148-649: (Redirected from Stratoliner ) Boeing Stratoliner may refer to: Boeing 307 Stratoliner , a 1930s high-altitude airliner, which was used as the C-75 by the USAAF in World War II. Boeing C-137 Stratoliner , a 1960s military VIP transport version of the Boeing 707 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
296-533: A 212.5 US gal (804 L; 176.9 imp gal) fuel tank located between the inner and outer nacelles, on both sides of the aircraft, providing a total of 1,700 US gal (6,400 L; 1,400 imp gal) of fuel in six tanks. With the fuselage being 3.5 ft (1.1 m) wider than on the B-17, the span had increased from 103 ft 9 in (31.62 m) to 107 ft 3 in (32.69 m) compared to early B-17s. After being modified,
444-585: A European was in the journal of Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in 1752, where they were called " montagnes de Roche ". Another name given to the place by the Cree is ᐊᓭᓂᐓᒉ Aseniwuche . The Rocky Mountains are the easternmost portion of the expansive North American Cordillera . They are often defined as stretching from the Liard River in British Columbia south to the headwaters of
592-502: A Master Bedroom, two bathrooms, a galley and a bar as well as a living room. In 1949, Hughes spent an additional $ 100,000 renovating it so he could sell it, which, like the T&;WA and Pan Am aircraft now included an interior designed by Raymond Loewy . Oil tycoon Glenn McCarthy bought it to coincide with the opening of his new Shamrock Hotel and he renamed it Shamrock and had it repainted, however McCarthy defaulted on payments and it
740-556: A captain) but with civilian insignia. The first ICD service flight began on February 26, when a 307 flew south to Brazil from Washington, before crossing the South Atlantic to Africa, and north to Cairo, before continuing on to Prestwick, Scotland where they arrived on April 20, 1942, having primarily carried 25,000 rounds of armour piercing shells to British troops in Cairo, who were facing Rommel and his Afrika Corps . ICD
888-522: A contract with Douglas to develop the 40 passenger DC-4 (later known as the DC-4E). Each company contributed $ 100,000 to development costs and agreed to not operate other aircraft with a maximum weight of 43,000 to 75,000 lb (20,000 to 34,000 kg) for revenue service. Due to development problems and poor performance, all of the airlines dropped out of the DC-4 program and cancelled their orders, but
1036-529: A few weeks later, on September 26, a TWA New York bound Stratoliner at 17,000 ft (5,200 m) with a jetstream providing a strong tailwind reached a ground speed of 387 mph (623 km/h). Flight 45 added additional stops at Philadelphia and Pittsburgh on December 1, 1940. On December 14, 1941, representatives from various airlines as well as the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) met with Colonel Robert Olds of
1184-567: A larger more suitable design, and they that they would use it for familiarization training with four engine aircraft. They required that it fly on just two engines, use Pratt & Whitney automatic mixture controls, have a 2,500 mi (4,000 km) range, be able to carry freight or mail, and have moderate tire ground pressure. KLM then requested a quote for three 307s, either with Wright Cyclones and with Pratt & Whitney 1830 engines, fitted with constant speed propellers and automatic carburettor mixture control and with additional fuel to provide
1332-592: A loosening of the tightly controlled government access to routes. TWA's fare structure remained the same as pre-war. New TWA flight routes were added with routes 370 & 371 between La Guardia and Spokane with intermediate stops in Chicago, Albuquerque, for fuel, and Burbank and routes 48 & 49 between La Guardia and Kansas City with a stop in St Louis. At this time, the TWA Stratoliners were briefly
1480-411: A metal structure, and were aerodynamically balanced and fitted with adjustable trim tabs to lighten flight loads. The rudder and elevators also had hydraulic boost, to lighten control forces. The partially retractable main undercarriage had hydraulic brakes and used Goodyear 55x19x23 tires, and was raised and lowered with electric motors. Manual backups were provided for electrically driven systems, but
1628-523: A mixture of white pine, fir, and spruce that appear as shrub-like krummholz . Finally, rivers and canyons can create a unique forest zone in more arid parts of the mountain range. The Rocky Mountains are an important habitat for a great deal of well-known wildlife, such as wolves , elk , moose , mule and white-tailed deer , pronghorn , mountain goats , bighorn sheep , badgers , black bears , grizzly bears , coyotes , lynxes , cougars , and wolverines . North America's largest herds of elk are in
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#17327805163961776-636: A pressure relief valve prevented the pressure difference from exceeding 2.65 lb/sq ft (12.9 kg/m ). The structure consisted of continuous longitudinal stiffeners spaced every 9 degrees around the fuselage with radial hoop stiffeners mounted every 16 in (410 mm) along the fuselage, reinforcing the similarity to a dirigible. The skin seams were sealed with tape impregnated with sealing compound trapped between lapped joints which were secured with two rows of rivets spaced 5 ⁄ 8 in (16 mm) apart, while doors and hatches were sealed with soft rubber gaskets and control cables entered
1924-453: A pressurized version, on July 27, 1938, but nothing came of these discussions and ANA never operated the type. The first customer delivery was to millionaire Howard Hughes on July 13, 1939. He bought aircraft serial number 1997 registered as NX19904 for $ 315,000 for a round-the-world flight, hoping to break his own record of 91 hours 14 minutes set between July 10 and 14 in 1938 in a Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra . Hughes' Stratoliner
2072-399: A range of 3,400 mi (5,500 km). Boeing responded that the price for three aircraft would be $ 289,000 each if fitted with Cyclone engines or $ 314,000 if fitted with R-1830s, plus $ 3,100 - $ 4,000 per aircraft to increasing fuel capacity to either 1,700 US gal (6,400 L; 1,400 imp gal) or 2,125 US gal (8,040 L; 1,769 imp gal), provided that
2220-475: A requirement for a large 4 engine airliner remained. Donald Webb Tomlinson at T&WA carried out five years of high altitude flight research, with a Northrop Gamma and a Douglas DC-1 , which helped determine that T&WA would need a four-engine airliner with a pressurized cabin. During this period, He also test flew the XB-17 and determined that it would provide an ideal basis for an airliner, and so Boeing
2368-893: A similar relationship to tourism promotions by the Great Northern Railway . While settlers filled the valleys and mining towns, conservation and preservation ethics began to take hold. U.S. President Benjamin Harrison established several forest reserves in the Rocky Mountains in 1891–1892. In 1905, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt extended the Medicine Bow Forest Reserve to include the area now managed as Rocky Mountain National Park . Economic development began to center on mining, forestry , agriculture, and recreation , as well as on
2516-414: A sink, plush upholstered stools, soft indirect lighting provided by fluorescent lamps , ashtrays , hot and cold running water, shelves with towels, and a separate cubicle for the toilet. The men's washroom was in front as the "Men's Lounge", and also had a separate cubicle for the toilet, two sinks, and outlets to run an electric razor . A galley of just 28 sq ft (2.6 m ) provided hot food
2664-1063: A subsidiary, the Intercontinental Division (ICD), whose civilian crews would operate them on behalf of the United States Army Air Forces. Otis Bryan was made head of the ICD The Stratoliners were sold to the USAAF, who assigned the type the C-75 designation, and each of them was given a USAAF serial number. The first of these was accepted by the USAAF on March 1, 1941, and the last one on December 17, 1942. ICD crews included pilots, 1st & 2nd officers, navigators, flight engineers, flight radio operators and pursers. ICD Supervisor pilots and captains were paid $ 1100/month, first officers $ 800/month, Navigators $ 600/month, Flight Engineers (FEs) $ 500/month and Flight Radio Operators (FROs) $ 400/month. Personnel were issued with USAAF uniforms which they wore with rank stripes (two solid stripes for
2812-593: A test-flight on March 18, 1939, killing all 10 occupants, and forced several design changes, of which the fin and rudder are the most immediately obvious. KLM was considering four-engine airliners for the European routes, and a longer ranged four-engine aircraft for their routes to the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia). Aircraft considered included the Douglas DC-4 (E), the Boeing 307,
2960-437: A wobble pump, along with a rest area for the crew. A desk was added behind the pilot for a radio operator, who had a 50 watt Bendix TA-12 high frequency Morse transmitter, and a BC-348 tunable receiver. A 400 ft (120 m) trailing wire antenna was used with a 5 lb (2.3 kg) lead weight on the end - which the radio operator needed to remember to reel in, by hand, when landing. Inexperience sometimes led to either
3108-606: Is an American stressed-skin four-engine low-wing tailwheel monoplane airliner derived from the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, which entered commercial service in July 1940. It was the first airliner in revenue service with a pressurized cabin , which with supercharged engines, allowed it to cruise above the weather. As such it represented a major advance over contemporaries, with a cruising speed of 220 mph (350 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) compared to
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#17327805163963256-794: Is in the Rocky Mountains and designates the line at which waters flow either to the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. Triple Divide Peak (2,440 m or 8,020 ft) in Glacier National Park is so named because water falling on the mountain reaches not only the Atlantic and Pacific but Hudson Bay as well. Farther north in Alberta, the Athabasca and other rivers feed the basin of the Mackenzie River , which has its outlet on
3404-706: Is natural gas that arises from coal, either through bacterial action or through exposure to high temperature. Coalbed methane supplies 7 percent of the natural gas used in the U.S. The largest coalbed methane sources in the Rocky Mountains are in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. These two basins are estimated to contain 38 trillion cubic feet of gas. Coalbed methane can be recovered by dewatering
3552-668: The 49th parallel north as the international boundary west from Lake of the Woods to the "Stony Mountains"; the UK and the US agreed to what has since been described as "joint occupancy" of lands further west to the Pacific Ocean. Resolution of the territorial and treaty issues, the Oregon dispute , was deferred until a later time. In 1819, Spain ceded their rights north of the 42nd Parallel to
3700-550: The Air Corps Ferrying Command (later renamed Air Transport Command) over the use of their airliners in wartime. Pan Am had already signed a contract on the 13th, in which it would keep its 307s, but sell the 314s to the government. T&WA sold all five of its 307s to the USAAF, but would then operate them on behalf of the USAAF on a cost plus basis though a new subsidiary. At the time the Stratoliner
3848-479: The Alberta–British Columbia foothills forests . The status of most species in the Rocky Mountains is unknown, due to incomplete information. European-American settlement of the mountains has adversely impacted native species. Examples of some species that have declined include western toads , greenback cutthroat trout , white sturgeon , white-tailed ptarmigan , trumpeter swan , and bighorn sheep. In
3996-547: The Apache , Arapaho , Bannock , Blackfoot , Cheyenne , Coeur d'Alene , Kalispel , Crow Nation , Flathead , Shoshone , Sioux , Ute , Kutenai (Ktunaxa in Canada), Sekani , Dunne-za , and others. Paleo-Indians hunted the now-extinct mammoth and ancient bison (an animal 20% larger than modern bison) in the foothills and valleys of the mountains. Like the modern tribes that followed them, Paleo-Indians probably migrated to
4144-810: The Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. Human population is not very dense in the Rockies, with an average of four people per square kilometer and few cities with over 50,000 people. However, the human population grew rapidly in the Rocky Mountain states between 1950 and 1990. The forty-year statewide increases in population range from 35% in Montana to about 150% in Utah and Colorado. The populations of several mountain towns and communities have doubled in
4292-567: The Boeing Model 299 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber as the Model 307. It combined the wings, tail, rudder, undercarriage, and engines from the B-17 with a new, much larger pressurized circular cross-section fuselage with a maximum diameter of 138 in (3.5 m). The pressurization system required extensive testing, which was carried out over many months, progressively increasing the air pressure after each successful test, and each time,
4440-709: The Bull Lake Glaciation , which began about 150,000 years ago, and the Pinedale Glaciation , which perhaps remained at full glaciation until 15,000–20,000 years ago. All of these geological processes exposed a complex set of rocks at the surface. For example, volcanic rock from the Paleogene and Neogene periods (66 million – 2.6 million years ago) occurs in the San Juan Mountains and in other areas. Millennia of severe erosion in
4588-608: The Canadian Pacific Railway eventually followed the Kicking Horse and Rogers Passes to the Pacific Ocean. Canadian railway officials also convinced Parliament to set aside vast areas of the Canadian Rockies as Jasper , Banff , Yoho , and Waterton Lakes National Parks , laying the foundation for a tourism industry which thrives to this day. Glacier National Park (MT) was established with
Boeing Stratoliner - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-902: The Canadian Rockies . The eastern edge of the Rockies rises dramatically above the Interior Plains of central North America, including the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico and Colorado , the Front Range of Colorado, the Wind River Range and Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming , the Absaroka - Beartooth ranges and Rocky Mountain Front of Montana and the Clark Range of Alberta . Central ranges of
4884-917: The Canning River and the Firth River across the Alaska - Yukon border. Its southernmost point is near the Albuquerque area adjacent to the Rio Grande rift and north of the Sandia–Manzano Mountain Range . Being the easternmost portion of the North American Cordillera , the Rockies are distinct from the tectonically younger Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada , which both lie farther to its west. The Rockies formed 55 million to 80 million years ago during
5032-507: The Climax mine, near Leadville, Colorado , was the largest producer of molybdenum in the world. Molybdenum is used in heat-resistant steel in such things as cars and planes. The Climax mine employed over 3,000 workers. The Coeur d'Alene mine of northern Idaho produces silver, lead, and zinc. Canada's largest coal mines are near Fernie, British Columbia and Sparwood , British Columbia; additional coal mines exist near Hinton, Alberta , and in
5180-769: The Columbia District for Britain. The party crossed the Rockies into the Columbia Valley , a region of the Rocky Mountain Trench near present-day Radium Hot Springs , British Columbia, then traveled south. Despite such efforts, in 1846, Britain ceded all claim to Columbia District lands south of the 49th parallel to the United States; as resolution to the Oregon boundary dispute by the Oregon Treaty . Thousands passed through
5328-696: The Cosmic Muffin , in which form it still survives. As one of the companies sponsoring the development of the Douglas DC-4, Transcontinental & Western Air lost interest due to delays and poor performance, but the agreement they signed with Douglas limited the maximum weight of any replacement design to 43,000 lbs. After discussing their needs with Boeing, T&WA signed a contract with Boeing to buy six 307s with an option for 13 more for $ 1,590,000 on January 29, 1937, with deliveries to be made in mid-1938. T&WA defaulted on their payments though and
5476-594: The Douglas DC-3 's 160 mph (260 km/h), at 8,000 ft (2,400 m) then in service. When it entered commercial service it had a crew of five to six, including two pilots, a flight engineer , two flight attendants and an optional navigator , and had a capacity for 33 passengers, which later modifications increased, first to 38, and eventually to 60. In 1935, Pan American Airways , United Airlines , American Airlines , Eastern Air Lines and Transcontinental & Western Air (T&WA) had each signed
5624-646: The Gander, Newfoundland - Scotland leg distance. The first aircraft to land at these fields, which were north of the Arctic Circle, was an ICD C-75, on April 20, 1942. Marshall, Eisenhower, "Hap" Arnold and Admirals King and Towers flew to London from Washington via Montreal, Gander and Prestwick on May 23, 1942, and returned to Washington via Prestwick, Reykjavik and Gander. On June 20, 1942, Air Corps Ferrying Command became Air Transport Command The exiled (but not yet deposed) King Peter II of Yugoslavia
5772-719: The Junkers Ju 90 , the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor , and the Bloch 160 , of which only the DC-4 and 307 came close to meeting their requirements Boeing made a proposal to KLM on September 20, 1936, for exclusive option on 10 certified 307s for $ 2.4 million with options for 18 aircraft and with first delivery in 14 months. By January 14, 1937, the price had increased for 18 aircraft to $ 265,000 each, not including pressurization equipment. KLM let Boeing know that they were interested in 4 aircraft, for use as an interim measure pending
5920-517: The Laramide orogeny , in which a number of plates began sliding underneath the North American plate . The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a broad belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks and valleys. At the end of the last ice age , humans began inhabiting
6068-676: The Liard River and east of the Rocky Mountain Trench , and do not extend into Yukon , Northwest Territories or central British Columbia . They are divided into three main groups: the Muskwa Ranges , Hart Ranges (collectively called the Northern Rockies ) and Continental Ranges . Other more northerly mountain ranges of the eastern Canadian Cordillera continue beyond the Liard River valley, including
Boeing Stratoliner - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-473: The Lockheed C-69 Constellation would not fly until January 1943, while aircraft with two engines were considered unsafe for ocean crossings with VIPs on board. On the entry of the United States into World War II , Pan Am continued operating its Stratoliners on routes to Central and South America , but under direction of the Army Air Forces' Air Transport Command, All five TWA Stratoliners were withdrawn from operations on December 24, 1941, while TWA created
6364-447: The Paleozoic , western North America lay underneath a shallow sea, which deposited many kilometers of limestone and dolomite . In the southern Rockies, near present-day Colorado, these ancestral rocks were disturbed by mountain building approximately 300 Ma , during the Pennsylvanian . This mountain-building produced the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. They consisted largely of Precambrian metamorphic rock forced upward through layers of
6512-405: The Pecos River , a tributary of the Rio Grande , in New Mexico. The Rockies vary in width from 110 to 480 kilometres (70 to 300 miles). The Rocky Mountains contain the highest peaks in central North America. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert in Colorado at 4,401 metres (14,440 feet) above sea level. Mount Robson in British Columbia, at 3,954 m (12,972 ft), is the highest peak in
6660-510: The Sawtooths in central Idaho. The Great Basin and Columbia River Plateau separate these subranges from distinct ranges further to the west. In Canada, the western edge of the Rockies is formed by the huge Rocky Mountain Trench , which runs the length of British Columbia from its beginning as the Kechika Valley on the south bank of the Liard River , to the middle Lake Koocanusa valley in northwestern Montana. The Canadian Rockies are defined by Canadian geographers as everything south of
6808-404: The Selwyn , Mackenzie and Richardson Mountains in Yukon as well as the British Mountains / Brooks Range in Alaska , but those are not officially recognized as part of the Rockies by the Geological Survey of Canada , although the Geological Society of America definition does consider them parts of the Rocky Mountains system as the "Arctic Rockies". The Continental Divide of the Americas
6956-430: The Wyoming Basin transformed intermountain basins into a relatively flat terrain. The Tetons and other north-central ranges contain folded and faulted rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age draped above cores of Proterozoic and Archean igneous and metamorphic rocks ranging in age from 1.2 billion (e.g., Tetons) to more than 3.3 billion years ( Beartooth Mountains ). There are a wide range of environmental factors in
7104-417: The lend-lease program. From April 22, regular crossings were being made. and ICD was growing rapidly, growing from 71 personnel in January, to 343 by April, and they were now making 16 ocean crossings a month. Following his April 1942 raid on Tokyo , but before it had been made public, Jimmy Doolittle took a C-75 from Karachi in India through Khartoum , Kano , Accra , Robertsfield Airport , crossed
7252-535: The "Rockies", becoming the first Europeans to report on this uncharted mountain range. Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1764 – March 11, 1820) became the first European to cross the Rocky Mountains in 1793. He found the upper reaches of the Fraser River and reached the Pacific coast of what is now Canada on July 20 of that year, completing the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico. He arrived at Bella Coola, British Columbia , where he first reached saltwater at South Bentinck Arm, an inlet of
7400-467: The Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Such sedimentary remnants were often tilted at steep angles along the flanks of the modern range; they are now visible in many places throughout the Rockies, and are shown along the Dakota Hogback , an early Cretaceous sandstone formation running along the eastern flank of the modern Rockies. Just after the Laramide orogeny, the Rockies were like Tibet : a high plateau, probably 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) above sea level. In
7548-518: The Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall , General Dwight D. Eisenhower (to command Operation Torch for the invasion of North Africa), Deputy Chief of Staff of Army Ground Forces General Mark W. Clark , Operation Torch Air Force liaison officer Colonel Hoyt Vandenberg , Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics Rear Admiral John Henry Towers , who oversaw Navy aircraft procurement and training, and presidential advisors W. Averell Harriman and Harry Hopkins who were crossing to negotiate
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#17327805163967696-465: The Atlantic to Natal in Brazil, and headed north to Belém , and from there with an additional fuel stop to Washington, D.C., arriving in time for the news of the raid to be made public. Many of the surviving members of the raid followed soon after in another Stratoliner. The North Atlantic ferry route was set up with help from former Arctic explorer Colonel Bernt Balchen , who assisted with Bluie East Two and Bluie East Eight in Greenland to reduce
7844-552: The Atlantic. By the time they were withdrawn, over 3000 trans-oceanic crossings had been made, and they had flown 21,284 while in USAAF service with the ICD. The sole accident occurred during night landing at Natal in Brazil when an undercarriage leg was torn off by a mound of dirt. It cost TWA about $ 2 million to have the five aircraft rebuilt by Boeing and the first of them resumed passenger service on April 1, 1945. The CAA recertified these as SA-307B-1 civilian airliners with their original registration numbers. On April 1, 1945,
7992-658: The B-17C mounted low on the fuselage to a constant chord center section faired to the fuselage, with four 1,100 hp (820 kW) Wright GR-1820 Cyclone air-cooled radial engines . TWA examples used GR-1820-G105A engines fitted with two stage superchargers for high altitude performance, while the Pan Am examples used the GR-1820-G102 with a single stage supercharger. Engine exhaust collector rings designed to reduce noise, and exhaust mufflers were installed. TWA aircraft were fitted with cowl flaps, to adjust engine cooling air, while Pan Am aircraft had fixed cowling rings without cowling gills. When operating in cooler conditions,
8140-402: The CAA for overland flights, which were served by a network of beacons across the continent, when the aircraft were not being flown by visual flight rules (VFR). Both T&WA and Pan Am normally carried two flight attendants. T&WA began using Hostesses (as they called them) as cabin crew in late 1935, while Pan Am continued to use male stewards until late in WW2. Following the entry of
8288-427: The California and Alaska gold rushes combined and was important in the financing of the Union Army during the American Civil War . The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, and Yellowstone National Park was established as the world's first national park in 1872. Meanwhile, a transcontinental railroad in Canada was originally promised in 1871. Though political complications pushed its completion to 1885,
8436-430: The Native American cultures. Native American populations were extirpated from most of their historical ranges by disease, warfare, habitat loss (eradication of the bison), and continued assaults on their culture. In 1739, French fur traders Pierre and Paul Mallet, while journeying through the Great Plains, discovered a range of mountains at the headwaters of the Platte River , which local American Indian tribes called
8584-529: The Northern Rockies surrounding Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia . Abandoned mines with their wakes of mine tailings and toxic wastes dot the Rocky Mountain landscape. In one major example, eighty years of zinc mining profoundly polluted the river and bank near Eagle River in north-central Colorado. High concentrations of the metal carried by spring runoff harmed algae , moss , and trout populations. An economic analysis of mining effects at this site revealed declining property values, degraded water quality, and
8732-492: The Pacific Ocean. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) was the first scientific reconnaissance of the Rocky Mountains. Specimens were collected for contemporary botanists, zoologists, and geologists. The expedition was said to have paved the way to (and through) the Rocky Mountains for European-Americans from the East, although Lewis and Clark met at least 11 European-American mountain men during their travels. Mountain men , primarily French, Spanish, and British, roamed
8880-511: The Pan Am aircraft could be fitted with a blanking disk that covered part of the front of the engine. Both versions had sufficient power to maintain altitude on only two engines, one of the KLM requirements. Both used three bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant speed propellers, and new high octane fuels were developed to help the engines operate under the increased supercharger pressure. Both versions had trailing edge flaps controlled with electric motors, although SA-307B for T&WA and
9028-454: The Plains and the Alpine tundra . The Great Plains lie to the east of the Rockies and is characterized by prairie grasses (below roughly 550 m or 1,800 ft). Alpine tundra occurs in regions above the tree-line for the Rocky Mountains, which varies from 3,700 m (12,000 ft) in New Mexico to 760 m (2,500 ft) at the northern end of the Rockies (near the Yukon). The U.S. Geological Survey defines ten forested zones in
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#17327805163969176-423: The Rockies include the La Sal Range along the Utah -Colorado border, the Abajo Mountains and Henry Mountains of Southeastern Utah, the Uinta Range of Utah and Wyoming, and the Teton Range of Wyoming and Idaho. The western edge of the Rockies includes ranges such as the Wasatch near Salt Lake City , the San Juan Mountains of New Mexico and Colorado, the Bitterroots along the Idaho-Montana border, and
9324-464: The Rockies. Zones in more southern, warmer, or drier areas are defined by the presence of pinyon pines / junipers , ponderosa pines , or oaks mixed with pines . In more northern, colder, or wetter areas, zones are defined by Douglas firs , Cascadian species (such as western hemlock ), lodgepole pines / quaking aspens , or firs mixed with spruce . Near tree-line, zones can consist of white pines (such as whitebark pine or bristlecone pine ); or
9472-410: The Rocky Mountains from 1720 to 1800 seeking mineral deposits and furs. The fur-trading North West Company established Rocky Mountain House as a trading post in what is now the Rocky Mountain Foothills of present-day Alberta in 1799, and their business rivals the Hudson's Bay Company established Acton House nearby. These posts served as bases for most European activity in the Canadian Rockies in
9620-485: The Rocky Mountains is one of more rapid change. The Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado —with a group of soldiers and missionaries marched into the Rocky Mountain region from the south in 1540. In 1610, the Spanish founded the city of Santa Fe , the oldest continuous seat of government in the United States, at the foot of the Rockies in present-day New Mexico. The introduction of the horse, metal tools, rifles, new diseases, and different cultures profoundly changed
9768-442: The Rocky Mountains on the Oregon Trail beginning in the 1840s. The Mormons began settling near the Great Salt Lake in 1847. From 1859 to 1864, gold was discovered in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, sparking several gold rushes bringing thousands of prospectors and miners to explore every mountain and canyon and to create the Rocky Mountains' first major industry. The Idaho gold rush alone produced more gold than
9916-436: The Rocky Mountains. The Rockies range in latitude between the Liard River in British Columbia (at 59° N) and the Rio Grande in New Mexico (at 35° N). Prairie occurs at or below 550 metres (1,800 ft), while the highest peak in the range is Mount Elbert at 4,400 metres (14,440 ft). Precipitation ranges from 250 millimetres (10 in) per year in the southern valleys to 1,500 millimetres (60 in) per year locally in
10064-433: The SA-307B-1s used the wings and elevators from the B-17G with split flaps, and 1,200 hp (890 kW) Cyclones. On most, but not all examples, the leading edges of the wings, horizontal stabilizer and fin were fitted with rubber expanding type de-icing boots, which would inflate and deflate repeatedly to break ice from the flying surfaces. All movable surfaces, including the rudder, ailerons and elevators had fabric over
10212-448: The SB-307B for Hughes featured slotted flaps with prominent external hinges, while the Pan Am examples had simpler split flaps with flush hinges, similar to those used on the B-17s. All of the fuel was carried in the wings, with a 212.5 US gal (804 L; 176.9 imp gal) tank mounted between the inboard nacelle and the fuselage, and a 425 US gal (1,610 L; 354 imp gal) main fuel tank as well as
10360-414: The South Atlantic, and between New York and Prestwick , Scotland, across the North Atlantic. They often flew non-stop the 2,122 mi (3,415 km) between Gander, Newfoundland and Prestwick, Scotland in the north, and the 2,500 mi (4,100 km) between Natal , Brazil and Accra , Ghana in the south. After July 1942 a refueling stop at Ascension Island was added in the South Atlantic. In
10508-410: The Stratoliner underpowered, and the climb suffered accordingly. The overloading burnt out engines and destroyed piston rings, but closely monitoring engine oil consumption often caught failures before they occurred. Passenger facilities were reduced to 4 bunks which when folded away allowed seating for 12, along with 4 seats along the opposite side of the aircraft. Removable tables were provided in
10656-499: The T&WA markings which had already been applied to their airframes were removed. T&WA filed a lawsuit against Boeing for default of contract, and Boeing sued T&WA for breach of contract over the non-payment. Hughes had begun secretly buying up T&WA shares and by March 1939, Hughes has a controlling interest in Trans-World Airlines (or TWA - as it was rebranded once he had taken over), with roughly 46% of
10804-404: The U.S. portion of the mountain range, apex predators such as grizzly bears and wolf packs had been extirpated from their original ranges, but have partially recovered due to conservation measures and reintroduction . Other recovering species include the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon . Since the last great ice age, the Rocky Mountains were home first to indigenous peoples including
10952-667: The US Government gave export permission on the engines. After not hearing back, Boeing sent a new quote to KLM for $ 300,000 per aircraft, or $ 320,000 for the pressurized version December 20, 1938, the KLM board made the decision to order two four-engine aircraft, with consideration of the Boeing 307 and Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor, however the Condor was not suitable for the East Indies route. Following T&WA defaulting on payments,
11100-513: The USAAF had amassed sufficient long range transports that it no longer needed the C-75s, and they sold the fleet back to TWA, who paid to have them converted back to civil standard under Boeing's SA-307B-1 designation. CAA concerns over cracks in the wing spar tubing led to the TWA Stratoliners getting new B-17G wings and horizontal tail, with the leading edge of the longer span, narrower chord horizontal stabilizer moved about 3 ft (0.91 m) to
11248-743: The United Kingdom and the United States over the next few decades failed to settle upon a compromise boundary and the Oregon Dispute became important in geopolitical diplomacy between the British Empire and the new American Republic. In 1841, James Sinclair , Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company, guided some 200 settlers from the Red River Colony west to bolster settlement around Fort Vancouver in an attempt to retain
11396-532: The United States into World War II in December 1941, long-range transports were needed to ferry government and military officials around the globe and many aircraft, including T&WA's Boeing 307s, were pressed into service. Beginning in February 1942, these were flown to Albuquerque, New Mexico for conversion, which included the removal of the plush, but heavy civilian fittings, including the massive mirrors in
11544-560: The United States, though these rights did not include possession and also included obligations to Britain and Russia concerning their claims in the same region. After 1802, fur traders and explorers ushered in the first widespread American presence in the Rockies south of the 49th parallel. The more famous of these include William Henry Ashley , Jim Bridger , Kit Carson , John Colter , Thomas Fitzpatrick , Andrew Henry , and Jedediah Smith . On July 24, 1832, Benjamin Bonneville led
11692-400: The air, which was then passed through radiator condensers to cool the air, and it was then run through channels to the vents in the cabin. External hookups allowed ground air conditioner units to cool the cabin air when the engines were off. The Stratoliners were normally flown with a pilot and co-pilot, and both Pan Am and T&WA aircraft carried a flight engineer to reduce the workload on
11840-422: The aircraft stalled and entered a spin. It made two to three turns before the pilot was able to stop the spin using the engines, however the ensuing high speed dive and the forces that resulted from attempting to pull up before hitting the ground, resulted in the left outer wing tearing off with one engine still attached, followed by the right wing, just outside the outer engine, both of which also tore off parts of
11988-432: The antenna being torn off, or lashing against the fuselage. An astrodome was fitted and the perspex top windows which produced excessive parallax were replaced with optically flat glass, to allow the navigator to take star shots (the angle between stars and the horizon could be used to determine how far north or south they were), necessary to determine their position when crossing large bodies of water. The SA-307B-1s retained
12136-421: The astrodomes when converted back from C-75 in 1944. To further aid navigation, a B-3 driftmeter was installed, along with an aperiodic compass that did not lag or lead in turns as a conventional compass does. Mae West life vests and life rafts were also provided. The landing gear was strengthened, and the maximum takeoff weight was increased from 45,000 to 56,000 lb (20,000 to 25,000 kg), leaving
12284-452: The cabin to lay out maps and do paperwork. The exterior was then camouflaged in standard USAAF colours, with olive drab upper surfaces and neutral grey undersides, and each aircraft had its name painted on the nose and over the cabin door, which would also be used by many later operators. The names had previously been used in TWA publicity, but not painted on the aircraft. After three years
12432-529: The carburetor heating themselves and the aircraft was repaired and returned to service. Boeing made claims both in their period advertising and in their current web site that it was the first high-altitude commercial transport, and the first with a flight engineer. However its first flight on December 31, 1938, was later than that of the Renard R-35 which also had a pressurized cabin for passengers, which flew on April 1, 1938, but it crashed, and development
12580-428: The coal bed, and separating the gas from the water; or injecting water to fracture the coal to release the gas (so-called hydraulic fracturing ). Agriculture and forestry are major industries. Agriculture includes dryland and irrigated farming and livestock grazing. Livestock are frequently moved between high-elevation summer pastures and low-elevation winter pastures, a practice known as transhumance . Every year
12728-536: The crossing, and the ICD C-75s would routinely lead flights of USAAF twin-engined aircraft, such as Douglas A-20s across. In November 1943, a C-75 carried Soong Mei-Ling , wife of the Chinese Nationalist warlord Chiang Kai-Shek , from Chungking to Washington to receive medical care and to negotiate military aid for China. Two main routes were flown, between Washington, D.C., and Cairo across
12876-722: The early 19th century. Among the most notable are the expeditions of David Thompson , who followed the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. On his 1811 expedition, he camped at the junction of the Columbia River and the Snake River and erected a pole and notice claiming the area for the United Kingdom and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a fort at the site. By the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 , which established
13024-489: The edge of the North American Plate boundary, far to the west of the Rocky Mountain region. It was not until 80 Ma that these effects began reaching the Rockies. The current Rocky Mountains arose in the Laramide orogeny from between 80 and 55 Ma. For the Canadian Rockies, the mountain building is analogous to pushing a rug on a hardwood floor: the rug bunches up and forms wrinkles (mountains). In Canada,
13172-535: The engines that was not needed for the simpler supercharger installation used on the Stratoliner, while one duct opening was retained on each wing between the engine nacelles, to provide additional cabin air. Further mods made by TWA included improved sound proofing and temperature control, and on March 15, 1945, the B-1 recertification tests were completed to the CAA's satisfaction. The estimated cost to repurchase and refurbish
13320-537: The fares slashed by a third. The first coach service, from New York La Guardia to Chicago via Pittsburgh was made on June 1, 1949, with a full load of 38 passengers. Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains , also known as the Rockies , are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America . The Rocky Mountains stretch 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) in straight-line distance from
13468-577: The first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains by using South Pass in the present State of Wyoming. Similarly, in the wake of Mackenzie's 1793 expedition, fur trading posts were established west of the Northern Rockies in a region of the northern Interior Plateau of British Columbia which came to be known as New Caledonia , beginning with Fort McLeod (today's community of McLeod Lake) and Fort Fraser , but ultimately focused on Stuart Lake Post (today's Fort St. James ). Negotiations between
13616-457: The first of 12 C-54s. and Pan Am would also supplement their Stratoliners with 12 C-54s. TWA received two C-54s in August and had 5 by September, and a full allotment of 12 by November, along with the first three C-87s, to supplement the C-75s. At the same time Curtiss C-46 Commandos , Douglas C-47s and C-53s provided feeder links to the C-75s, C-54s and C-87s, as their range was inadequate for
13764-430: The first post-war civil commercial flight was made by Zuni, now as a SA-307B-1, from La Guardia to San Francisco via Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Burbank, but the second transcontinental flight did not happen until a month later, when on May 1, 1945, a flight was made from Washington, DC to Spokane, Washington, via Dayton Municipal Airport , St Louis, Kansas City, Albuquerque and Burbank, reflected
13912-460: The first three T&WA aircraft were offered to KLM in late 1939 but a quick decision was needed by Saturday, March 18, 1939, but KLM was unable to make that decision before the offer expired, and requested an extension. On March 21, 1939, KLM confirmed that they still planned to buy 307s and insisted that they were content with Boeing's progress. Ultimately though, KLM did not buy the 307s because their representatives' test flight insurance coverage
14060-407: The five aircraft was $ 2 million. Ten 307s were built. NC19906 was temporarily marked as NX1940 and NC1940 for publicity purposes. The first Boeing 307 Stratoliner, serial 1994, registration NX19901 , made its first flight from Boeing Field , near Seattle on December 31, 1938, prior to its intended delivery to Pan Am following testing and certification. As related above , it crashed on
14208-485: The force of the spin prevented their use. The crash delayed the program by over a year, beginning with a three-month investigation by the US Civil Aeronautics Authority , the precursor to the current Federal Aviation Administration , and Boeing to determine the causes. Flight and wind tunnel testing showed that both an extended dorsal fin and an enlarged vertical tail were needed to prevent
14356-481: The forty years 1972–2012. Jackson, Wyoming , increased 260%, from 1,244 to 4,472 residents, in those forty years. The rocks in the Rocky Mountains were formed before the mountains were raised by tectonic forces. The oldest rock is Precambrian metamorphic rock that forms the core of the North American continent. There is also Precambrian sedimentary argillite , dating back to 1.7 billion years ago. During
14504-467: The highly polished fuselage was coated with soapy water while the fuselage pressurized, for workers to look for the bubbles that would indicate a leak, much like testing a bicycle inner tube. Before the first aircraft had rolled out, T&WA's chief engineer discovered that the extruded metal tubing used for the wing spars was defective, with stress corrosion cracks produced by cold rolling the tubing to increase tensile strength. Affected aircraft included
14652-423: The inboard flaps were also extended. The first several aircraft, including NC19902, NC19903, and NC19904 were all rolled out with the small tail and then modified later. Test flights resumed on May 19, 1939, after the changes had been incorporated, and on June 20, 1939, the first flight was made with the "supercharged cabin" pressurization system on. On March 13, 1940, Approved Type Certificate (ATC) number 719
14800-487: The last of their five was delivered on June 4, 1940. It was not their first four engine airliner, as one of their parent companies, Western Air Express had operated the Fokker F-32 . All five were named in TWA promotional material for North American Indigenous tribes - names that would be used throughout their careers, continuing long after they left TWA. War intervened in December 1941, and civil aircraft production
14948-599: The last sixty million years, erosion stripped away the high rocks, revealing the ancestral rocks beneath, and forming the current landscape of the Rockies. Periods of glaciation occurred from the Pleistocene Epoch (1.8 million – 70,000 years ago) to the Holocene Epoch (fewer than 11,000 years ago). These ice ages left their mark on the Rockies, forming extensive glacial landforms, such as U-shaped valleys and cirques . Recent glacial episodes included
15096-520: The limestone laid down in the shallow sea. The mountains eroded throughout the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic , leaving extensive deposits of sedimentary rock . Terranes began colliding with the western edge of North America in the Mississippian (approximately 350 million years ago), causing the Antler orogeny . For 270 million years, the focus of the effects of plate collisions were near
15244-535: The loss of recreational opportunities. The analysis also revealed that cleanup of the river could yield $ 2.3 million in additional revenue from recreation. In 1983, the former owner of the zinc mine was sued by the Colorado Attorney General for the $ 4.8 million cleanup costs; five years later, ecological recovery was considerable. The Rocky Mountains contain several sedimentary basins that are rich in coalbed methane . Coalbed methane
15392-470: The maximum landing weight rose to 47,000 lb (21,000 kg). Slots were re-incorporated into the wingtip leading edges, as they had been with the pre-war airliners. The cabin was redesigned and passenger capacity was increased from 33 to 38, with the cabin now divided into a 10-seat front section and a 28-seat rear section, with no sleepers. The cabin pressurization system was never re-installed. The B-17G wings came with turbo-supercharger ducting for
15540-419: The modified undercarriage, and in hard landings, easily exceeded the contract's minimum required 500 ft/m (46 m/ft) descent rate with a successful 800 ft/m (74 m/ft) landing descent. T&WA was also concerned about the engine carburetor intake heaters being deliberately restricted by Boeing to prevent cooking the engines, which could potentially leave crews unable to clear ice. Their point
15688-425: The mountain range, and they are popular tourist destinations, especially for hiking, camping, mountaineering, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, snowmobiling, skiing, and snowboarding. The name of the mountains is a calque of an Algonquian name, specifically Plains Cree ᐊᓯᓃᐘᒋᐩ asinîwaciy (originally transcribed as-sin-wati ), literally "rocky mountain / alp". The first mention of their present name by
15836-643: The mountain range. After explorations of the range by Europeans, such as Sir Alexander Mackenzie , and Anglo-Americans, such as the Lewis and Clark Expedition , natural resources such as minerals and fur drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, although the range itself never experienced a dense population. Most of the highest summits of the Rocky Mountains are in Colorado , with that state having an average elevation in excess of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). Public parks and forest lands protect much of
15984-450: The normal 300 to 500 kilometres (200 to 300 mi). Scientists hypothesize that the shallow angle of the subducting plate increased the friction and other interactions with the thick continental mass above it. Tremendous thrusts piled sheets of crust on top of each other, building the broad, high Rocky Mountain range. The current southern Rockies were forced upwards through the layers of Pennsylvanian and Permian sedimentary remnants of
16132-541: The north, stops at Iceland or Greenland were often necessary, when flying west against unusually strong prevailing winds. As Douglas C-54 Skymasters took over the Gander to Prestwick route, the C-75s operated between Marrakech and Prestwick over the Atlantic. ICD C-75s crossing the Atlantic had to be careful to avoid Allied convoys and German U-boats , to avoid being shot at. Cherokee was returning American troops from Reykjavik to Gander at 1,000 ft (300 m), and
16280-654: The northern peaks. Average January temperatures can range from −7 °C (20 °F) in Prince George, British Columbia, to 6 °C (43 °F) in Trinidad, Colorado . Therefore, there is no single monolithic ecosystem for the entire Rocky Mountain Range. Instead, ecologists divide the Rockies into a number of biotic zones . Each zone is defined by whether it can support trees and the presence of one or more indicator species . Two zones that do not support trees are
16428-617: The northernmost part of Western Canada , to New Mexico in the Southwestern United States . Depending on differing definitions between Canada and the U.S., its northern terminus is located either in northern British Columbia 's Terminal Range south of the Liard River and east of the Trench , or in the northeastern foothills of the Brooks Range / British Mountains that face the Beaufort Sea coasts between
16576-547: The plains in fall and winter for bison and to the mountains in spring and summer for fish, deer, elk, roots, and berries. In Colorado, along with the crest of the Continental Divide, rock walls that Native Americans built for driving game date back 5,400–5,800 years. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that indigenous people had significant effects on mammal populations by hunting and on vegetation patterns through deliberate burning. Recent human history of
16724-413: The power had to be turned off before being used. A parking brake was provided, along with an emergency air brake system run off a bottle of compressed air, while the tailwheel was fully retractable. The fuselage was described as being dirigible shaped, and was an elongated teardrop, with a constant 11.5 ft (3.5 m) diameter tube lengthening it at its widest point. The circular section fuselage
16872-443: The pressurized cabin through specially developed glands designed to allow free movement of the cables, with a negligible amount of air leakage. The main cockpit windows were made from 5 ⁄ 8 in (16 mm) thick safety glass, while the rest of the windows were made of Plexiglass or Lucite sealed into rubber channels A large ram-air scoop on the cabin roof was provided to supply cooling air while at lower altitudes, and
17020-702: The prototype, the first Pan Am machine, and some early production B-17s, and resulted in T&WA having to have their engineers manually inspect every tube that was to be incorporated into their aircraft. The first aircraft completed, registration NX19901 , crashed on March 18, 1939. while being demonstrated after having been recently fitted with instruments to measure flight control forces. The Boeing 307 took off at 1257hrs (local time) from Boeing Field in Seattle with ten occupants, and they climbed to an altitude of 11,000 ft (3,400 m) where stability tests were made and while carrying out side-slips near Alder,
17168-577: The rear, while more powerful versions of the same Wright Cyclone engines increased power from 1,100 to 1,200 hp (820 to 890 kW), but without the B-17G's turbosuperchargers. New propellers and landing gear were also installed. The change to the tailplane required that the structural bulkhead supporting the forward spar be moved aft, while the rear bulkhead was reworked and additional fuselage stiffeners were added. The tailwheel switched to using B-17G wheels and 26" smooth tread tires, which required that
17316-452: The rudder stalling in a yaw, and solutions were flight tested on NC19903 , including an intermediate solution consisting of just an extended dorsal fin. The resulting redesign was also incorporated into the redesign of the rear fuselage of the B-17E bomber. The wings were reinforced and Handley Page slots were added to the outer wing leading edges to improve low speed aileron control while
17464-695: The scenic areas of the Rocky Mountains draw millions of tourists. The main language of the Rocky Mountains is English. But there are also linguistic pockets of Spanish and indigenous languages. People from all over the world visit the sites to hike, camp, or engage in mountain sports . In the summer season, examples of tourist attractions are: In the United States: In Canada, the mountain range contains these national parks : Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta border each other and are collectively known as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park . In
17612-494: The service industries that support them. Tents and camps became ranches and farms, forts and train stations became towns, and some towns became cities. Economic resources of the Rocky Mountains are varied and abundant. Minerals found in the Rocky Mountains include significant deposits of copper, gold, lead, molybdenum , silver, tungsten , and zinc . The Wyoming Basin and several smaller areas contain significant reserves of coal, natural gas, oil shale , and petroleum. For example,
17760-408: The shares. By August 1939, TWA and Boeing had resumed negotiations so TWA would get five 307s, and Hughes would get one. The cost to TWA had risen, and was now $ 1,750,000 or $ 350,000 per aircraft - three times the cost for Douglas DC-3s. In early 1940, Hughes bought up all remaining outstanding TWA shares not otherwise reserved for employees. TWA received its first Stratoliner on May 6, 1940, and
17908-548: The sole four-engine commercial airliner in domestic service in the US. On July 10, 1939, TWA had signed a contract with Lockheed to develop the Constellation , which was to be capable of 5 miles/min (350 mph (560 km/h)) compared to the Stratoliner's 4 miles/min (246 mph (396 km/h)), but with production diverted to military for the duration of the war, the first TWA Constellations did not enter service until February 1946 and were soon grounded dealing with
18056-404: The tail as a result of the aileron cables pulling them against the fuselage, which then caused the aircraft to pancake into a forested area at 1317hrs. All ten aboard were killed, which included T&WA's representative, KLM's technical director, a Dutch Air Ministry representative, Boeing's test pilot, as well as their Chief Aerodynamicist and their Chief Engineer. Parachutes were available but
18204-655: The terranes and subduction are the foot pushing the rug, the ancestral rocks are the rug, and the Canadian Shield in the middle of the continent is the hardwood floor. Further south, an unusual subduction may have caused the growth of the Rocky Mountains in the United States, where the Farallon Plate dove at a shallow angle below the North American Plate . This low angle moved the focus of melting and mountain building much farther inland than
18352-701: The title Boeing Stratoliner . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boeing_Stratoliner&oldid=1097861805 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Boeing 307 Stratoliner The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner (or Strato-Clipper in Pan American service, or C-75 in USAAF service)
18500-412: The two pilots, by monitoring the engines for any problems and fine tuning them, while they also controlled fuel consumption from each of the tanks to maintain the aircraft's fore-aft and lateral balance. Too much fuel used in one tank could result in the aircraft becoming uncontrollable. They also monitored other aircraft systems, including hydraulics and the cabin pressurization system. The Flight engineer
18648-477: The underside of the fuselage. Extensive use was made of the latest in sound proofing, and the Dynafocal engine shock mounts were designed to reduce vibrations from being felt by the passengers. The air conditioning system used both electrical and mechanical systems, which drew air in through vents in leading edge of each wing near the roots to bring outside air to two engine driven superchargers that compressed
18796-584: The usual teething problems encountered with a new type, from July 11 to September 20, 1946, while the Douglas DC-4s began arriving in 1946 in small numbers and the Douglas DC-6 similarly, from 1947. At the same time, due to strong competition from war-surplus non-sked flights operating cheaply purchased war-surplus Douglas C-54s , in May 1949 the Stratoliner's were downgraded to a coach-only service with
18944-501: The wheel well be enlarged, and structure supporting the tailwheel reinforced. The main undercarriage wheels, tires, tubes & brakes remained unchanged, although the legs themselves were strengthened. The fuselages were stripped to bare metal and rewired with a 24VDC 1800 amp system from the B-29 Superfortress , replacing the original 24VDC 800 amp system. Maximum weight was increased to 54,000 lb (24,000 kg) and
19092-420: The women's "charm room" and the pressurization system to save weight. The sound insulation was also stripped out leaving the cabin much noisier than it had been. The forward men's washroom, and two of the four forward compartments were replaced with five gravity fed 212.5 US gal (804 L; 176.9 imp gal) fuel tanks and a 45 US gal (170 L; 37 imp gal) oil tank fed with
19240-493: Was La Guardia, NY to Chicago, Illinois to Kansas City, Missouri to Albuquerque, New Mexico to Burbank California and the reverse. 1940 was the best year for TWA, with 50% increase in passenger traffic over 1939, but they were still running exclusively in the red. On September 9, 1940, a TWA Stratoliner from Chicago to New York set a commercial speed record flying the 778 mi (1,252 km) in two hours and 52 minutes at an average speed of 271.4 mph (436.8 km/h). and
19388-436: Was abandoned. As for employing a flight engineer, it was preceded in the US on a commercial aircraft by Maddux Air Lines Ford Trimotors , whose "Mate" had the same responsibilities as a flight engineer. Additionally, all German World War One Riesenflugzeug multi-engine bombers had flight engineers as they were integral to the specification. As built, the Stratoliner used the all-metal stressed-skin cantilever wings from
19536-471: Was also an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) and aside from operating the radio, which required training in Morse code , he was also responsible for all technical issues, and would carry out repairs and maintenance on the 307s. Pan Am aircraft had one additional crew member compared to T&WA aircraft. Because they made long overwater flights, they carried a navigator, who was not yet considered necessary by
19684-488: Was approached with the idea. A ceiling of at least 16,000 ft (4,900 m) was required to avoid summertime "chop" over the Rocky Mountains , and to allow the aircraft to fly around the thunderstorms that can sometimes block mountain passes, which meant a pressurized cabin would be the most comfortable for passengers on long flights. In 1935, Boeing then designed a four-engine airliner using components from
19832-526: Was assigned to the Pan Am Boeing 307s, allowing commercial deliveries to commence. A second ATC was issued for the TWA aircraft, number 726, due to the numerous differences between the Pan Am and T&WA aircraft. T&WA was concerned about excessive undercarriage stiffness from their experience with the test flights with the XB-17, which were to be modified for the airliner. T&WA flight tested
19980-411: Was covered for a replacement cost of $ 500,000, with hull coverage and passenger liability, carried by Aero Insurance Underwriters and Associated Aviation Underwriters, despite the fact that Boeing was offering to sell the aircraft to KLM for much less than that. Another company that Boeing was in discussions with was Australian National Airways , who they quoted $ 310,000 per Stratoliner, or $ 340,000 for
20128-574: Was fitted with extra fuel tanks and was ready for the first leg of the round-the-world attempt when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, causing the attempt to be cancelled. Hughes' aircraft was stored in Glendale, California for the duration of the war, prior to being converted into a flying condo. Hughes had the extra fuel tanks removed, and for around $ 250,000, he had it fitted with much more powerful Wright R-2600 engines for its transformation into "The Flying Penthouse", which included
20276-569: Was flown in July 1942 from London to Washington to meet with North American leaders, with the engines leaned out so much that the last leg of the trip was able to skip numerous stops, so that they ended up being in the air for 21 hours 16 minutes when they arrived in Washington. On July 10, 1942, Ascension Island 's airfield opened in South Atlantic, shortening the hazardous transatlantic leg enough that smaller aircraft could now make
20424-455: Was halted, preventing any further deliveries. TWA first service flight was chosen to be on July 8, 1940, to coincide with anniversary of TAT's 48 hour coast-coast service, which had used trains for night legs. TWA's Stratoliners flew between Los Angeles and New York , making three stops. TWA's Burbank - La Guardia flight via Chicago was 2 hours quicker than for a DC-3 (13:40 east and 15:38 west) with 3 stops in each direction. The main route
20572-494: Was initially set up at the crowded Washington Bolling Field but was soon transferred all of their operations to nearby Washington National Airport . Passengers continued to be loaded at Bolling Field, after flying the short hop from Washington National Airport. The first north Atlantic crossing was in March 1942, when a flight from Washington to Prestwick carried senior military and government officials to Europe, which included
20720-443: Was made when icing problems during a test flight on May 17, 1940, with NC19905, while carrying dignitaries in overcast conditions in the mountains resulted in three of the four engines failing, while the fourth was losing power, despite every measure being taken to clear the ice. This resulted in the aircraft making a belly landing in a field with a partially lowered undercarriage, just south of Lamar, Colorado . T&WA then modified
20868-492: Was of all metal construction, skinned with 24ST Alclad and capable of maintaining a cabin pressure equivalent to 8,000 ft (2,400 m) when flying at a 16,000 ft (4,900 m) altitude, and a 12,000 ft (3,700 m) cabin pressure when at 20,000 ft (6,100 m), with a maximum pressure difference of 2.5 lb/sq ft (12 kg/m ). The structure was designed with strength reserves so as to handle as much as 6 lb/sq ft (29 kg/m ), but
21016-470: Was provided with adjustable air conditioning vents, reading lights, and a call button. Nine additional seats were provided along the port side of the aircraft, while washrooms which doubled as dressing rooms were provided at both ends of the cabin. The rear washroom was for women and was named the "ladies charm room". Its walls were covered in heavy plate glass mirrors, and it contained in its 34 sq ft (3.2 m ) area two dressing tables, each with
21164-411: Was rejected, and KLM found Boeing's response to providing for the next of kin unsatisfactory, a disagreement that was not cleared up until after World War 2. The insurance coverage on the aircraft was sufficiently large that it had the insurance industry worried about fallout, and as was the norm at the time, neither passengers nor crew could get coverage from any insurance company, but the aircraft itself
21312-443: Was returned to Hughes. It languished unflown until August 1965, when it was damaged beyond repair by Hurricane Cleo , with only about 500 hours on the airframe. It was then bought for $ 69 by Kenneth W. London, who cut the damaged wings and tail off, built a hull under it, and installed a pair of V-8 engines to convert it into a houseboat which he named Londonaire . After various repossessions, deaths and failed sales later, it became
21460-488: Was shot at by a US Navy ship that left over 200 holes in the aircraft's tail, and which nearly severed the elevator controls. Many transatlantic trips were made at night, so the navigator could get good star sightings. By 1944 the USAAF had enough long range transports that it no longer needed the small number of C-75s it had, and sold the fleet back to TWA, with the aircraft being transferred between January 6, 1944, and December 19, 1944. On August 11, 1942, ICD had received
21608-451: Was shut off when the cabin was pressurized at higher altitudes. The cockpit was fitted with an autopilot, radios and a radio direction finder (RDF) for navigation. The noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy designed the passenger cabin, with furnishings provided by Marshall Field's . It was divided into four compartments, each with six deep comfortable reclining chairs which could be converted into 16 sleeping berths. Each compartment
21756-406: Was situated at the rear of the cabin, behind which was positioned the rear hemispherical pressure bulkhead. Up to 412 cu ft (11.7 m ) or 6,590 lb (2,990 kg) of baggage could be stowed under the floor of the cabin, both between the wing spars, and behind the rear spar, which was accessible in flight through a hatch in the cabin floor, or on the ground through three hatches on
21904-598: Was the only available landplane transport capable of transatlantic flights with any payload. Seaplanes were too slow and not numerous enough, while the Douglas C-54 Skymaster would not enter service until March 1942 and took months to be available in any numbers, aside from a few ad-hoc conversions from Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers, the Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express would not be ready until September 1942, and
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