Why the Boeing 377 was a total flop

Video from the channel Flugfieber about Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 12:51. Language: German. Video type: Documentary.

German-language documentary analysing why the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser's exceptional comfort did not make it a widely used airliner. It identifies two causes: the high technical cost at which the aircraft achieved its performance, and the shift brought later by jet engines. It draws on period documents, such as Northwest's 1950 annual report, which praised passengers' reception of the aircraft but noted high introduction, operating and maintenance costs.

The 377 derived from the C-97 family of transports, itself born from the B-29. It first flew on 8 July 1947, and Pan Am put it into regular service in April 1949 between San Francisco and Honolulu. It was also operated by BOAC, Northwest, United and American Overseas Airlines. It competed with the Douglas DC-6, the Lockheed Constellation and, later, the DC-7. On 26 October 1958 Pan Am launched its transatlantic jet service with the Boeing 707 between New York and Paris, still with a technical stop in Gander. Northwest used its Stratocruisers until September 1960 and handed them over as part payment for its Lockheed L-188 Electras.

Only 56 units were built, and production ended in 1950. The double-bubble fuselage left room for a lounge on the lower deck. Each of the four R-4360 engines had 28 cylinders in four rows of seven (112 in total) and drove a variable-pitch propeller. On 16 October 1956, on Pan Am Flight 6 between Honolulu and San Francisco, engine 1's propeller could not be feathered and engine 4 then lost power. The crew ditched next to a coast guard cutter and all 31 people on board were saved. In 1957 Flight 7 was lost over the Pacific with 44 deaths, and the cause was never determined.