Air International 2008-03
D.Willis - Boeing 377 Stratocruiser and the Guppy Family /Aircraft profile/
Boeing 377-10-26 Stratocruiser, N1024V, c/n 15924, of Pan American World Airways at the very end of its career in the late 1950s. Clipper Cathay was sold to Aero Spacelines in 1960 after just ten years' service, and was converted to a 'Pregnant Guppy' in 1962.
Boeing 377-10-26 Stratocruiser, YV-C-ERH, c/n 15931, Princess Everette Maria II of Venezuelan airline Rutas Aereas Nacionales SA (RANSA). It is one often former Pan American aircraft bought by the company. Four were converted as freighters by RANSA before the company went into liquidation.
Boeing 377-10-28 Stratocruiser, G-ALSB, c/nl 5944, Champion of British Overseas Airways Corporation. This aircraft, along with seven others, was configured for 'Monarch' class flights, carrying 40 passengers in sumptuous surroundings.
Boeing 377-10-30 Stratocruiser, N74604, c/n 15950, of Northwest Airlines, shown in the original colours before the company become Northwest Orient. Northwest was the fourth customer for the Stratocruiser and equipped its cabins with a high-density 75-seat layout.
Boeing 377-10-32 Stratocruiser, N405Q, c/n 15975, of Transocean Airlines. The company, which operated from 1946 to 1962, bought 14 ex-B0AC aircraft. A non-scheduled and contract carrier with a varied piston-engined fleet, it was regarded as one of the originators of discount airline services.
Note that the ten 377-10-30s for Northwest Airlines and seven 377-10-34s of United Air Lines differed externally from all others in having rectangular windows instead of the circular units installed on the majority of Stratocruisers.
American World Airways Stratocruiser Clipper Constitution photographed at Honolulu in June 1950. At that time, San Francisco-Honolulu was the airline's busiest route.
A Stratocruiser lives on, albeit much modified, in the form of 377SGT Super Guppy Turbine N941NA. It was acquired by NASA in late 1997 for transporting large structures for the International Space Station to the launch site.