Books

The book lists all the major hull losses of the Strats. Chapter 11 lists the three ditchings in the Pacific, one off of the Oregon coast and two halfway between the West Coast (of the U.S.) and Hawaii.

Chapter 12 is the story of the military version of the Stratocruiser. The third attachment is a photo of the C-97 immediately before landing.

The C-97 had a runaway number 1 engine halfway between the West Coast and Honolulu. The engine would not feather so they cut off the oil supply to the engine. The engine then froze and the propeller assembly broke free of the engine and spun freely in the wind. The propeller assembly then heated up and the number 2 engine was feathered.

When the number 1 propeller assembly broke free of the engine it took a meter of blade off of one of the number 2 propeller blades.

The number 2 engine could not be restarted because of the imbalance of the propellers.

The C-97 then flew about 1,000 miles on the two starboard engines to a safe landing at Hilo on the big island of Hawaii.