Airborne

Boeing Aircraft Co., which made the war's biggest planes, also suffered one of its biggest ironies. Although its B-29s and B-17s carried the bulk of U.S. bombardment power, Boeing was hit harder by victory than any other plane maker. Within weeks after war's end, contract cancellations forced it to close its Seattle plant. Hope seemed to be grounded.

But by last week Boeing had turned its big-plane liability into its No. 1 asset was in the air again. Lawyer-President William M. Allen announced that United Air Lines, Inc. had signed an $11,000,000 contract to buy seven of Boeing's huge new Stratocruisers, commercial development of the B-29 (TIME, Jan. 22, 1945). It brought the number of Stratocruisers now on order to 49, swelled Boeing's backlog to a comfortable $140 million.

What further spread the grin on the lean, long face of Bill Allen, who took over his job last fall during Boeing's dark days, was his unshakable belief that the Stratocruiser is the big commercial plane of the immediate future. Reasons:

P: Powered with four 3,500-h.p. Pratt & Whitney engines, it cruises at 340 m.p.h. for 3,500 non-stop miles.

P: It will carry passengers, say Boeing accountants, at the low direct cost of 8-c- per mile; freight, in an all-cargo design, at less than 5-c- per ton-mile.

P: The double decks of its pressurized, air-and-sound-conditioned fuselage will easily accommodate up to 114 passengers or 41,000 lbs. of cargo. For a smaller number of passengers, it offers sleeping berths and a cocktail lounge.

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