The double deck Boeing 377 Stratocruiser arrived at Northwest Airlines during 1949, bringing a new level of luxury to their services. There is a lovely Stratocruiser video here for you to check out, showing what flying back then was like.
Northwest put the Stratocruiser into service on 1 August 1949, flying between Minneapolis and Chicago. They were used primarily within the USA on coast to coast flights, as well as those to Hawaii, but could also be found on certain transpacific services.
NWA Stratocruiser Video
The first video presented here runs for six minutes and 24 seconds and is an amalgamation of two films. At the start, it is a black and white one for two minutes and 40 seconds, while the rest is in colour.
Next up, we have a short news report from 1955 where one of the aircraft overran the runway at Chicago Midway Airport. It’s fun to hear the dramatic narration, perhaps not too dissimilar to how news is reported today.
I rather enjoyed the colour portion of the first Stratocruiser video, as I always like seeing the interiors of the time. The only thing a video can’t convey is the sound and vibration inside… though perhaps that’s a good thing!
Overall Thoughts
Northwest Airlines withdrew the venerable Boeing 377 Stratocruiser on 15 September 1960 after a decent career with the airline. No doubt many people missed the comfort of the old Strat, but times move on and turboprops and jets were much better for passengers all round.
Those wanting to see a bunch of pictures from the NWA Stratocruiser days can check out this page at the Northwest Airlines History Center. There are some interesting and rare colour shots there worth looking at… and one more here worth seeing!
What did you think of the Northwest Stratocruiser video? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Mel Lawrence on Airliners.net.
Cool video !
Thanks, I thought so!! It’s great what some people put together.