equipped with a pressurized cabin and a tricycle undercarriage and which could fly higher and faster than the earlier B-17 Flying Fortress. Boeing put forward its Model 345 in mid-1940. The go-ahead was given for two XB-29 prototypes and then in January 1942, the US Army Air Force ordered fourteen YB-29s for service evaluation plus 250 production aircraft. By February, Boeing engineers were working day and night on the huge number of technical problems that manifested themselves during the development of this revolutionary new plane.
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