Which aircraft had such a luxurious-looking navigator's station?

Question

I'm reading the BBC's How Fiji changed the way we travel; The little Pacific island nation was the first to incorporate GPS into its aviation system – and in doing so forever changed the way we get from Point A to distant Point B. and saw this photo of a spacious navigator's station with a large, elegantly designed desk, bay windows, and a small set of instruments.

What aircraft and timeframe was this? Does the photo portray a commercial flight?

bonus points: Were flare guns routinely stored out in the open like that at the time?

Until the late 20th Century, flight crews often included a flight navigator whose job it was to keep the plane on course (Credit: Museum of Flight Foundation/Getty Images)

Who else noticed the pistol in the bottom left corner? Uh, it's a flare gun . — Bimpelrekkie, Mar 04 '19 at 10:17
@Bimpelrekkie the OP noticed it, it's a flare gun, that's why they asked about it as their bonus points question — dkwarr87, Mar 04 '19 at 10:19
On the bonus question: flares were often used for communication between planes, sometime even when all planes in the formation had radio (to the point that new flare systems had to be designed for high altitude pressurized bombers at the end of WWII). Given the number of cartridges right under the flare gun, I think it is indeed for communication and not just for distress signaling, so you would probably want it readily available. — Luris, Mar 04 '19 at 10:29
@Luris tell us more! Did aircraft flying in formation ever use flares to communicate with each other? — uhoh, Mar 04 '19 at 12:03
That's not a bay window (and I haven't ever seen a bay window on a heavier-than-air craft). — Toby Speight, Mar 04 '19 at 15:44
@TobySpeight that's humor, as is the use of "luxurious" and "elegant". — uhoh, Mar 04 '19 at 15:46
Well the desk certainly does look luxurious and elegant, so your humour went straight over my head. I guess sarcasm and facetiousness have never travelled well by 'Net... — Toby Speight, Mar 04 '19 at 15:50
@uhoh Sorry, I'm far from as knowledgeable on this subject than my comment could imply :) hence why I only made it a comment. The information I had was from this Forgotten Weapon video about a pressurized plane's flare system, and what could be deduced from it. — Luris, Mar 04 '19 at 18:18

score 43 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 04 '19 at 12:49

43

It's a Boeing 314 flying boat. From the late 30s (look at the two rectangular windows behind the cockpit).

The last dedicated navigators on long range flights had started to disappear by the late 60s in the airline business.

edited Mar 04 '19 at 12:49

kebs

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answered Mar 04 '19 at 03:38

John K

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Hmm, where is that? It looks like Lake Washington but I can't find clicking through the links. – Azor Ahai -him- Mar 04 '19 at 18:02

Which aircraft had such a luxurious-looking navigator's station?

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