Marie ForceThis week, I wanted to share one of my favorite - and most colorful - of our 1940s postcards in the Delta Archives. It shows a group relaxing inflight in a six-seat lounge located in the rear of a Douglas DC-6 cabin:
The caption on the back of the postcard reads: “Sky Lounge in a DC-6 Deltaliner has the luxurious appointments of an intimate club. Congenial groups gather here while the 56-passenger giant airliner flies them at 312 miles an hour between Chicago, Cincinnati, Knoxville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, New Orleans and Dallas.”
Almost 60 years ago, Delta selected the DC-6 for its “streamlined beauty and thrifty upkeep,” and started service in December 1948. The DC-6 brought new standards of inflight comfort and luxury to Delta with cabin pressurization, air conditioning, roomy cabins and the Sky Lounge for “quiet conversation, cards and coffee.” To learn more about the DC-6, see Boeing’s website.
Marie Force
Archives Manager
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July 18th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Greetings All,
Excellent choice, Marie! This bit of nostalgia takes us all the way back to the time when Mr. Woolman was beginning to forge a business relationship with Mr. Douglas that would see Delta grow rapidly, from its very humble beginnings. The arrival of the DC-6 gave Delta the ability to compete effectively in markets long dominated by Eastern, especially the “trunkline to sunshine” from Chicago to Miami. With the “300-Plus Deltaliners” in service, Delta boldly proclaimed, “None Faster, None Finer to and thru’ the South.” It would be just a few years and Mr. Woolman would be back to Santa Monica to order more new planes, this time for the DC-7. Now, with the ‘fifties drawing to a close, the stage was set to launch Delta into the major leagues. The next time Mr. Woolman and Delta came calling in Santa Monica, it would change the history of the airliner forever!
Regards,
Don
Anchorage, Alaska
July 18th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
so first class use to be in the back of the plane.
I wonder if that guy who flew first class on delta who used the emergency exit to exit the plane would of liked that lol.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Though I never had the pleasure, I’ll bet that every one of the other 50 seats on that Deltaliner would have been like first class, compared to today!
July 21st, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Are there any pictures of what the inside looked like? I googled but it wasn’t my friend and found nothing.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Enjoyed reading everyone’s comments!
Don in Anchorage: Thanks for the great details about the DC-6’s impact on Delta! Delta really went through some amazing changes from the late 1940s to late 50s.
For HWGeek and those who want to see the full DC-6 interior, I scanned a color diagram from one of our brochures to help put the lounge into context. This is the first time I’ve tried this, but I think you can cut-and-paste the following link into your browser to see the image:
http://blog.delta.com/wp-content/uploads/dc-6_interior_diagram1.jpg
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Thank you for the diagram !
July 24th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Re: first class in the rear of propeller planes, versus today’s location at the forward end of the cabin.
In reading about the history of commerical aircraft, and talking to folks who worked for airlines when propliners like the DC6, DC7 and Lockheed Constellations graced the skies, I’ve learned that the forward portions of propliners tended to be noisier, because of he location of the propellers and their engines. So, when airlines went to two-cabin configurations (some airlines used to configure their propliners either all-first or all-coach), they often located first class in the quieter aft portion of the cabin.
When jets were introduced, they were, and are, generally quieter in front, which contributed to the change in in the premium cabin location.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Marie, thanks for posting the DC-6 cutaway diagram. From the looks of it there probably wasn’t a bad seat on the plane, though as already mentioned, it may have been a bit noisy(by today’s standards) toward the front end! One thing is for sure, Mr. Douglas was building his airplanes to last. Many of our bloggers may not be aware that there are still several DC-6’s, in freighter configuration, here in Alaska that continue to earn their keep each and every day!
November 12th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Below is a link to an advertisement for Delta’s famous Royal Service Flights which was introduced in the 1950s on board their luxurious Golden Crown DC-7 and DC-7B aircraft. With the introduction of the DC-7, Super Constellation, Viscount and L-188 Electra, the airline industry had entered the “Golden Age.” In addition to superlatives such as Delta’s Golden Crown Royal Service, there were Eastern’s Golden Falcon Service, United’s Red Carpet Service, Braniff’s El Dorado Service, Northwest’s Regal Imperial Service and so on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/redtag501/DeltaRoyalService.jpg