Stratocruiser (Continued from Page 1) which it is capable, or as an all-cargo plane with 17% tons payload. A pressurized cabin along the same lines as that of the B-29 Superfortress maintains 8,000-foot altitude conditions up to 30,000 feet. This newest addition to the Boeing family, known as the Boeing Model 377 and named the Stratocruiser, utilizes the B-29 wings and other aerodynamic advancements which have proved so successful on the Superfortress. The tail surfaces and landing gear are the same as the B-29’s but the volume is much larger than that of the Super- fortress and the fuselage is 12 feet longer. Its height of 33 feet, 8 inches also exceeds that of the B-29. Is Inverted ‘‘Figure 8” The two decks of the new airplane are achieved by building one fuselage on top of another, the top section being longer and the two streamlining into each other. The bottom section is the same diameter as the B-29, and the top section slightly larger with a width of more than 11 feet. A cross-section of the plane thus resembles an inverted figure “8.” The .transport now being flown at Seattle is a military version of the air- plane Boeing will build for the imme- diate postwar market, according to C. L. Egtvedt, Boeing chairman. For the present all production will be for mili- tary purposes. Research in Other Fields Development of the new airplane for commercial use in peacetime is tangible evidence that aviation will continue to be the prime objection of the Boeing company following the war. However, an extensive program of research and study has been carried out in the last two years so that other fields will be open to Boeing engineering and indus- trial skill and facilities in event aviation does not require their full use. These cover a wide range of possibili- ties such as forms of transportation other than aircraft, refrigeration and household articles, along with extensive research, economic as well as engineer- ing, of the private owner airplane, feeder line transport and advanced military aircraft. Boeing is not waiting until after the war to develop a peacetime industrial program. How and when that program will become effective depends on many factors, military and economic, which cannot be determined until the war is won on all fronts. “Gotta quit smokin’ — my folks need my cigarets.” John F. Dennis, Jr., is serving aboard an aircraft carrier as an aviation ma- chinist’s mate. He was a tool prover in Shop 69 from October, 1940, to July, 1944. BOEING PLANE TALK Record of Accomplishment REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COLLECTIVE EFFORTS of thousands of loyal Boeing-Wichita employees, including those now serving in the Armed Forces, are these five typical Boeing men and women who have helped to earn five consecutive Army-Navy ‘‘E'’ Awards. From left to right they are: F. C. Morehouse, inspector, Plant II; Pearl Geiser, electrical wirer, Plant II; Forrest Jones, Final Assembly, Plant 1; Nell Streater, timekeeper, Plant Il; and Lewis Atkinson, welder, Plant |. To most Boeing employees “'E’’ Awards represent recognition for their hard work dating back to the days when Plant | began the accelerated production of training planes. Of under- lying importance is the fact that Boeing-Wichita has never failed to deliver training planes, B-17 assemblies, gliders and B-29's in the quantities needed — when they were needed General Arnold (Continued from Page 1) and skill of its pilot following a take- off from a base in China for a mission against Japanese industrial targets. The skillful piloting and heroism which also saved the lives of his crew mem- bers has resulted in an award of the Distinguished Flying Cross for Maj. Boyce C. Anderson, pilot from Timpson, Tex, “Immediately after take-off on a Superfortress mission to Anshan, Man- churia, the B-29 which Major Anderson was piloting blew a cylinder on No. 4 engine,” the official citation reads, con- tinuing: “The engine then caught fire and soon the entire wing was enveloped in flames. The flames streamed backward beyond the tail of the airplane. “Major Anderson, by skillful piloting, initiative, and judgment succeeded in maintaining control of his aircraft and gained sufficient altitude to enable cer- tain members of his crew to parachute to safety. “Major Anderson then saw that the fire was bought under control. “In addition, so as not to disrupt the sequence of take-offs and delay other B-29’s on the mission, Major Anderson continued to circle over his home base on three engines at an approximate gross weight of 130,000 pounds until all others B-29 take-offs had been com- pleted.” The mechanical mishap caused the “Special’s” first abortive mission. The big bomber has since participated in three raids. SON RECEIVES DFC First Lt. J. C. Koontz, son of John Koontz (535), has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his skilled leadership of group and wing formations on three important missions over Europe. The Eighth Air Force flier received the following citation: “In the face of dense cloud formations on all these occa- sions, and anti-aircraft fire on two occa- sions, Lieutenant Koontz, by exceptional piloting ability, led combat formations in successful attacks.” IT’S QUITE A JOB keeping tab on 6110 Boeing men and women in service — but these three do it. Marian Reed (left), of the Employees Association, sends you PLANE TALK and BOEING MAGAZINE when you request them. Katherine Gillen (center), of the Personnel Records Office, helps to take care of your file folders, containing data on the days when-you were punching a time-clock at Boeing. Aileen Anderson (right), correspondent for the Employees Service depart- ment, keeps informed of your whereabouts so that employees may keep in touch with you RECEIVE PLANE TALK? If you do not receive Plane Talk regularly — and would like to have it — drop us a note requesting it. If you keep us posted of your changes of address, we'll keep it coming to you each week. News from you is eagerly read by those you left behind. Let us know where and how you are. Too, we'd like your comment on this issue. Reprinted from the December issue of Esquire ‘When [get home I'm going to sue Hollywood for misrepresentation” S/Sgt. John E. Woods, radio operator in the “Black Death’ Marauder group, has been promoted to the grade of technical sergeant at his base in the European theater. The Sergeant, employee in Shop 63 until January, 1943, holds the Soldiers’ Medal, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with ten Bronze and two Silver Oak Leaf Clusters. His mother, Natalina T. Woods, has been a machine shop in- spector for two years. FORMER WORKER IS ATC PILOT Lt. Gene B. Butterfield, employee in Department 85 for over two years, is stationed at an Air Transport Com- mand training school near Reno, Nev. He received his commission and Army Air Forces wings this summer and attended the AAF Training Command’s B-24 Liberator co-pilot school at Keesler Field for five weeks. SENDS WORD FROM KODIAK From Kodiak, Alaska, Marshall E. Hargrave, S 1/e (no relation to See Here Private Hargrove) sends greetings to his fellow workers in Shop 8. His wife, former employee in Department 72, is now living in Mapleton, Iowa. The young couple have a three-month-old daughter, Carolyn Kay. STATIONED IN ISLANDS Roy E. Hastings, S 2/c, former riveter in Shop 245, has been transferred to the Seabees and is now stationed in the Hawaiian Islands. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1944 Recap of Raids (Continued from Page 1) sunk here, a bolt tightened there, and a hundred and one other jobs that go into a completed B-29. . It was something tangible, something really accomplished, a fitting climax to long hours and hard work. The Army did not reveal until later that there had been an even earlier raid, a test run against Bangkok in Japanese-held Thailand (Siam). Seven Raids in Three Months From June on, the Japs learned to know the deep-throated roar of the Boeing B-29 engines and to feel the thunderous explosion of its bombs. The Superfortresses, taking off from secret bases in China, ranged far and wide to smash the very sources of Japan’s war machine. The Naval base at Sasebo, the steel works at Anshan in Manchuria, the huge oil refinery at Palembang, Sumatra, the big industrial plants at Nagasaki in Japan, and again Yawata —all felt the destruction of Superfort- ress bombs in July and August. September marked two more return trips to finish off Anshan. Then, in the space of four short days in October, the B-29’s thrilled everybody at home with three blows at Formosa to help the Navy turn back the Japanese imperial fleet and assure success in the Philip- pines invasion. Hit Hard and Often The triple attack on Formosa marked a rapid stepping up in Superfortress operations. The big Boeing bombers went to the Japanese home island of Kyushu October 25, to Rangoon in Burma November 3, Singapore and Sumatra November 5. Then came the big climax on Armistice Day, Novem- ber 11, with a three-pronged B-29 offen- sive against Nankin, Shanghai and Omura, the latter the site of a big Jap aircraft factory. With the tempo of B-29 raids being stepped-up month by month, the Super- fortress is beginning to fulfill the fond- est hopes of its builders. The B-29’s rolling off the lines here forecast a gloomy future for Japan — the magnifi- cent young men who fly them and service them will see to that. Liberty Ship Gunner Helps Bag Jap Zero Sidney Olmstead, a former employee of Shop 80, was mentioned in a recent radio newscast as a crew member of the S. S. David Dudley Field, Liberty ship which claims two firsts in the recent Leyte Island invasion. The vessel claims to be the first Liberty ship to arrive in the Philippines and the first Liberty ship to shoot down a Zero in the area. The Kansas boy, who worked here during the summer of 1942, is a gunner on the ship. Four of his relatives are now employed at Boeing-Wichita. His uncle and aunt, H. Deloss Olmstead and Julia Olmstead work in Shops 63 and 21 respectively. A cousin, Dale Olmstead, has been assistant foreman of Shop 401 for almost four years, and Dale’s wife, Helen, is an employee in Department 61. His mother, Virginia Olmstead, formerly worked in Department 51. All members of the family are from Doug- lass, Kansas. SCHNEIDER AT LAREDO Pfe. Robert F. Schneider, assistant foreman in Shop 235 until his termina- tion in May, 1944, was among the service men who toured the plant a few weeks ago. He is stationed at Laredo Army Air Field, Laredo, Tex., with a gunnery squadron. “Pilot to navigator ... WHEEEE!”