Watching a Pan Am Stratocruiser taxi across an underpass in Queens, New York, March 1951
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View Reddit by chimericangler234 – View Source
Watching a Pan Am Stratocruiser taxi across an underpass in Queens, New York, March 1951
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View Reddit by chimericangler234 – View Source
Underpass? Looks more like an overpass to me!
Those cars
Brilliant photo.
LGA or JFK?
The Stratocruiser was a real disappointment for Boeing. Developed from the B-29’s cargo version, the C-97, only 56 were made. Too expensive to maintain, unreliable engines, structural issues, etc. Meanwhile, Douglas was selling the hell out of their DC-6 and DC-7 models, with Lockheed’s Constellation in there strongly as well.
We think of Boeing today as the leader in passenger aircraft, but up to this point they were really known for their military aircraft. All the more surprising that they decided to double-down on their new passenger jet aircraft development, what would become the 707. Douglas Aircraft, the leader in passenger airplanes for the last 30 years, followed closely behind with their DC-8. But the 707 sold 5 times as many as the DC-8 did. A decade later, to survive against Boeing’s dominance, Douglas merged with McConnell, and then Boeing bought them up in 1997.