A Boeing crew completed restoration of this only remaining
Boeing 307 Stratoliner, N19903, in the summer of 2001. It originally flew
for Pan Am as Clipper Flying Cloud. In July, it appeared at AirVenture
2001. On 28 March 2002, Clipper Flying Cloud was ditched in Elliot Bay
near Seattle. The ditching was largely the result of inattention to the
fuel gauges and poor assumptions by the crew. The Stratoliner was carefully
hoisted from the water on 29 March 2002. On 14 June, Boeing announced
that they intend to restore the Stratoliner, again, to flightworthy condition
within a year. Boeing rolled out the restored Stratoliner on 13 June 2003.
The 307 appeared again at Oshkosh, AirVenture 2003. (See our photos
of the Stratoliner at AirVenture 2003.)
Boeing 307 Stratoliner
Clipper Flying Cloud
Boeing's 33-seat Model 307 was the world's first fully
pressurized airliner to enter service. The Stratoliner first flew on 31
December 1938, and TWA put it into service on the transcontinental route
on 8 July 1940, reducing the time to 13 hrs 40 min, and cutting two hours
off the
DC-3s.