I think all of us not flying the B377 are going to get spanked!
perhaps, but it will come with a price (hindsight is wonderful...). Probably a good thing Ralph Nader wasn't around in those days!
"The flight deck of the Stratocruiser was serenely quit even if on a good day, just outside the windows, all 112 cylinders were in a reciprocating mood. But that commodious cell had its own peculiar disadvantages. In tropical climes the large areas of glass made it too hot and in colder regions prudent pilots carried raincoats and hats since they could be reasonably certain that soon after descent for landing was begun they would be sitting in the middle of a shower not indicated on their weather charts. The cause was soon discovered, but since
the solution demanded the passengers stop breathing the problem was never entirely eliminated. Vaporous moisture expelled by the passengers during their ordinary life process rose and condensed as ice along the stringers at the top of the fuselage. Once the Stratocruiser assumed a descent altitude and passed thorough the freezing level, the ice melted, flowed forward in rivulets, and eventually emerged as a light rain condition directly over the pilots' heads."
"...the Stratocruiser were very much liked by paying customers whose only indication there might be something less than perfect about the aircraft were the not so occasional "delays" for "minor maintenance."
http://www.ovi.ch/b377/articles/lady/index.html
For those who want to know more about the competition, I refer you here:
http://www.ovi.ch/b377/articles/boeingUnited/
Great cockpit reading while we fly along in well-tested and worry-free aircraft.
Oh, BTW, I love the Strat. I just wouldn't buy one for my airline!
Of course, they say it's a comfortable airplane to fly...
Rob