Douglas DC-7 DC-7B

The DC-7B followed the DC-7 with slightly more power and one visible novelty: optional fuel tanks above the wing at the rear of the engine nacelles, each holding 220 US gallons (833 L). Only Pan Am and South African Airways chose those saddle tanks; South African used them to fly Johannesburg to London with a single stop.

Pan Am's DC-7Bs began crossing the Atlantic in the summer of 1955, scheduled 1 hr 45 min faster than the Super Stratocruiser from New York to London or Paris. Even so, a nonstop westward crossing against the prevailing wind remained exceptional: the DC-7B and the Super Constellation that appeared in 1955 could occasionally manage it, but only the DC-7C, from the summer of 1956, did it reliably.

112 DC-7Bs were built. A new one cost around $982,226 (£680,000) in 1955, rising to $1,184,490 (£820,000) in 1957.