In the post-war glow of the late 1940s, Pan Am shocked the world with news that it had placed an order for a truly insane aircraft – taller than a five-story building and with six propeller engines, it could carry an unimaginable amount of people in first class, across two decks from both edges of the Atlantic ocean. This is the story of the never build, Convair Model 37.
source/image(PrtSc): Found And Explained
The Convair Model 37 was a gigantic plane. It had a length of 182 ft 6 in (55.63 m) and a wingspan of 230 ft 0 in (70.10 m), which is one meter shorter than the folding wingspan of the Boeing 777X. It was tall too, coming in at 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m).With its five cockpit crew and five relief crew members – for a total of ten on the flight deck, it would be able to transport 400 troops in a military configuration, 100,000 lb (45,000 kg) cargo if a cargo carrier, or 204 passengers in the very best luxury of the era.
Watch the video above from Found And Explainedfor more info. If economy class had been invented back then, it is likely we would have seen 400-500 passengers per flight. Which would have been low key incredible for the era. It was powered by six Pratt & Whitney R-4,3,60-41, Wasp Major 28-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engines, that could push out 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) each.
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With a fuel capacity of 19,112 US gal (72,350 liters), it could fly a total range of ,4,200 miles or 6,800 km with a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) payload, putting it well within reach of European cities with a single refueling stop. It did however, only fly at a maximum speed of 307 mph (494 km/h), which is just over half the speed of modern jetliners today./Found And Explained
