Airline Empires - Airline and Aviation Articles, Airline Simulation

Triumph of the Boeing 707

Contributed by Nick Duros
Saturday, 21 January 2006
Page 1 of 3 In the mid 1950’s, the dawn of the jet age in America, there was fierce competition between Boeing and Douglas Aircraft to create the first successful commercial jet airliner. The company that came out on top of this first race would get a jump-start on the aviation industry and in due course secure their place in aviation history, at least for the time being. While Boeing’s 707 and Douglas’s DC-8 were fairly similar in looks and performance, the deciding factors in this race would ultimately come down to three factors; first, the planning and time taken in the creation of the aircraft; second, the company’s willingness to fulfill the airline’s requests; and third, the deep pockets required to fund the first two factors. The prototype of the Boeing 367-80 (the predecessor to the 707) rolled out in May of 1954. Affectionately known as the “Dash-80”, the new airplane was treated with the highest respect by employees at Boeing. Bertha Boeing, wife of the company’s founder, swung a bottle of champagne on the Dash-80 as if it was the launch of a luxury cruise ship. Luck being at Boeing’s side, it was a very good time for the launch of their first jetliner because at the time the Air Force was looking for designs for its first jet tanker. One month after the rollout of the Dash-80 the Air Force placed an order for 29 aircraft with intentions to order nearly 100 in the future. Despite the fact that Lockheed officially won the competition for the design of the jet tanker, the Air Force decided to stick with the Boeing aircraft because they had already placed the order. The KC-135, the new tanker’s designation, was to be built in government owned facilities using government tools. Seeing the opportunity to use the government factories to their advantage, Boeing asked for approval to rent the facility to build their new jetliner, which was approved in August of 1955. Now Boeing needed one thing before they could start the production line of the soon to be 707: Orders from the airlines. << Start < Previous 1 2 3 Next > End >>

[ Back ]