Pan Am Strat pic

[garryrussell]

Maybe not the greatast of pics...but what impresses me, is this particular shot shows just how big the thing was.....for those days anyhow.

So many pics....well most really, show an aeroplane in isolation and as such nothing much to scale it.

The height of the fin is impressive to say the least.

www.airlinehobby.com/listings/details/index.cfm?itemnum=639166441&referer=/index.cfm

Garry

[Tom/CalClassic]

It was big alright - I have a model of it next to a Connie and Viscount (same scale), and it dwarfs them.

[dave mcqueen]

I recall from being in the PAA hangar at SFO it was also intimidating standing in front of the nose and looking up at the cockpit windows. The double bubble fuselage bulges out at you.

[sunny9850]

The very tall Rudder or rather the maintenance problems it brings with it are what brought us the triple vertical surfaces on the Connie.

Too bad the C-97G at WJF is in such sad shape. Otherwise that one would be easily accessible for all kinds of project info.

Stefan

[jesse]

Boeing had that problem with their B-50 also, the verticle stab was so much taller than that used on the B-29 it would not fit into the mainenance hangars. It was necessary for Boeing to modify the tail so it would fold over to allow the plane to be serviced.

Jesse

[jesse]

Apr 3, 2010 19:24:00 GMT -5 dave mcqueen said:

I recall from being in the PAA hangar at SFO it was also intimidating standing in front of the nose and looking up at the cockpit windows. The double bubble fuselage bulges out at you.

Nice looking models, Dave. Are those yours? I like the AN-2 you have.

Jesse

[dave mcqueen]

Hi Jesse,
Yes, those are mine. The light blue - "meatball" scheme was one I bought from a guy in Japan in 1966. Cost me $35 including shipping! Its made of some kind of hard ceramic. The props are metal. The lower one is much older and I got it at an airline swap meet sometime in the 1990s. It has no propellers and the nose wheel is missing, but still a great old paint scheme. They are 1/72 scale and are ex-travel agent's display models. The Antonov 2 (not the same scale - I don't know what scale it is ) was one I bought from a guy - Alex Panchenko - who came to the US from the Ukraine after the fall of the USSR. Its supposed to be a display model from the Antonov factory but I have no documentation. The prop does not move. It is nicely detailed. Alex had many models from the USSR including one with the modified bomber M-4 Bison carrying the Soviet Space Shuttle. He wanted too much money for me to bite on that one, ha. I also bought from him an Ilyushin 18 turboprop that I have atop that dusty book shelf.

[vhbob]

G'Day All

Seeing some interest in models of the Stratocruiser, don't overlook the excellent 1/72nd scale model kits produced by Academy. these are available as an all bare metal scheme PAA Stratocruiser, a USAF C-97 and KC-97 tankers with and without auxillary jets. Decals for the beautiful TAL scheme can be obtained from many of the on line model shops.

Trev. (vhbob).

[garryrussell]

Regrettably that is one type I have never seen, in any form........nor a DC 7 for that matter, despite being 52

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

I never saw a Strat, but have seen a KC-97 on display. I used to see UAL DC-7's while I was leaning on the waist high chain link fence at the Sacramento airport - always my favorite. But not many DC-7's flew in Britain, that's for sure.

[Defender]

My father knew the BOAC cargo manager at Prestwick and I once got to see round a Stratocruiser cockpit via the forward lower cargo hold and a ladder up through a trapdoor to the cockpit.

This was no ordinary aeroplane!

Bill

[dave mcqueen]

There was a Northwest Airlines B377 in Tuscon in storage until the mid-80s. It was one of Aero-spacelines planes that didn't get used in the Guppy program. I saw a photo of it in a book and took a fam trip down to Tuscon ( CCR - LAX - TUS BAC146/MD80 ) around 1986 and when I got to the place where they were storing the aircraft I was told that it had been broken up several months earlier. I was pretty disappointed so I went over to Pima Air Museum to lift my spirits.

[Tom/CalClassic]

You caught a rare flight - CCR to LAX on a PSA BA146. I flew on one from SFO to LAX - interesting plane. Flew SMF to SFO on a HAW DC-9-32 "Flying Banana".

And Pima is a nice way to ease the disappointment.

[pung]

I'm with Garry, in all my watching in Kansas City, I don't know if a 377 ever landed in Kansas City. I did see a Stratotanker fly over when I was really young, buy not that low, and only one.

[gdmii]

From my younger days in the USAF. I'm the second from the right in the back row with short sleeves.

George