Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
A Pan Am Stratocruiser over San Francisco Bay
Role	Airliner Type of aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Boeing Commercial Airplanes
First flight	July 8, 1947
Introduction	April 1, 1949, with Pan American World Airways
Retired	1963
Primary user	Pan American World Airways
Number built	56[1][2]
Developed from	Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter
Variants	Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy

The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on July 8, 1947.^[3] Its design was advanced for its day; its relatively innovative features (though neither completely new) included two passenger decks and a pressurized cabin. 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 R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines and structural and control problems with their propellers. Only 55 Model 377s were built for airlines, along with the single prototype. A 377 was also converted into the Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy by John M. Conroy for NASA’s Gemini space program.