The 377 Stratocruiser & KC-97 Stratofreighter: Boeing's Great Post War Transports

Author:   Bill Yenne
Publisher:   Crecy Publishing
ISBN:  

9780859791793


Pages:   224
Publication Date:   30 April 2014
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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The 377 Stratocruiser & KC-97 Stratofreighter: Boeing's Great Post War Transports


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Overview

"What happens when a Seattle planemaker takes the most advanced, longest-ranged, highest flying super bomber of World War II (the B-29 Superfortress) and adapts it as the longest-ranged, highest flying transport of the immediate postwar world? The result was Boeing's Model 367, originally conceived as a long-range transport that would have had a role in World War II if the campaign had gone longer, but which was adapted for the commercial market as the Model 377 Stratocruiser. It was the first commercial passenger plane that could provide non-stop Transatlantic service. The Stratocruiser went on to serve with Pan American World Airways, Northwest Airlines, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and other airlines, flying both the Atlantic and the Pacific, as well as to the Middle East and South America. It became the gold standard of luxury and efficiency. When Elizabeth II made her first world tour as queen, she flew by BOAC Stratocruiser. And then there was the Cold War. To counter the Soviet nuclear threat, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) initiated an unprecedented build-up of jet bombers. Because these lacked global range, SAC also required an exceptional build-up of aerial refueling aircraft. The Model 367 became the KC-97, the first dedicated aerial refueling aircraft to be fielded in significant numbers, as 888 were built. As the family grew long in the tooth, yet another career awaited. Several of the original airframes were rebuilt as the inimitable ""Guppies,"" the largest volume transports ever conceived. Working for NASA, they are credited with having made America's victory in the Space Race possible. This book tells and how service continued around the world, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, one of the Guppies is still flying routine missions for NASA."

Full Product Details

Author:   Bill Yenne
Publisher:   Crecy Publishing
Imprint:   Crecy Publishing
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.00cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   1.066kg
ISBN:  

9780859791793


ISBN 10:   0859791793
Pages:   224
Publication Date:   30 April 2014
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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Grab this excellent effort. --David L. Veres Cybermodeler Online (09/16/2014)


Author Information

"A prolific author, Bill Yenne has written more than three dozen books on various historical topics including aviation, as well as several novels. He contributed to encyclopedias of both world wars, and has been a featured authority in television documentaries on the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, and German Television. In 2016, Yenne was awarded the prestigious Gill Robb Wilson Award by the U.S. Air Force. Yenne, whose books have been included in Amazon's ""100 Best Books of the Year,"" currently lives in San Francisco, California."

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