The Boeing Story: Part I

The Boeing Company has a long, storied tradition of tough, reliable commercial airliners. Over 50 years ago, Boeing started with one plane, four engines, one barrel-roll, and a dream for the future.

Developed from the Boeing 367-80, affectionately know as the "Dash 80", the 707 was the first widely used jetliner in the world, and America's first jetliner. Boeing developed the "Dash 80" for use as a possible military transport and refueling aircraft and civilian airliner. This initial model would have been able to seat four abreast, with two seats on each side of the isle. Boeing realized that by widening the aircraft, six abreast could be achieved, thereby increasing the number of passengers in the aircraft. The Boeing 707-320B at 153 feet long could accommodate a maximum of 202 passengers and fly a maximum of 3,735 miles at a speed of 525 knots.

The 707 was initially powered by four Pratt & Whitney turbojets, the aircraft became of interest to the United States Air force, who ordered the first batch for use as aerial refueling, which would be known as the KC-135 Stratotanker. Many of these initial Stratotankers still fly in service of the United States today.

After quick success with the military, Boeing looked to the civilian market for more sales, to boost profitability. Pan American World Airways was the initial civilian operator of the 707, ordering 20 in 1955. The 707 entered commercial service with Pan Am on October 26, 1958, flying non-stop from New York to Paris.

Not only was the 707 a revolutionary aircraft, but a revolution to the aviation industry. Airline operations were forced to accommodate many more passengers at one time, with changes in catering, baggage service and reservation systems. Airports needed expanded to accommodate the size, with modifications to the runways, taxiways, gates, and terminal design of the future. The major change occurred with the modernization of the air traffic control systems, to accommodate the much higher speeds of the 707 as compared to the previously propeller-driven aircraft.

Throughout its life, Boeing modified the aircraft, allowing for more customization of the aircraft to specific airline needs. Boeing redesigned the wing, allowing for less fuel consumption, changed the length of the fuselage, to allow for more or fewer passengers and added modernized engines to again allow for more airports to be served by the 707.

Late into the 1960's the 707 came to its demise; airlines wanted to be able to move more passengers in a single aircraft. After a production run of 1,010 aircraft, the commercially used 707 came to an end in 1978. Military production continued through 1991.

The last scheduled airline flight of the 707 was in 1983, by Trans World Airlines, however; many remained in service as airliners in other parts of the world. Today, few fly for passenger service, but many can be found utilized as a cargo aircraft in parts of the world. Parts of the 707 can be found throughout Boeing's aircraft today, with the fuselage shape remaining the same in the 727, 737 and 757.