BOUGHT OFF THE SHELF
THIS title may seem to be a little abrupt and even uncompromising for an article written after a glimpse at B.O.A.C.'s first Douglas DC-7C on its arrival at London Airport – so we should. perhaps, explain the reasons for it.
The Corporation's Seven Seas are, as delivered, standard products – and none the worse for that. In its own way, the expression "off the shelf" is a compliment both to Douglas and to B.O.A.C. To the former for producing variants which are suited to its customers, and to the latter for a rational approach to the business of buying an aircraft. It would have been easy, no doubt, for the Corporation to have demanded all manner of special equipment and special furnishings for its DC-7Cs – and to have paid a lot more and waited a much longer time for them. In fact, they are being delivered in advance of schedule.
This first aircraft to be delivered is a four-abreast 60-seater, with roof-folding bunks. for normal first-class operations over the North Atlantic. Sixty may seem to be a lot of seats, but the fuselage interior is broken down into three compartments, so that it does not look in any way crowded. With the same arrangement, but using five-abreast seating layout, th…
