Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

what is it?

The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on 8 July 1947. Design features included passenger decks and a pressurized cabin.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 43.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 603 km/htop speed
• range 6,900 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 100passengers
• size 67.1 tmax take-off weight
• built 56made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 79 years ago, in 1947.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 43.1 m: about 10 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 6,900 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1947-07-08

introduced

1949

retired

1963

status

retired

number built

56

role

airliner

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Boeing

engines

4× Pratt & Whitney R-4360-B6 Wasp Major

crew

4

passengers

100

length

33.6 m

wingspan

43.1 m

height

11.7 m

max take-off weight

67.1 t

top speed

603 km/h

cruise speed

484 km/h

range

6,900 km

ceiling

9,754 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.