My brother when he left the Navy, went to work for Pan American, at Idlewild Airport in NYC. Part of his Navy training was in Avionics and he work with others on this Airliner. He was with Pan Am until it's demise. He was two years short of retirment, but in all his time with Pan Am, he loved the StratoCruiser the best of all the aircraft that was in Pan Am's livery. This video/film reminds me of a simpler time in the USA. Thank you for showing it.

@watchgoose

7 жыл бұрын

Idlewild!!!

@veratilaknoievaheutum8590

7 жыл бұрын

watchgoose It's now JFK Airport in Jamaica Queens New York City. If you listen to the song in the opening credits of the old television series "Car 54 Where Are You." It mentions Idlewild airport.

@papuette

7 жыл бұрын

nice to see people talking good thing about his brother in hate times.

@kanakasabhainatarajan7192

7 жыл бұрын

It is so nice to see your comments. Boeing Stratocruiser being a double decker in olden times is liked by all today. Though it was a failure and only 55 were made of which 11 were lost due to accidents it reminds people of good service, global travel in olden times done in style . Flying is commoditised today and cabin crew is insensitive like the passengers. Thanks for sharing your views on brother.

@susangillette5503

5 жыл бұрын

Gu hi

The safety record of the 377 was appalling. Propellor failures caused several fatal crashes and at least one non-fatal ditching in the Pacific. I had a friend many years ago who flew as a stewardess on 377s for PAA. Her best friend was among the crew of Clipper Romance Of The Skies which vanished over the Pacific Ocean.

@michaelmartinez1345

11 ай бұрын

Was that plane ever found? What Airline / flight # was it? What year did that happen?

@hadial-saadoon2114

11 ай бұрын

@@michaelmartinez1345 several bodies were recovered, but there is no definite answer as to what caused the fatal crash. The plane was flying from SFO to Hawaii on the first leg of a round the world flight. Google the PAA name of the plane and you’ll find links to the story.

@jerseyterry6951

11 ай бұрын

Short-lived Romance

@thomastharp2391

11 ай бұрын

24:44

@stevehall5299

11 ай бұрын

You couldn't have paid me to fly on one ,Not a chance !

I always loved flying and was fortunate to go through USAF pilot training in class 61-F. I flew the KC-97G model for 4 years on active duty at both Lockbourne AFB in Columbus Ohio and Pease AFB in Portsmouth NH. The airlines were hiring in May of 1965 and I started with UAL. 34 years later I retired as a 747-400 Captain. It's been a great ride and I'm still flying a Cessna 150 Texas taildragger now just for fun.

@PeriscopeFilm

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your service to our great nation.

@terryofford4977

7 жыл бұрын

WOW!, you really have had a good life, I like the bit about the tail dragger, Ha Ha,good fun tho' a slight difference 'tween that and the 747-400 (Also a beautiful aircraft.)when I was in the Airforce, all the kites were tail draggers.

@redbarontrains

7 жыл бұрын

I remember as a 12 year old boy, cycling 20 miles to see the Stratocruser of BOAC at London Heathrow.

@boydbid2

7 жыл бұрын

I remember it from the control tower at Gander, Newfoundland: and lawdy what a long time ago that was!

@torgeirbrandsnes1916

2 жыл бұрын

Great job! What was your favorite plane and destination at UAL? Have you seen the home movies from a UAL captain? He is flying the DC-6 just before it is retired in 1969/70. He also finished on the 747-400. Greetings from Norway!

Nice video. This was the first airplane I ever flew on, when I was a kid. We were immigrating to the US and flew from Frankfurt, Germany to NYC in 1953. It was a long trip but I enjoyed every second of it. Watching them starting the engines, then when brought to full power prior to takeoff, it was visceral. I still have some seat pocket PAA memorabilia from that flight. And yeah, I recall everyone did dress like this back then.

@henryostman5740

Жыл бұрын

back in those days my father and his friends would wear a suit to a picnic or going to the beach.

@truthseeker2321

Жыл бұрын

@@henryostman5740 Lol, a lot of men wore suits to work in steel mills, and other dirty ,grime filled places, and changed into work clothes in locker rooms then. When I was a little boy in the early 70's, I remember seeing mostly guys older than my dad wearing suits with hats everywhere. All of the men wore suits and hats ,and most of the women wore skirts and scarfs. Seems like a thousand years ago now.

@chumbawaumbacumpa

Жыл бұрын

@@truthseeker2321 We have women wearing pantsuits, and “men” wearing skirts and scarves now. Every time I dress nice in a public outing, I get weird stares from all sorts of people. It seems as though dressing nice is not only less common than it once was, but I’d even go as far as to say it’s somewhat discouraged by many.

@truthseeker2321

Жыл бұрын

@I’m hungry I know what you mean. I don't wear suits myself, except for certain occasions, I usually just dress casual. I think it's not that it's discouraged, but rather out of style these days. I can't remember any of my classmates wearing anything to school in the 70's and early 80's, other than jeans, rock concert tee shirts and athletic shoes. Now I think kids go to school wearing baggy shorts or sweat pants, because sometimes on my way home from work I'll get stuck behind a school bus, and that seems to be the attire that they are wearing when they get off the bus.

@hendrikvanspankeren251

3 ай бұрын

Amazing. Do you have pictures of the memorabilia you could send or post? That would be amazing!

My family and I actually flew in the plane in the video, the Clipper Golden Gate. In 1958, it crash landed in Manila and crushed the downstairs lounge as we landed with no landing gear in a violent storm.

@thepinkyprincesspoetc.a.5767

Жыл бұрын

My Dads name is Lonnie too💜

@JetFire9

Жыл бұрын

We know. We were all on that plane that fateful day.

@trs-80fanclub12

Жыл бұрын

@@JetFire9 I forgot to lock the wheel. I was -11 years old, I should have known better

@staceygrahame2504

Жыл бұрын

@@mommymilestones They probably commented as it’s an unusual name and maybe haven’t heard of anyone else being called it until now. Their comment was an innocent observation. Not an invite for you to be a rude ass for no reason. Next time keep out of what doesn’t involve you.

@staceygrahame2504

Жыл бұрын

Did the plane get put out of service after that?

Sadly, I missed the Stratoliner. I came in with the DC-7 and 7c. It's the reason why flying bores me so much I hate it. Dirty people dressed like they were going to wash cars...pushing and shoving like it was free seating....taking their shoes off...arguing with flight personnel....and on my first flight I had a steak dinner served to me on airline china by a fully uniformed stewardess in heels. The passengers were all dressed; I was wearing a suit and I was only 15 years old. Breaks my heart to see those mini bags of peanuts and other garbage available now, much less those overpriced boxes of junk food you can buy for $20. We called it "The Romance of Flight". Now it's more like a Greyhound bus with wings.

@coptertim

2 ай бұрын

I just noticed your comment about airline travel today and you hit it on the head. I grew up around aviation and my dad was a frequent business flyer. For him and most all men, flying meant suit and tie, fedora hat and for the ladies it was a beautiful gown. To me, it is one symptom of all the other things we've lost today.

Sad to say, "Clipper Golden Gate," seen in the early sequences of the film crashed upon landing in Manila on June 2, 1958. My family lived in Manila at the time, and the house was not too far from the airport. We heard the plane fly over, and at lunch, heard that the plane had crashed moments after the fly-over. The weather was grim that morning, with heavy rain and heavy winds, and while the main cause of the crash was the landing gear collapsing, the weather was also found to be a factor. That sais, oh, boy: did I love those Stratocruisers! Yes, they had berths; yes, they had sleeper seats; yes, it had the lower lounge (there was kind of an unspoken understanding that children were allowed down there in the daytime, but come cocktail time, Adults Only); and yes, you had the full meals (yum!); yes, the cabin crew had time to be more than flying hash-house waiters/waitresses; and yes, each child aboard was invited up the tour the cockpit. (Heavy sigh.) Those sure were the days!

@duanetrivett750

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Willy Boy , i very much enjoyed your story ! Thank you much Sir .

@willyboy3581

Жыл бұрын

@@duanetrivett750 Hello, Duane. And thanks for your kind words about my personal little anecdote regarding Pan American's "Clipper Golden Gate" Stratocruiser. Somewhere here on KZread, there is - or was - another documentary on Pan Am and the Stratocruiser; one viewer wrote in and said he was passenger on the plane when it crashed. After a refueling stop in Manila, the flight was to have continued on to Singapore. Fortunately, as the crash was of the "belly landing" variety , there was only one casualty. As for the Stratocruiser itself, while it was a wonderfully comfortable plane from the passenger's point of view, apparently it wasn't very economical and it had a disturbingly high number of crashes or technical glitches. And as for Pan Am? Sad, sad, sad; if you're at all interested, there are a couple of excellent documentaries here on KZread profiling it its history --- including its demise.

@anthonywilfredwong4545

Жыл бұрын

They were the equivalent of the B747s of the 70s.

@johnhayhurst7429

Жыл бұрын

Were these aircraft modified B-29's, or were they just based on the technology gained in the bomber's development?

@willyboy3581

Жыл бұрын

@@johnhayhurst7429 Hi, John: As I understand it, they were new planes based on the technology developed during the designing and building of the B-29s. Doing a quick Google search, only 56 were built (very comfortable to ride, but not particularly economical to fly).

Well that's it! This video has convinced me! I'm booking my next flight with Pan Am so I can fly on one of these new Stratocruisers!😆

@johnathanstevens8436

Жыл бұрын

My guide to the world's fair says they are the official airline!

@bobby1970

Жыл бұрын

I'm just glad I went on a Pan Am flight just in time before they went belly up (bankrupt). I flew onboard a Pan Am Boeing 727-200 from Tampa to Miami, I think in 1990 or 1991.

@whaheydelee

Жыл бұрын

Make sure you pay attention to the 'No Smoking' sign.

@truthseeker2321

Жыл бұрын

@@bobby1970 My only flight on Pan Am,was from JFK to Frankfurt Germany in 1982. Two years later, I came back on a MAC flight, from Frankfurt to St. Louis. I think the Pan Am aircraft I took to Frankfurt, might have been the same one that exploded over Lockerbie Scotland in 1988.

@bobby1970

Жыл бұрын

@@truthseeker2321 Wow, that's very eerie that you very well could have been on that plane on your trip to Germany. At least you weren't on that very plane and flight on the day it crashed.

Boeing Stratocruiser N1023V featured towards the beginning of this wonderful time capsule film...damaged beyond repair in landing accident (single passenger fatality when broken prop struck cabin, otherwise all aboard survived) in Manila, 1958.

2:24 Gee, nice to see safety was a top priority. "Frank and Bob, just jump on that pallet so I can lift you up on the forklift to load the food supplies ... just don't step too far to the left or right".

@stevenmeadows6917

4 ай бұрын

There's always one........

@thepsychologist8159

4 ай бұрын

@@stevenmeadows6917 Well, as they claimed in the movie Highlander "there can be only one".

Amazing. The planes that connected the world for the fist time. While expensive, travel was a sign of class and achievement. Thank you to the men and women who made us what we are today.

In 1957 my dad and I flew in this plane from Sydney to Los Angeles with Pan American. In 1958 we flew the same route in the Lockheed Constellation with Qantas. The Connie was quieter and faster. But you can see the dna for the B29.

@911gpd

7 жыл бұрын

you're old :)

@leonardchapman8373

7 жыл бұрын

Old is good....

@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO

7 жыл бұрын

In some ways anyway....

@henryostman5740

Жыл бұрын

the Connie was the best of the piston engine airliners, it was offered with turboprops but no airline wanted that option, too bad, that would allow it to go faster and higher and be a lot more reliable.

@russellleaming5250

Жыл бұрын

@@leonardchapman8373 Still breathing and having a pulse is even better! :)

As an aviation geek, this video was amazing to watch. Simply amazing how far we have come since the 1940's with aircraft. I love how they used to make these movie style clips to showcase aircraft, its a real shame they don't do it anymore. Thanks so much for uploading this classic.

@johnmrobertsonrblx594

6 жыл бұрын

Not just that either, also with stuff from the civil defense and other federal departments.

@nassermj7671

6 жыл бұрын

Boeing Field Seattle bud. As a pilot i'm enthralled at the sight of the 1st 747, Prez Kennedy's plane and many many more

@johnmrobertsonrblx594

6 жыл бұрын

We are talking about the COMMENTARY, not where the aircraft was built...

@dfirth224

Жыл бұрын

Before TV, audiences saw these "ads" at the movie theater.

@thepsychologist8159

Жыл бұрын

I think they did one for the Boeing 737 Max, demonstrating its power and lift capabilities. What a dud that plane turned out to be.

‘It’s a meal any house wife would be proud to serve’ As I look down at my meal of microwaved mash and canned stew.

Amused to notice that the Time Magazine appearing at 20:42 is the March 28, 1949 issue on which Juan Trippe appears on the cover.

A transportation company tried to restore Pan Am as a regional carrier back in the early 2000's. The parent company, Pan Am Railways, which is a freight company based in Massachusetts, set up headquarters at Pease International Airport in Portsmouth, NH. When you treat passengers like cargo freight, things don't go well. And it didn't. The general public was thrilled to have a carrier closer than Boston or Manchester, NH. Pan Am had a great opportunity to capture a large segment of Seacoast NH and Southern Maine. Sadly, inept management and lack of focus on passengers brought an end to Pan Am's rebirth.

@russellleaming5250

Жыл бұрын

PAA v.2.0 briefly provided daily service to "Gary/Chicago International Airport KGYY" (what a pretentious name!). A large part of their eventual demise was that they (similar to Amtrak) provided mostly destinations that were at best smaller and less desirable towns (not really cities). How many people do you suppose were actually interested in travelling from Gary, IN to Sarasota, FL?

This was when passengers were treated like human beings, not cattle.

@joea.9969

7 жыл бұрын

Armafly The demise of Pan Am meant the end of good treatment on planes.TWA dying was the nail in the coffin

@prylosecorsomething3194

7 жыл бұрын

way better that united Airlines and their hunger games

@terryofford4977

7 жыл бұрын

Cindy, you are absolutely correct, Pan Am and TWA were the last of the passenger oriented airlines, what we have these days are money grubbing, profit making machines who, unfortunately have to make their money by carrying passengers, Ugh, treated worse than cattle, packed in like sardines in a can, with crews who are worked harder than ever, the target today is the bottom line period! I yearn for the old days, alas, gone forever.

@unclebob6728

7 жыл бұрын

Moo!

@bkwrm1755

7 жыл бұрын

In 1955 a 'tourist class' ticket to from San Francisco to Honolulu cost the equivalent of $2593 in 2016 dollars. If you want to pay that much you can still get fantastic service from almost any airline. Don't be surprised if the luxuries go away a bit when the ticket price drops 90%. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_377_Stratocruiser

When flying had elegance . Lady’s gents dressed up with manners and a smile . Today trailer trash fights , arrested woman men fighting with each over and the flight crew where did we go wrong folks

Look at the width of those seats, those were the days, my friend, and edible food too. Ah yes, one could still get something for a buck, like a pack of cigs. and get enough change back for a cup of coffee, or two!

@terryofford4977

7 жыл бұрын

You are right about the seat widths and don't forget that you could set your seat way back, have a good snooze, you can't do that today or the guy behind you will likely bash you over the head with his Laptop, another notable item was the fact that people were NOT so fat and horrible days gone by, look at many of todays animals. A recent rip to Vietnam I witnessed several 'Ladies' and many men who had to ask for belt extensions as the standard belt width doesn't serve a 55" inch waist line OMG, how times have changed. I have heard people describing the 'economy seats as 'Cattle Class' then looking at the size, and often the smell of these 'people' make me yearn for good old days when people acted in a civilised manner.

@donaldstanfield8862

5 жыл бұрын

An ad for this plane stated the seats were 51" wide!!

My mother flew from Chicago to Tokyo on a NW Orient Stratocruser in 1955 to meet my father, who was stationed at Yokosuka.

I remember being a little kid in the late 70's and flying Delta unescorted with my sister - ages five and eight! We always got a tour of the cockpit along with meeting the captain and crew and we ALWAYS dressed up for flights in our best clothing. We also always got a deck of cards to keep us busy and little plastic planes wit wings so sharp, an X-Acto would be jealous!

@superchicken5285

Жыл бұрын

l know what you mean about wearing your "Sunday best" l live in Vegas where people use to get dressed up to the nines for a night on the strip, now it's T-shirts, shorts a flip-flops. l guess "self pride" along with common sense has gone by the wayside. Very, very sad. Hell even when l was a kid my parents would go out on Friday night for dinner and get dressed up. WTF has happened to us?

@TS-qd2uj

Жыл бұрын

I remember buying and smoking cigarettes in the cabin in my teens. Nobody batted an eye. I think if they could charge you for breathing now, they would. It's simply not worth it anymore.

@charles1964

Жыл бұрын

@@superchicken5285 Diversity

Ironic that while people have gotten bigger their seat space has been minmised...thank you share holders

At 10:32 on this video, we hear the voice of John Charles Daly, the moderator of the popular TV game show "What's My Line". Daly was also a news announcer, and he was the first radio reporter to announce to America that the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941.

All the passengers are dressed so lovely.

Nice to hear John Daley's voice as the "flight engineer" and the secondary voice on the film.

I missed this era, but I still remember propeller planes and stops in the Azores for refueling. The 1970s was a great time with almost empty planes, 747 lounges, parties on board. Lot's of fun.

Even with the terrifying safety records the golden age of commercial aviation must have been amazing.

@ 3:47 '...the pilot's parlour' That's a great name for the cockpit!

"A constant flow of fresh air". Let's smoke!

When air travel was an exciting adventure. Now it is just a gigantic pain in the posterior.

@PhilippeLarcher

7 жыл бұрын

Elizabeth Reign Castillo you could not fly at all for the cost of today air travel. The people in this video would fly private or first today.

@keithwaites9991

3 ай бұрын

Yep, actually getting there was exciting

I really miss Pam Ann Airlines. I really thought they would have to stay in business at least till the year " 2001 ".

Flying at 25,000 feet is amazing. I've flown on a Q400 a few times and their service ceiling is 25,000'. Much better window views :)

@klocknerdeutz

Жыл бұрын

Yes, but less weather at 35-40,000’ ;)

@hoofie2002

Жыл бұрын

I've done Concorde at 60,000. You can see the subtle curve of the Earth and if you look upwards it's darker as the atmosphere is thinner

Light up those cigarettes and taste that 7 course meal. Sure it took 11 hours and not 5, but getting there is half the fun. Check out that legroom.

@CaesarInVa

7 жыл бұрын

I can only speak for myself, but I'd willingly tolerate longer flight times and slower speeds for more leg room and comfort.

@mountnman3609

7 жыл бұрын

In 1950, a round trip ticket from Chicago to Phoenix cost $138, in todays dollars that would be $1168. Today, it's $215-$390. Flying First Class today would cost $583-$937. Economy seat is 17.2" wide with 31" pitch. First Class is 21" wide with a pitch of 38". In other words, you can have more leg room and comfort by paying for First class today and it would be relatively cheaper than coach of 1950.

@WhiteCamry

7 жыл бұрын

+mountnman3609 How much by train?

@keithwaites9991

3 ай бұрын

And if you actually get there, that's all of the fun (they had a terrible Hull loss percentage, and cruising at less than 20.000 ft couldn't have been 'fun' in bad weather)

Pan Am and TWA were great airline companies. Now we have Walmart of the skies airlines

@matthewwelsh294

Жыл бұрын

Aka Spirit 😂 😂

Yep! They were right calling this "The Golden Age of Aviation"!

Since Pan Am officially launched their Boeing 377 Stratocruiser flights in July 1947, this film dates from shortly after they were already in service.

The model shown @ 8:14 and described as a "Fokker F7" is in fact a Ford 4-AT "Trimotor". The Fokker's wing was raised slightly above the fuselage and its leading edge was even with the cockpit windscreen; not flush with the top with a set-back leading edge like the Ford's. The Fokker also didn't have windows above the cockpit because of the wing's placement. The angular rudder of the Ford is another easy identification feature. That's the first thing that caught my eye. The Fokker's is rounded.

@900108Chale

Жыл бұрын

Tx! I got completely confused when he mentioned a Fokker. No plane expert myself but something was off.

“A million and a half dollars wrapped in aluminum.” Sounds like my pot roast.

Thank you for this opportunity. Best regards from Italy.

Fantastic video! Love the Stratocruiser and Constellation! Keep these wonderful videos coming!

I think there's only been two double-decked airliners since: The Boeing 747 (with a small upper cabin above the first-class and crew compartments) and the Airbus 380.

@ 17:35 "radiant heating and air conditioning combined to keep a constant flow of fresh air..." As one guy hands another guy a cigarette.

I have absolutely no recollection of ever seeing a 49964. Quite a mouthful, really.

Pan Am: We need a bunch of airliners fast! Boeing: We have a lot of B-29 parts and tooling from the war, we'll whip up something.

That is an unusual Engine starting pattern. With multi engine aircraft it usually one engine on one side and then another on the opposite side, not all on one side and then the ones on the opposite side.

Boy, how things have changed. Would give anything for some of that "old school" airline stuff.

Back when smoking on a flight was normal and each seat came with a stiff drink...for obvious reasons. It's amazing how safe these were, all things considered.

@keithwaites9991

3 ай бұрын

But they weren't safe compared to modern aircraft

I flew on one of those across the Atlantic when I was a kid; New York -> Gander -> Shannon -> London

Dozens of Pillows.. Real Dinners.. Yes Airlines need to go back to these Standards ♥

@innocentbystander3798

Жыл бұрын

Sure... be prepared to pay.

Has nobody else noticed Robert Downey's dad looks just like his son? He seems to like getting high too but this for him means actually flying high in the sky. What a fascinating family. @7.24

@tom7601

7 жыл бұрын

taketimeout2 Kind of along the same line, Alan Hale Sr. was a big time actor in the silent movie era, the only one I remember is Robin Hood. His son, Alan Hale, Jr. was most famous as the Skipper on Gilligan's Island.

@joeyjamison5772

7 жыл бұрын

Alan Hale, Jr. was also 'Casey Jones' on the TV series that ran 1957-68.

@billtribble2904

Жыл бұрын

Legalize it! 🤗

Sad that we haven't made any gains toward comfort while flying (in coach at least) for over 60 years.

I loved this video for its historic value. It's an example of how the aircraft industry was trying to gain some value from all of the taxpayer's money that was invested in the development of large bomber and cargo aircraft and how what was learned and spent could be applied to the post war airline industry. Sometimes this idea works and as with the Boeing 377, it didn't. The radial engines in the B-29s were problematic from the beginning and issues continued with these complicated power plants as more and more demand was required from them. These engines created a maintenance nightmare that was costly and huge in relation to maintaining perpetual parts inventories around the world and the labor costs associated with them. (Having computers and the internet sure would have been handy.) Educating maintenance crews for these aircraft must have been a nerve wracking and costly task, considering the language barriers that existed in addition to the demands of flight schedules and the availability of safe and airworthy aircraft. The airline industry would have met its demise if it wasn't for some forward thinking and hard work on the part of Boeing with its jet engine power of the swept wing 707. The British were the first to incorporate jets into revenue service with the DeHavilland Comet, but they had their issues with deadly crashes due to air frame integrity failure and maintenance down time on the engines was high because of their engine's placement. The engines were incorporated into the wings for streamlining purposes. Regard for the maintenance crews gaining access was an afterthought. Boeing designers and engineers learned a lot from the jet bombers that were placed into operation at a rather fast pace because of the Cold War. The B-47 and B-52 both had their engines placed in pods that were hung beneath the wings. Engine access was simple and this excellent idea was quickly put to use with the 707. Other aircraft manufacturers also picked up on this great idea such as Douglas with their DC-8 and Convair with their numerous different models of civilian aircraft. In my opinion, the Boeing 707 saved the American airline industry with their innovation and ease of maintaining their new 707. Word spread like wildfire when a 707 was seen by thousands at an outdoor event as a 707 was witnessed doing a barrel roll maneuver on one of it's first test flights. The civilian jet age was born and the tangled web associated with keeping piston powered aircraft in the air became history in a very short time.

@wintersbattleofbands1144

Жыл бұрын

But MAN OH MAN, the Comet was a stunning looking aircraft. Of course the 3 and 4 variants solved most of the Comets issues, and the Nimrod variant proved itself in the long term, but the 707 was the future. Modern airliners still look much the same.

@truthseeker2321

Жыл бұрын

@@wintersbattleofbands1144 I fell asleep watching an old movie the other night, which featured a British Comet coming in for a landing. I remember thinking about those big windows, and how they had a tendency to blow out. Such a shame, for such a beautiful design.

@DoubleMonoLR

11 ай бұрын

@@truthseeker2321 They didn't have a tendency to blow out, and the cause for fatigue cracking has been oversimplified to "square windows" at many sources - including usually reputable ones. See the "Square window myths" section of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet

@DoubleMonoLR

11 ай бұрын

Boeing and others also all got the benefits of learning from the Comet. It seems likely that if any other company had released an equivalent(& likewise first) commercial plane at that time would've had major issues. The 707 was also introduced 6 years later, which was a long time in that era of aircraft advancement. Even the B-47 was only released around the same time as the comet - plenty of those crashed, along with some never found nuclear weapons.

Amazing documentary. Thanks!

From 1957-60 I worked on the engines, C-97's plane...real pain in the butt. Hickam AFB.

This was when passengers were treated like kings and queens. Now is the other way around. I can't till they invent teleporting.

@PhilippeLarcher

7 жыл бұрын

Real WeAreAllAmericans calculate the price in today's money. You could fly first easily for that price.

This airplane was born when I was born--a couple of years after the end of WWII, when American parents were giving birth to millions of us 'baby boomer' kids, and were helping to rebuild the whole world into something livable again. I see now that we boomers lived in probably the best period ever to be an America--all as a gift from the 'Greatest Generation' who paid dearly to give their kids the luxury of a life they never had. But all you new generations won't see that in these old b&w movies, and despite the stress of the Cold War that came along a short time later and lasted into our middle-age, won't know how living in that era was total joy compared to the crappy world YOU (I'll be leaving soon) live in now. You may love all the 'toys' you have now that we didn't, but you'll never experience the happiness my generation did. It's ALL gone now, and I don't see how in our current social climate it can possibly return. As they say, 'it was a good gig while it lasted'.

joseph and evelyn bellacicco took the fligh to rome 1957 the flight was all first class best fligh ever

Can't get Airplane the movie out of my head as i watch this. It's so presumptuous that it needs some levity... "Over, Over, roger Roger"...

Good video, thanks for uploading!

When did we stop taking such a pride in things that we did well?

Nice, thanks for uploading.

03:15 - *"...spaciousness designed for more than just elbowroom..."* They forgot all about that. In modern airliners we don't even have much elbowroom. "More than just elbowroom" is science fiction nowadays, unless you fly in business class.

Those were the good old days of aviation travel😀

Amazing only 4 decades after the first ever flight in a wire frame contraption to this monster! 😁

@billdurham8477

Жыл бұрын

Saturday I was at the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk. The USAF Museum in Dayton has a KC97, it is a beast. Yoosa point is well spaken. JJB

This was the "latest and newest" back in the 50's. A bit more leg room than today's modern cramped aircraft.

@jjaus

Жыл бұрын

And more than 10 times the price.

@DoubleMonoLR

11 ай бұрын

Pay the same as you did in the 50s and you'll probably be much *more* comfortable now. Modern aircraft aren't cramped, cheap seats are. There were no cheap seats then(even for "coach"), and likewise most people couldn't afford to fly. I think sometimes the leg room was also at least partly due to the weak lift of some aircraft. People today would also still be cramped in many seats from the 50s & 60s, as there were already seats that were narrow(even if with more leg room) and many people today are...let's say less small. La Compagnie also offer a business class only plane between NY & Paris, it's almost certainly nicer overall & still cheaper than a flight(for any class) would've been in the 50s.

The early intercontinental passenger planes were four-engine propeller designs. For their time they were technological marvels. A one-way trip from Honolulu to Japan in the late 1950s took only 18 hours whereas it took two weeks by passenger ship. Of course, back then American airliners had to make quick refueling stops at Wake Island or Guam. My elderly mother remembers being a passenger on such a flight. The technological marvel of only 18 hours on board was lost on her. It was torture. When she finally arrived in Japan, she was ready to kiss the ground. Today's jet airliners fly at speeds from 500 mph to 540 mph. Back then the prop jobs might cruise at best around 175 mph and that was considered fast cruising speed for propeller engines. It helped that the passenger plane was flying nearly in a straight line; nearly, because the plane had to slightly divert to a refueling station along the way, as mentioned, in Wake Island or Guam en route to the Far East. Post-WW2, the U.S. military maintained a number of military outposts in South Korea and Japan. My father was not so lucky. He had to take a two-week ship voyage out of San Francisco to Yokohama, Japan.

Now you tell me.Was The USA an amazing place back then or what?Horrible what has happened to this country,absolutely horrible.That plane is classic made in the USA with pride.

It’s amazing that the blueprints and many of the ensuing tests could be done on a laptop today using virtual reality. This is one of the reasons technology is advancing at a blinding rate today.

@itjustlookslikethis

11 ай бұрын

Imagine building a plane using a slide rule......

@DoubleMonoLR

11 ай бұрын

Aircraft aren't advancing at a blinding rate, they were changing much faster at the time this film was made than now. Changes on modern aircraft have been incremental for decades, and the *average* age of modern commercial jets is routinely nearly 25 years old. A 25 year old aircraft up until about the 1980s would've been wildly outdated. Likewise computing power increases are much slower than they were in the 80s and 90s, miniaturisation has perhaps been the biggest change in recent years. Heck technology such as usable/affordable holograms were expected by people in the 1990s to have been common well before now. People seem to assume all technology is changing faster now just because it's common in daily usage. Planes are still thoroughly tested in real flights, likewise deep knowledge, foresight, etc also have value beyond computer simulations/tools - as Boeing has unfortunately repeatedly shown with recent aircraft & manufacturing. I can't see VR helping testing much. Computers are just tools, they don't make anything. It's not amazing that anything could be made without a computer, and likewise being able to use a computer(which itself of course relies on designs & coding by knowledgable people) doesn't automatically make everything possible.

Amazing film, showing the luxury experience for wealthy passengers probably a bit like today when travelling first class, the Stratocruiser certainly a forerunner of the A380 flown by some carriers.

She had a nasty habit of throwing propellers and ditching in the Pacific. She lasted barely 10 years.

The other narrator at 10:40 is JOHN DALY, who was a correspondent for CBS Radio at the time- and later became best known as the moderator of "WHAT'S MY LINE?" for 17 years (1950-'67).

@almostfm

2 жыл бұрын

I didn't pick up on it until you mentioned it.

"A meal any housewife would be proud to serve!" Definitely a very different era!

@chumbawaumbacumpa

Жыл бұрын

You can still find women willing to make a good housewife these days. You just have to sift through a lot of corporate women whose diets consist of wine and antidepressants.

@DoubleMonoLR

11 ай бұрын

@@chumbawaumbacumpa Sure, all "corporate women" are like that, backwards attitude.

The music is perfect. Almost as perfect as the airplane.

Another time, a wonderful time, glad I was allowed to be alive during those wonderful times

Scary 1940s technology over confidence

Pan Am Clipper outbound from San Francisco, passing over the Golden Gate Bridge. Next stop, Honolulu International Airport, Territory of Hawaii. Final stop, Tokyo, Japan.

It looks like a giant Orca with engines and wings.

A one-way flight New York to Paris in 1955 cost $2,700 in today's dollars. You pay that kind of money, you get that kind of luxury. You got that kind of money? Then kudos to you. Some people would rather pay half that for a round trip, skip the white gloves and champagne and get there safer in a quieter, less polluting aircraft and in a fraction of the time, thanks.

@PeriscopeFilm

7 жыл бұрын

Yep! New York to Paris, France: $310 in 1955, $2,622 adjusted for inflationNew York to Rome, Italy: $360.20 in 1955, $3,046 adjusted for inflationPittsburgh to San Francisco: $96 in 1955, $812 adjusted for inflationSan Francisco to Chicago: $76 in 1955, $643 adjusted for inflationPhoenix to Chicago: $69 in 1955, $584 adjusted for inflation gadling.com/2013/07/30/air-travel-relatively-cheap/

boy i never got a meal like that on a plane

@joeyjamison5772

7 жыл бұрын

It was only up until around 30 years ago, the airlines would actually feed you. Some of the better meals I've ever had were up in the air. They still do it on many international flights.

@terryofford4977

7 жыл бұрын

Absolutely correct, thirty years ago airline pax were considered as human beings, these days we are no more than 'Walk on baggage', (Overheard British Airways Cabin Staff London to Singapore), if you want 'yesteryears' treatment where pax are treated as humans, you'd have to fly Cathay Pacific, Qantas, or Air New Zealand, great Cabin Staff and great food in both classes.

The closest I got to flying PanAm was flying in a charter Tower Air 747 back in 87. Still had PanAm on the seatbelt buckles.

great film! thanks for uploading :)

In several Pan Am internal memos, they referred to this plane as the "Boeing StratoCoffin."

@innocentbystander3798

Жыл бұрын

Making up little stories in your head again, eh?

The Stratocruiser was developed from the B-29 and shared almost all of the airframe with the great bomber. I think Boeing installed more powerful engines on the Stratocruiser whhen they became available. Not that it was a lousy passenger airplane, the Stratocruiser, along with the DC-6 and -7 and the Lockheed Constellation were all made obsolete within a decade by the jets.

@tahititoutou3802

7 жыл бұрын

@ Harold VanSlyck: You are right about the engines. The B-29 had Wright Cyclone turbo-compound 18-cylinder radials (also used by the DC-6 and -7 and the Constellations) ; the Stratocruiser used the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major 28 cylinder turbo-compound engines used on the B-50.

@terryofford4977

7 жыл бұрын

The Wright Cyclones were extremely complex and I recall the engines of the earlier Connie's were W Cyclones, from what I am told by my Aero Engineering Buddies, they were complex and difficult to work on,bear in mind, they were to be the last of piston engines when the simpler jets out sold them. Civil aircraft have been as changeable as military types, FASHION, Speed, Costs per Statute Miles 'v' Seat Prices were soon to become 'supersonic,' nowadays, it's the bottom line which drives Airlines where previouslylate forties to around early 60's, Airlines focussed on Passengers, how things have changed.

@unclebob6728

7 жыл бұрын

Too expensive to operate commercially. Only the US Govt. can piss away money like that.

@erikhertzer8434

7 жыл бұрын

Harold VanSlyck : it was actually developed from the B-50, which came from the B-29.

@leonardchapman8373

7 жыл бұрын

Designed without computers.

Who wants to depart from those adventures, in a hurry! The dedication and work satisfaction was amazing.

the 40s and 50s were awesome

Notice how the upper passenger part of the 8 has only 2 seats on either side of the asile in todays corp. mindset it would be enlarged "Streched" to 5 +5 and no leg room but PAA back in the day on this long legged relatively slow ( by B-707 standards) plane charged much more stuffed you w/ food and drink and did not overcrowd.

Thank you for your video AND comments below -- very interesting -- those were the "good old days" in many ways, and we wish we could return to much of them!

@mattbosley3531

Жыл бұрын

Yeah? What about the modern world would you be willing to give up to go back then? Modern medicine? Computers? More than three TV channels? Color TV? The interstate highway system? The ability to fly quickly and safely almost anywhere in the country for a fairly low price? It was different then, but it wasn't really better.

In the late 60s and early 70s, when the clippers and the KC-97s were still flying, a train with 14,000 HP could pull a 33,000 ton (66,000,000 lbs) train on flat ground. It can also pull a 14,000 ton ( 28,000,000 Lbs) train at 50 MPH on flat ground.

The music really makes these old documentaries. That and the "Ward Cleaver" narration.

I'm pretty sure the plane pictured was the first 377 in commercial service (the "Clipper Golden Gate"), and the first air route was San Francisco to Honolulu.

I noticed Robert Downey, SR in the opening credits.

@alejandrofernandez4284

7 жыл бұрын

Me too, and Was it Gary Cooper in dark shades boarding the plane?

@cypher50

7 жыл бұрын

I thought it would be Robert Downey Sr. also but he was born in 1936 so it can't be him...

The AF ANG had some in Frankfurt ,Rhine Main AFB in1976. These were tankers and had jets on the wings, I think j-65's that burned the av-gas of the radials.

I don't fly today...no comfort, too crowded, small seats, lousy food, indifferent stewards, questionable maintenance procedures. Money is put before safety. There have been many accidents that were directly linked to saving money over safety.

@prylosecorsomething3194

7 жыл бұрын

don't forget about the hunger games from united

@tangent272

7 жыл бұрын

Fly Qantas. Best safety procedures in the world and their flight attendants are well paid. If you've got the money to fly business class they'll treat you like a king.

@mountnman3609

7 жыл бұрын

No comfort, too crowded, small seats, lousy food...Change it. Fly First Class. First Class today is relatively cheaper than coach was in the '50's...Questionable maintenance procedures, money before safety... Obviously you have no clue of the accident rates of aircraft in the '50's. In 1952, Midway airport in Chicago had 5 million passengers. O'Hare wasn't opened for commercial traffic until 1955. Today Midway does 18 million people and O'Hare does 78 million. 5 million people at one airport to 96 million at two. In 1948, Atlanta had just over 1 million passengers. Today 104 million.

When I was between fifth grade and sixth, I flew first class in this plane (United Airlines, not Pan Am) from Japan to the U.S. via Hawaii (not yet a state).

I sure as hell wouldn’t get on that three engine Fokker in 1927 to fly overseas. They did have life jackets though. Lol

Back then men and women had some backbone to them . They called for respect ,duty and will also give it . Today people are lazy no backbone or care . This is why we are in the shape we are in . We are what our government is today as it was back then . Folk dont whine or cry . Dont blame someone else or there party . Blame your self .

The heading photograph is of a Boeing 307 StratoLINER, not a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. Very different, one was prewar the other post war.

@bboucharde

7 жыл бұрын

David, Excellent catch on your part. I saw that, too.

I took my first commercial flight over fifty years ago, it was fun and comfortable with great meals. I can honestly say I despise air travel now. Interestingly, both my best and worst fights were aboard military aircraft. Worst flight was from Abbotsford, B.C. Canada to Gulfport Mississippi sitting on nylon webbing seats in the back of a C130. Noisy, uncomfortable, and no food other than an IMP (Individual Meal Packet) with no way to heat the main course. Best flights were to and from the Golan Heights in Israel from CFB Trenton in Ontario aboard an RCAF CC-150 Polaris (Airbus A310). The aircraft was only 1/3 full and we could have as many meals as we wanted. We could raise the arm rests and lay down full length across the middle rows of seats. Now, we only fly if it's too far to drive or we're going overseas.

This aircraft, the Boeing 377, had problems and there were several major incidents.

“A constant flow of fresh air” in the cabin…nevermind breathing the toxic cigarette smoke 😅