Brassey's marine-aircraft chapter preserves a Consolidated proposal for a 100-passenger, four-engine flying boat. Mounting the engines in the wing's leading edge was intended to let the crew service them and make minor repairs during flight, while reducing the design from six engines to four promised better efficiency. Thirty-six passengers would sit in the thickened wing and sixty-four in the hull, with the wing structure expected to withstand pressure loads during sub-stratospheric flight. Dining, lounge, mail, freight, crew, and flight-deck spaces were distributed across three decks. The design combines range, maintainability, structural efficiency, and ocean-liner-style accommodation in one aircraft.
Notable Point · 6:41-8:47
A 100-passenger flying-boat concept in 1939
A Consolidated proposal combined four serviceable-in-flight engines, passenger cabins in the wing and hull, and three-deck accommodation for long-range travel.