Articles
From «Popular Science», April 1946
Superliners for World Skyways
New commercial transport planes, shrinking the United States to 1/200 the size of a century ago in terms of time, are incorporating a brand-new concept of comfort for the passenger. When airliners began operations in the late 1920s the mechanics of operation were a primary consideration with designer and air-carrier companies. Today cushion rubber chairs, modernistic lounges, and temperature controls are deemed as important as the navigational devices up front. To those are added speed; transcontinental flight in the Lockheed Constellation, for instance, is a matter of 10 hours, and crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Washington, D. C., and Paris, France, takes less than 13 hours. Designers and engineers are preparing other titans to speed the new era of air travel — Douglas' DC-6, the huge Stratocruiser by Boeing, and the gigantic Model 37, by Consolidate Vultee. Soon a passenger may breakfast in London, enjoy a late lunch in New York, and go to bed that evening in Los Angeles.
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| First postwar luxury air transport to enter service, the Constellation plies between coasts in 10 hours. Passengers getting aboard at New York after the theater reach Los Angeles for a late breakfast. |
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Double-decked Boeing Stratocruiser has made a record of slightly over six hours from Seattle to Washington, D. C. This comfortably upholstered airliner will carry up to 114 passengers or 39,000 pounds of cargo at speeds well over 300 m.p.h. Cabin is pressurized to the atmospheric equivalent of a 6,000-foot level. |
| Up to 70 passengers will be carried by day in the Douglas DC-6 (left), while at night the capacity will be 26. Speed and comfort are stressed. |
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In Convair's Model 110, Henry Dreyfuss has made good use of indirect lighting, polaroid windows, reclining chairs, in interior design. |
| Here's the biggest airliner of the lot — Consolidated Vultee's Model 37. Weighing 320,000 pounds it will be nearly twice as heavy as any land plane yet flown. Six gas-turbine engines will drive the giant. |
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Just what do these new giants offer?
Constellations carry 57 passengers more than twice as fast as the familiar veteran, the 180-mil-an-hour DC-3. The fuselage in cross section is a perfect circle. Two superchargers pour fresh air into the cabin to hold pressure at a simulated level of not more than 8,000 feet, and heating and refrigeration control the temperature. Circular windows enable passers to enjoy unfolding view. More than 100 Constellations are being rushed to completion.
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The greater space and comfort provided for Stratocruiser pilots inspired Ernest Norling, Boeing designer, to draw this conception of a flier's dream. |
When the DC-6 makes its appearances, it will be 80 inches longer than the DC-4 and will cruise at about 275 m.p.h. Passengers will enter this plane through a door aft of the wings. They will relax in cushion-rubber chairs, and stewardesses will serve meals from buffets near the door.
The two decks of the Stratocruiser have been created by building one fuselage above the other. The bottom section is as wide as the Army's Superfortress. The upper is slightly larger.
Consolidated Vultee's Model 37, developing 30,000 horsepower, will have a cruising speed of 342 m.p.h. This monster will be nearly twice as heavy as any land plan yet flown. On nonstop flights up to 4,200 miles, 204 passengers will enjoy the comfort of four cabins on two decks.
These planes use plenty of gas. At take-off, the Model 37's six big engines will consume fuel faster than you could bail it out of a barrel with a 10-quart pail, but they develop more power than 360 Ford V-8 engines. The electrical system would supply a town of 5,000.
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Each berth of the DC-6 has an outside window. Lowers are 76 inches long, uppers 78 inches, both about 40 inches wide. Bedding and end panels are stored in upper berth. |
| A cross section of proposed Pan American Clipper, showing the interior of the 204-passenger transport. Upper deck has lounge and rest rooms, lower has staterooms. |
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