Air Transportation: The Opening of the Commercial Jet Era The De Havilland Comet was the world�s first jet airliner. Pan Am inaugurated its New York-London route with a Boeing 707 on October 26, 1958. America's first ever non-stop transcontinental service began with flights by American Airlines using DC-7 aircraft. Aeroflot began the world's first sustained jet airline service using Tupolev Tu-104 'Camel' jets on an extensive internal route network from the summer of 1955. The Tu-104 saw service until the mid-1970s. The Opening of the Commercial Jet Era Like perhaps no other single technology, the jet engine revolutionized air travel around the world. Unlike the old propeller-driven planes that were powered by piston engines , jet planes could fly at tremendous speeds, thus cutting down travel time. Jet-equipped airplanes also could climb faster and fly higher. Both the U.S. Air Force and civil aircraft builders found these capabilities attractive in the years after World War II when international contacts stretched across the globe. There were, however, major concerns about transferring jet engine technology to the commercial aviation sector.

Airline executives in the postwar era were aware that, although jet engines were simpler than the old piston engines, they also had high operating temperatures that required very expensive metal alloy components that ultimately would affect an aircraft's longevity and reliability. Moreover, jet engines used far greater amounts of fuel. The initially low takeoff speed would also require longer runways. All of this added up to increased costs. As a result, U.S. passenger air carriers did not support the building of jet airliners in the immediate postwar years, and adopted a �wait-and-see� approach before embarking on this risky path. The British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC), the national British carrier, first introduced a commercial jet airliner into service. The 36-seat Comet 1, built by De Havilland , flew for the first time on July 27, 1949. BOAC inaugurated the world's first commercial jet service on May 2, 1952. Initial flights took passengers from London to Johannesburg in South Africa, with stops in Rome, Beirut, Khartoum (in Sudan), Entebbe (in Kenya), and Livingstone, near Victoria Falls.

At the time, the top cruising speed of the most well known piston-engine aircraft, the DC-3 , was about 180 miles per hour (290 kilometers per hour). With the Comet, passengers could travel comfortably at 480 miles per hour (772 kilometers per hour), making it a revolutionary leap in air travel. The Comet also provided conditions that contrasted sharply to piston-engine planes: the planes were vibration-free and relatively quiet. Unfortunately, the Comet was the victim of a number of tragic accidents, and BOAC suspended flights within two years. Engineers found that the planes suffered from metal fatigue, especially around rivet holes, due to the need to repeatedly pressurize and depressurize the aircraft. In 1952, Pan American Airways had already put in an order for the new 76-seat Comet 3, but the crashes of the earlier Comet put the contract into doubt. By this time, domestic U.S. companies had begun their own programs to build jet airliners. Several factors, such as improved jet engines, now convinced these companies to reconsider their initial reluctance to build commercial jet planes. Of all the airlines in the United States, Pan American, which the U.S.

government considered its �chosen instrument� to represent the American commercial air fleet abroad, was undoubtedly a pioneer in embracing jet aviation. Juan Trippe , the airlines' legendary chief executive officer, had early on expressed a keen interest in operating a passenger jet service capable of flying nonstop across the North Atlantic. Having seen the bright promise of the British Comet fade, Trippe played off two of the biggest domestic airplane builders, Boeing and Douglas . Both companies vied to appeal to Pan American's needs and offered the Boeing 707 and DC-8, respectively. In October 1955, Trippe signed contracts with both companies to buy 45 of these jets (20 707s and 25 DC-8s). Exactly two years later, Boeing rolled out the first operational 707, a Boeing 707-120, and on October 26, 1958, amid much fanfare, Pan American inaugurated its New York-London route, ushering in a new era in the history of passenger aviation. On the very first flight, which made a stopover in Newfoundland, there were 111 passengers, the largest number ever to board a single regularly scheduled flight.

Coach fares were $272, about the same as one would expect to pay for a piston-engine flight across the Atlantic. At first, BOAC competed hard with Pan American. In fact, in order to preempt the Americans, BOAC had rushed ahead and inaugurated its own transatlantic service on October 4, 1958, just three weeks ahead of Pan American. BOAC used the new De Havilland Comet 4, which incorporated improvements to remedy the problems with the older Comet 1. Although BOAC fared quite well, its success was nothing compared to Pan American's. With its rapidly expanding use of the Boeing 707, especially on the transatlantic route, Pan American began a period of almost unchallenged success in the international airline industry. The airline, for example, was the first to recognize the importance to passengers of nonstop flights on long trips; it negotiated with Boeing for a version of the 707 that could fly for a longer time without refueling, known as the 707-320.This allowed the airline to introduce true intercontinental service with nonstop London-to-New York flights on August 26, 1959.

This was a perfect case of a dominant air carrier playing the lead role in defining the characteristics of a new class of jets that the industry would produce. The 707-320 was eventually adopted by as many as eleven other airlines within a year. Within the United States, National Airlines became the first to begin jet service, using leased Boeing 707s, on December 10, 1958. American Airlines offered the first domestic jet service using its own aircraft on January 25, 1959 with a flight from New York to Los Angeles. With this coast-to-coast service, American had a big competitive coup; the two other major domestic U.S. airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA) and United Airlines, had not anticipated the imminent use of jets for domestic service. TWA quickly scrambled to catch up, and using a single Boeing 707, it joined the coast-to-coast flight market in March 1959. The last minute move helped keep TWA afloat through a difficult period of economic loss. Not all airlines pinned their hopes on the Boeing 707, however. Douglas had unmatched experience in building the best passenger airliners of the world.

United Airlines and Delta both began flying the DC-8 passenger jets in September 1959—latecomers to the domestic jet market precisely because they had depended on Douglas, which introduced jets after Boeing. Eastern Airlines joined them in domestic jet services in January 1960. One of the more unusual aspects of the coming of the jet era was the speed with which airlines internationally adopted these new aircraft. Partly because of Pan American's example, airlines from all over the world replaced piston-engine aircraft with jets at an unprecedented pace. The Soviet national airline Aeroflot was part of this explosion. In fact, Aeroflot held the distinction of offering the world's first regularly scheduled and sustained passenger jet service with its Tupolev Tu-104 aircraft. Aeroflot opened service from Moscow to Irkutsk (in the Soviet far east) in September 1956.

Elsewhere, by 1961, just three years after Pan Am's first jet flight, jets were flying routes over the North and South Atlantic and the Pacific; in the domestic United States, Europe, and East Asia; North-to-South America routes; Europe-to-Africa routes; Europe-to-Australia routes; and even to the Arctic regions. International airlines such as Air France, Lufthansa (Germany), KLM (Netherlands), Iberia (Spain), QANTAS (Australia), SABENA (Belgium), Air India, SAS (Scandinavia), Swissair, El Al (Israel), and JAL (Japan) were all using the Boeing 707, the DC-8, or in lesser numbers, the Corvair CV-880 jet on major international routes. Although many other airlines were the first to offer regular services on various international routes, it was Pan American Airways that set the standards for service in the new jet era. Pan American's pioneering partnership with Boeing, its ambitious routes—such as its round-the-world jet service inaugurated in October 1959, its flashy advertising campaigns, and its reputation for good service, all made the company a leader and a trendsetter.

Jet travel revolutionized air travel throughout the world. For the airlines, jet travel forced them to establish much higher standards of maintenance that required better facilities on the ground and highly trained employees. For passengers, flights meant more comfort, less noise, and most important, less travel time. Once again, as with the introduction of piston engines into civil aviation in the 1920s, a new revolution in technology made the world an even smaller place. —Asif Siddiqi References: Bilstein, Roger. Flight in America: From the Wrights to the Astronauts, Rev. ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. Boyne, Walter J. and Donald S. Lopez, eds. The Jet Age: Forty Years of Jet Aviation. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979. Davies, R. E. G. Airlines of the United States Since 1914. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1972. Heppenheimer, T. A. Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1995. Leary, William M.

Editor. Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography: The Air Industry. New York: Facts on File, 1992. On-Line References: BBC - Culture - Boeing 707: The aircraft that changed the way we fly History Boeing 707: The aircraft that changed the way we fly The Boeing 707 revolutionised air travel and kicked the jet age into top gear. Commercial flight today owes it everything, Jonathan Glancey writes. By Jonathan Glancey 20 October 2014 Whenever Frank Sinatra sang “Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away,” the image of a Boeing 707, all etched-white vapour trails jetting across some deep blue transcontinental stratosphere, could never be far from mind. This song was from Sinatra’s album of the same name. It was released in January 1958, a month after the epochal, swept-wing jet airliner made its maiden flight. Before the year was out, the sleek 707 was in service with Pan-Am. It was to change the way we fly and see the world. Curiously, the graphic designer working for Capitol Records appeared to have been behind the times.

The artwork for Come Fly With Me shows a snappily dressed Sinatra taking the hand of a girl as he cocks his thumb towards a TWA Lockheed Constellation, the last of the great American piston-engine airliners. Constellations were to be pushed aside by the all-conquering 707, an aircraft synonymous with the new jet age and a design that led, step by rapid step, to the Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’ and the era of mass air-travel. The 707 might have been one of the most glamorous of all forms of transport when it entered service with Pan-Am, yet its very success led ultimately to the horrendous and heartbreakingly banal conditions the majority of us fly in today. As for Sinatra, he so admired the new 707 – the aircraft that should have been on the sleeve of Come Fly With Me – that he bought his very own. This was an ex-Qantas 707, built in 1964, that, since 1998, has belonged to John Travolta, Hollywood star and pilot. Travolta’s estate in Florida has its own runway.

Some people like to gaze at the curves of their prize classic car, or latest Ferrari: Travolta opts for the sight of a four-engine, 600mph jet. View image of (Everett Collection Historical/Alamy) (Credit: Everett Collection Historical/Alamy) The 707 began as a discussion and some sketches in 1949 when Boeing engineers Ed Wells, George Schairer and John Alexander began thinking about a swept-wing jet airliner. Boeing was an innovative company and its military aircraft were second to none. Ed Wells, for example, appointed Boeing’s chief engineer in 1943, had worked on the design of the famous B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of which 12,731 were built. Boeing’s subsequent B-29 Superfortress, B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress bombers were all aviation milestones and commercially successful. In the field of civil aviation, however, Boeing played a very junior fiddle to its rivals Douglas, of DC-3 or ‘Dakota’ fame, and Lockheed, with its pre-war Electra and post-war Constellation.

In fact, Boeing had lost money on virtually all its airliners including its latest, and last, piston-engine design, the 377 Stratocruiser of which just 46 were built for a deficit of $13.5m. Taking off The British were first to build a jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet. It went into service with BOAC in 1952, but several fatal accidents caused by airframe failure led to its withdrawal. The French and the Russians were pushing ahead with jet designs, but the tussle for the global market was essentially between Douglas and Boeing. Boeing was first into the air with its 367-80, or ‘Dash 80’, the prototype of the 707 which made its maiden flight in July 1954. Powered by a version of the same Pratt & Whitney turbojets fitted to USAF F-100 Super-Sabre fighter jets and B-52 Stratofortresses, the Dash 80 was very fast. No passenger aircraft had flown at 550mph in level flight before. It could handle, too.

In August 1955, Tex Johnston, Boeing’s chief test pilot, barrel-rolled the precious aircraft over Lake Washington. While this is not something any of us would want our pilots to do while we toy with cocktails at 35,000ft over the Atlantic, potential buyers watching from the ground that summer day could hardly fail to have been impressed. View image of (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum) (Credit: Smithsonian Air and Space Museum) The race was still on, though, between Douglas, which had yet to build its superficially identical DC-8, and Boeing. Pan-Am, the airline forever associated with the 707, ordered 20 707s and, at the very same time, 25 DC-8s. What was holding Boeing back was the fact that the 707 was narrower and slightly smaller than the DC-8. When William Allen, Boeing’s president offered American Airlines an extra half-inch in width over the DC-8, he won an order for fifty 707s. From that moment, the sales success of the Boeing was assured.

Boeing built 1,010 707s for commercial airlines between 1958 and 1978, and a further 800 for the military up until 1991, while Douglas assembled 556 DC-8s between 1958 and 1972. Allen had invested, or, as the media liked to say, gambled, $135m on the 707 programme, or more than the net worth of Boeing at the time. Although 707s were not particularly profitable – there were many variations and the company bent over backwards to please customers – the aircraft’s dominance of intercontinental flight in the 1960s led to profitable future airliners, including the Jumbo, and to a point when three-quarters of all civil airliners were Boeings. A lyrical promotional film from 1959, The Wonderful Jet World of Pan-American, captures the magic of flying by 707 in an era when passengers dressed up to fly, when aircrews were seen as glamorous and when the age of ‘no frills’ budget airlines was all but inconceivable.

What is fascinating is just how much attention Pan-Am devoted to its beloved airliners. Today, the millions of casually dressed passengers squeezed onto lookalike aircraft rarely glance at the machines that will wing them across continents. Airlines, meanwhile, sell themselves through cheap fares, in-flight entertainment and destinations rather than aircraft themselves. Boeing, though, has persevered, promoting its latest 787 as the ‘Dreamliner’, even when most flights are nightmares. View image of (Bruce Ackerman/Rex) (Credit: Bruce Ackerman/Rex) The Boeing 707 had, of course, been designed for a less crowded age. Even so, it was stretched over time with later models seating up to 189 passengers. The airlines it served from the beginning – Pan-Am, TWA – have long gone, while Saha Air, an airline based in Tehran, ceased active operations last year, and with it the world’s last 707s in regular passenger service.

Hugely popular in its heyday, and a symbol of a new, high-flying age powered by forward-looking technology and design, the 707 featured not just in films and songs, but in fashionable product launches like Jantzen’s 1957 ‘707’ swimwear. Films like Boeing, Boeing (1965), starring Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis are probably best forgotten – Come Fly With Me, a British effort from 1963 is far worse – but the aircraft itself remains a superb achievement, a magnificent commercial gamble and a truly great design. “If it ain’t Boeing”, went the cliche, “I’m not going”. The 707 was not perfect – by today’s standards it was a noisy gas guzzler, but for better or worse it changed the way we fly. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter . the jet airliner the jet airliner the jet airliner The De Havilland Comet was the world's first jet airliner Like perhaps no other single technology, the jet engine revolutionized air travel around the world.

Unlike the old propeller-driven planes that were powered by piston engines, jet planes could fly at tremendous speeds, thus cutting down travel time. Jet-equipped airplanes also could climb faster and fly higher. Both the U.S. Air Force and civil aircraft builders found these capabilities attractive in the years after World War II when international contacts stretched across the globe. There were, however, major concerns about transferring jet engine technology to the commercial aviation sector. Airline executives in the post-war era were aware that, although jet engines were simpler than the old piston engines, they also had high operating temperatures that required very expensive metal alloy components that ultimately would affect an aircraft's longevity and reliability. Moreover, jet engines used far greater amounts of fuel. The initially low takeoff speed would also require longer runways. All of this added up to increased costs. As a result, U.S. passenger air carriers did not support the building of jet airliners in the immediate post-war years, and adopted a ï¿½wait-and-seeï¿½ approach before embarking on this risky path. The British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC), the national British carrier, first introduced a commercial jet airliner into service.

The 36-seat Comet 1, built by De Havilland, flew for the first time on July 27, 1949. BOAC inaugurated the world's first commercial jet service on May 2, 1952. Initial flights took passengers from London to Johannesburg in South Africa, with stops in Rome, Beirut, Khartoum (in Sudan), Entebbe (in Kenya), and Livingstone, near Victoria Falls. At the time, the top cruising speed of the most well known piston-engine aircraft, the DC-3, was about 180 miles per hour (290 kilometres per hour). With the Comet, passengers could travel comfortably at 480 miles per hour (772 kilometres per hour), making it a revolutionary leap in air travel. The Comet also provided conditions that contrasted sharply to piston-engine planes: the planes were vibration-free and relatively quiet. Unfortunately, the Comet was the victim of a number of tragic accidents, and BOAC suspended flights within two years. Engineers found that the planes suffered from metal fatigue, especially around rivet holes, due to the need to repeatedly pressurize and depressurize the aircraft.

In 1952, Pan American Airways had already put in an order for the new 76-seat Comet 3, but the crashes of the earlier Comet put the contract into doubt. By this time, domestic U.S. companies had begun their own programs to build jet airliners. Several factors, such as improved jet engines, now convinced these companies to reconsider their initial reluctance to build commercial jet planes. Of all the airlines in the United States, Pan American, which the U.S. government considered its ï¿½chosen instrumentï¿½ to represent the American commercial air fleet abroad, was undoubtedly a pioneer in embracing jet aviation. Juan Trippe, the airlines' legendary chief executive officer, had early on expressed a keen interest in operating a passenger jet service capable of flying nonstop across the North Atlantic. Having seen the bright promise of the British Comet fade, Trippe played off two of the biggest domestic airplane builders, Boeing and Douglas. Both companies vied to appeal to Pan American's needs and offered the Boeing 707 and DC-8, respectively.

In October 1955, Trippe signed contracts with both companies to buy 45 of these jets (20 707s and 25 DC-8s). Exactly two years later, Boeing rolled out the first operational 707, a Boeing 707-120, and on October 26, 1958, amid much fanfare, Pan American inaugurated its New York-London route, ushering in a new era in the history of passenger aviation. On the very first flight, which made a stopover in Newfoundland, there were 111 passengers, the largest number ever to board a single regularly scheduled flight. Coach fares were $272, about the same as one would expect to pay for a piston-engine flight across the Atlantic. At first, BOAC competed hard with Pan American. In fact, in order to pre-empt the Americans, BOAC had rushed ahead and inaugurated its own transatlantic service on October 4, 1958, just three weeks ahead of Pan American. BOAC used the new De Havilland Comet 4, which incorporated improvements to remedy the problems with the older Comet 1.

Although BOAC fared quite well, its success was nothing compared to Pan American's. With its rapidly expanding use of the Boeing 707, especially on the transatlantic route, Pan American began a period of almost unchallenged success in the international airline industry. The airline, for example, was the first to recognize the importance to passengers of non-stop flights on long trips; it negotiated with Boeing for a version of the 707 that could fly for a longer time without refuelling, known as the 707-320.This allowed the airline to introduce true intercontinental service with non-stop London-to-New York flights on August 26, 1959. This was a perfect case of a dominant air carrier playing the lead role in defining the characteristics of a new class of jets that the industry would produce. The 707-320 was eventually adopted by as many as eleven other airlines within a year.

Pan Am inaugurated its New York-London route with a Boeing 707 on October 26, 1958 Within the United States, National Airlines became the first to begin jet service, using leased Boeing 707s, on December 10, 1958. American Airlines offered the first domestic jet service using its own aircraft on January 25, 1959 with a flight from New York to Los Angeles. With this coast-to-coast service, American had a big competitive coup; the two other major domestic U.S. airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA) and United Airlines, had not anticipated the imminent use of jets for domestic service. TWA quickly scrambled to catch up, and using a single Boeing 707, it joined the coast-to-coast flight market in March 1959. The last minute move helped keep TWA afloat through a difficult period of economic loss. Not all airlines pinned their hopes on the Boeing 707, however. Douglas had unmatched experience in building the best passenger airliners of the world.

United Airlines and Delta both began flying the DC-8 passenger jets in September 1959ï¿½latecomers to the domestic jet market precisely because they had depended on Douglas, which introduced jets after Boeing. Eastern Airlines joined them in domestic jet services in January 1960. Aeroflot began the world's first sustained jet airline service using Tupolev Tu-104 'Camel' jets on an extensive internal route network from the summer of 1955. The Tu-104 saw service until the mid-1970s One of the more unusual aspects of the coming of the jet era was the speed with which airlines internationally adopted these new aircraft. Partly because of Pan American's example, airlines from all over the world replaced piston-engine aircraft with jets at an unprecedented pace. The Soviet national airline Aeroflot was part of this explosion. In fact, Aeroflot held the distinction of offering the world's first regularly scheduled and sustained passenger jet service with its Tupolev Tu-104 aircraft. Aeroflot opened service from Moscow to Irkutsk (in the Soviet far east) in September 1956.

Elsewhere, by 1961, just three years after Pan Am's first jet flight, jets were flying routes over the North and South Atlantic and the Pacific; in the domestic United States, Europe, and East Asia; North-to-South America routes; Europe-to-Africa routes; Europe-to-Australia routes; and even to the Arctic regions. International airlines such as Air France, Lufthansa (Germany), KLM (Netherlands), Iberia (Spain), QANTAS (Australia), SABENA (Belgium), Air India, SAS (Scandinavia), Swissair, El Al (Israel), and JAL (Japan) were all using the Boeing 707, the DC-8, or in lesser numbers, the Corvair CV-880 jet on major international routes. Although many other airlines were the first to offer regular services on various international routes, it was Pan American Airways that set the standards for service in the new jet era.

Pan American's pioneering partnership with Boeing, its ambitious routesï¿½such as its round-the-world jet service inaugurated in October 1959, its flashy advertising campaigns, and its reputation for good service, all made the company a leader and a trendsetter. Jet travel revolutionized air travel throughout the world. For the airlines, jet travel forced them to establish much higher standards of maintenance that required better facilities on the ground and highly trained employees. For passengers, flights meant more comfort, less noise, and most important, less travel time. Once again, as with the introduction of piston engines into civil aviation in the 1920s, a new revolution in technology made the world an even smaller place. Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. A Century In the Sky Share A Century In The Sky Born about one hundred years ago, the aerospace industry changed the way we travel, move our goods, and protect our nations during times of war. The view from above also changed forever how we see the world. Now, after a century of flight, it has brought us to the moon and beyond. The sky is no longer the limit.

Barnstorming ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Boeing Model C ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Boeing B-1 ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Boeing Model 40 ‹ EXPAND GALLERY B-17 Flying Fortress ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Douglas DC-3 ‹ EXPAND GALLERY 314 Clipper ‹ EXPAND GALLERY T-6 Texan Trainer ‹ EXPAND GALLERY P-51 Mustang ‹ EXPAND GALLERY B-29 Superfortress ‹ EXPAND GALLERY B-47 Stratojet ‹ EXPAND GALLERY F-86 Sabre Jet ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Boeing 707 ‹ EXPAND GALLERY A-4 Skyhawk ‹ EXPAND GALLERY B-52 Stratofortress ‹ EXPAND GALLERY F-4 Phantom ‹ EXPAND GALLERY CH-47 Chinook ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Apollo/Saturn V ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Boeing 747 ‹ EXPAND GALLERY F-15 Strike Eagle ‹ EXPAND GALLERY AH-64 Apache ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Space Shuttle ‹ EXPAND GALLERY Boeing 787 ‹ EXPAND

 GALLERY Slow Down Pardner ‹ EXPAND GALLERY BACK TO ARTICLE Barnstorming Barnstorming, progenitor of the modern air show, was an early form of civil aviation and a source of jobs for many early pilots, including Charles Lindbergh.

NEXT Model C The last Boeing Model C off the production line carried 60 letters on the first international air mail delivery between Vancouver and Seattle. NEXT B-1 Only one model was ever built, and that same model flew between British Columbia and Seattle for eight years. NEXT THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS → The Birth of Aviation It can be argued, of course, that the history of human flight stretches as far back as the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, or Leonardo da Vinci’s designs of the 15th century, or the 19th-century invention of Zeppelin dirigibles. But flight as we know it today—in fixed-wing airplanes—began in the early 20th century, as entrepreneurs and engineers including William E. Boeing, Donald Douglas Sr., James H. "Dutch" Kindelberger, and James S. McDonnell began to build on what the Wright Brothers had started not so long before. Storming the Skies The Wright brothers helped popularize barnstorming, stunt flights that showcased both pilot skills and aircraft strength. In 1914, William Boeing took his first plane ride with a barnstormer. Later that year, he built a hangar next to Lake Union in Seattle.

In 1915, during World War I, that German lieutenant Kurt Wintgens scored the world’s first aerial victory. He did it in the first fighter plane that had a machine gun synchronized with the airplane’s propeller, which allowed it to shoot directly in the pilot’s line of sight. In July of the next year, William Boeing incorporated the Pacific Aero Products Co., which would be renamed the Boeing Airplane Co. a year later. In November, Boeing would watch as the first Boeing production aircraft, the Model C, took its first flight over Lake Union. When the U.S. entered World War I, in 1917, Boeing shipped modified Model C’s to the U.S. Navy, beginning a relationship with the military that continues today, long after the end of World War I in 1918. Air Delivery Boeing’s first projects had a practical focus: Beginning in 1919, the B-1, Boeing’s first commercial craft, would carry mail from Seattle to Canada for the next eight years. In 1927, the Boeing Model 40A would be designed specifically for the purpose of mail delivery, winning a U.S.

Post Office contract to deliver mail between San Francisco and Chicago. To operate its growing airmail business, Boeing Air Transport (BAT) was founded in 1927. After a series of acquisitions and mergers and passage of the Air Mail Act of 1934, BAT would give birth to United Airlines. At the same time, pilots and engineers around the world were spending much of the 1920s pushing the physical limits and durability of airplanes. The U.S. Army Air Service’s “World Flyers” completed the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe in 1924; Charles Lindbergh made the first solo non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in 1927; in 1930, Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm became the first pilots to circle the earth whose route took them over both the northern and southern hemispheres; and Amelia Earhart made history as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932. Throughout the 1920s, Boeing was developing multiple airplane models—fighter planes and transports—in contract with the U.S. military.

At the same time, scientists and engineers in Germany and Britain had begun research on the next innovation in flight: the jet engine, which would become standard by the 1950s. Learn more about the history of each plane on Boeing.com CALM BEFORE THE STORM → Out of the Depression Though the effects of the Great Depression were still rippling throughout the global economy, the aviation industry continued to advance, bolstered by increasing demand. The first B-17, also dubbed “The Flying Fortress” by the Seattle Times, first took flight in 1935. Later models would enter combat in 1941, when the British Royal Air Force took delivery of several B-17s for high-altitude missions. Gen. Carl Spaatz, the U.S. air commander in Europe said, “Without the B-17 we may have lost the war.” Decades later, an 88-year-old veteran, who had landed his flak-riddled B-17 on only two of its four engines, wrote to Boeing, thanking them “for making such a good airplane.” High Ambitions The Great Depression slowed the growth of the global aviation industry not at all.

In 1931, Boeing Air Transport, National Air Transport, Varney Airlines, and Pacific Air Transport merged to form United Airlines, which would provide continent-wide U.S. air service. At the time, though, coast-to-coast routes averaged flight times of well over 24 hours one-way. Capitalizing on increased commercial demand for air travel, C. R. Smith, then president of American Airlines, commissioned Douglas to design an airplane that could carry passengers overnight. The result was the Douglas DC-3, the first airplane that turned a profit purely through passenger transport, as opposed to carrying the U.S. mail. When it was first delivered in 1936, the DC-3 was intended to set a standard of luxury for both United and American Airlines. The DC-3 and its predecessor, the DC-2, were carrying more than 90 percent of all U.S. air passengers by 1939. Despite its conception as a luxury airplane, the DC-3 is also known for being rugged, resilient, and multipurpose.

Versions of the DC-3 were produced for military use during World War II—more than were produced for commercial use, in fact—and proved their worth by transporting vast amounts of cargo. More than seven decades after its first delivery, it is still in use by a number of smaller and emerging markets. Models like the B-17 and the DC-3 proved their readiness for military and cargo transport as international tensions rose in the years before World War II. The 1930s might have seen a setback to the global economy, but it also produced some of the aircraft that would populate the sky in the coming war. Learn more about the history of each plane on Boeing.com WORLD WAR TWO: A BIRD’S EYE VIEW → Warfare Aloft World War II revolutionized more than just the way we fight: It changed the very character of flight. Wartime demanded faster and larger-scale production of airplanes, but it also introduced technological advances and modifications that pilots and passengers now take for granted. In Training Commissioned by Pan American Airlines as a long-range commercial craft that could take off from, land on, and fly across oceans, Boeing’s 314 Clipper featured dressing rooms, a dining salon, even a bridal suite.

But shortly after taking its first flight in 1938, the Clipper was put to work in World War II. The Clipper wasn’t Boeing’s first draftee. The T-6 Texan Trainer, called “the Harvard” by the British Royal Air Force, taught the majority of Allied pilots everything from strafing to dogfighting. Heavy Hitters The P-51 Mustang was a critical asset for U.S. forces during World War II and the war in Korea. The first American fighter over Europe, it became especially noted for escorting U.S. bombers that damaged the Axis infrastructure. By virtually obliterating Germany’s access to oil production, for example, Allied air forces—in large part thanks to the P-51—was able to cripple Axis supply lines. The Mustang and similar models were also known for their role in reconnaissance. An early form of aerial espionage, it predated the infrared and satellite imagery techniques developed during the Cold War, but aircraft reconnaissance remains fundamental to intelligence gathering even today. Aircraft weapons capabilities advanced to previously unimaginable levels during World War II.

The B-29 Superfortress, for example carried multiple remotely operable weapons systems, and it was B-29’s range that was fundamental to winning the war in the Pacific and bringing a close to World War II overall. Learn more about the history of each plane on Boeing.com BREAKING BARRIERS → Post-War Innovation As military aircraft were retrofitted for postwar use as passenger planes and transports, aviation engineers turned to innovations for peacetime. Their achievements included breaking the sound barrier, in 1947. New Records, New Uses Also in 1947, the B-47 set speed and distance records with the swept-back wings that would become standard on many commercial and military aircraft. The U.S. Air Force’s newly formed Strategic Air Command would choose B-47 variants to be their first aircraft of choice. During the Berlin Blockade, when the Soviet Union blocked railway access into West Berlin, many countries sent air transports to bring food and supplies into the divided city, the first of many major humanitarian missions for global aviation. Sky Traffic As Cold War tensions rose, the Korean War became an opportunity for the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to test their aircraft against each other.

Thanks in part to the F-86 Sabre Jet, the Soviets lost. After its first flight in 1950, the F-86 destroyed so many Russian-built enemy planes that the final ratio of air-to-air victory was 10-to-1. F-86 models would also set five speed records before production ended in 1956. At the same time, Boeing was focused on developing its commercial fleet. Marketed as comfortable, reliable, and safe, the Boeing 707 was commissioned to be the new standard in commercial aviation. The timing could not have been better. After the 707’s debut in 1957, travel by air exceeded travel by rail and sea for the first time. Functional Flexibility The A-4 Skyhawk Light Attack Bomber provided the U.S. Navy and Marines and America’s allies with unusual flexibility and maneuverability, built to be only half the weight of its contemporaries. Its first combat flight was in 1964, when A-4 models led raids on North Vietnam.

First conceived in 1954 as an long-range, high-altitude strategic bomber, the B-52 Stratofortress has been adapted to fly virtually every kind of aviation mission, from carrying the U.S. airborne nuclear arsenal and .deploying cruise and ballistic missiles to advanced advanced signals intelligence. Still very much in service, its latest upgrades made just last year, the B-52 remains as relevant to contemporary air defense as it was 60 years ago. The F-4 Phantom II fighter saw combat in both the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm and has served with the air forces of 11 countries in addition to the United States. Twenty years after its first flight, in 1958, McDonnell Douglas celebrated the delivery of the 5,000th model of the F-4. Designed in the early Sixties in response to the U.S. Army’s demand for heavy lift helicopters, the CH-47 and its later variants have been used to transport refugees, armed forces, commercial passengers, and cargo. Japanese CH-47s were used to cool the Fukushima Power Plant after the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, dropping vast amounts of seawater on nuclear reactors.

Learn more about the history of each plane on Boeing.com ABOVE AND BEYOND → “We choose to go to the moon” Humanity’s first forays into space were as much about controlling territory as they were about the advancement of science. Sputnik in 1957 and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first Earth orbit in 1961 threatened the U.S.’s preeminence in the air and as a world power, sparking the “space race” and opening a new frontier in aircraft development. ‘One Giant Leap’ The nine Apollo space expeditions to the moon were powered by the three-stage Saturn V rocket, for which Boeing designed and built the first stage. The height of a 36-story building, the Saturn V was built for moon missions, and two years after its first liftoff in 1967, it lifted the Apollo 11 mission that allowed astronaut Neil Armstrong to become the first human to touch the moon. The last Saturn V launched the Skylab space station into Earth orbit in 1973. The Incredibles Back on Earth, airplanes were also getting bigger, smarter, and more versatile.

Demand for air travel was rising steadily, which resulted in a model that remains a stalwart of commercial flight even today. A crew of 50,000 Boeing employees designed and constructed the first Boeing 747 in less than 16 months, earning themselves the nickname “the Incredibles.” A response to ever greater demand for commercial air transport, the 747 was the largest civilian aircraft in the world when it went into service in 1970. The demand for state-of-the-art military aircraft was equally great. McDonnell Douglas’ F-15, commissioned by the Air Force after the Vietnam War, was the first U.S. fighter with enough thrust to accelerate vertically. The F-15 Strike Eagle broke several time-to-climb records, and with continual updating and modernization, it is projected to remain part of the U.S. military aircraft fleet through 2040. Developed in the mid-1970’s, the AH-64 Apache helicopter is still in use today. With its advanced radar and sensor technology, the heavily armed and combat-ready Apache is designed to be deployable in any weather and conflict scenario.

Among its most notable innovations was an integrated sighting system, a connection between helmets and weapons systems that allowed pilots and gunners to shoot wherever they directed their gaze. Learn more about the history of each plane on Boeing.com STILL ON THE RISE → Designs of the Future In recent years, innovation in the aerospace industry has been forward-looking, whether to the environmental and traffic demands of the future, or the vast possibilities awaiting us outside the earth’s atmosphere. After just a hundred years of flight, our airplanes can do more than take us across the planet: They can take us away from it. Beyond The Sky Inevitably, the aerospace industry, as well as the scientific research and innovation that drive it, turned its sights toward outer space. Boeing and the other pioneering companies that would join forces with it in the late 20th century participated in virtually every phase of the U.S. space program, from Project Mercury and the earliest multi-stage launch rockets of the late 1950s to the International Space Station (ISS).

Making its debut in 1981 as the world’s first reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Orbiter was fundamental to the construction of the ISS, which has become a model of global cooperation in the pursuit of knowledge and innovation as well as a platform for the future of space travel. The Commercial Crew Transportation System, the result of a contract between NASA and Boeing, is scheduled to begin space flights in 2017. The small, reusable capsule will transport crew to and from the International Space Station and may one day be open to paying passengers. The Dream Ticket Air travel closer to Earth is continuing to advance as well. Boeing’s latest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner, was developed to accommodate continuing growth in the demand for air travel as well as the needs of the environment, offering more space to customers while consuming 20 percent less fuel than comparably sized planes. After its first flight in 2009, the Dreamliner reached 1,000 orders faster than any airplane in history. As sky traffic is projected to keep on growing in coming decades, the aviation industry will continue to be challenged to find new ways to minimize environmental impact while getting passengers to their destinations more quickly and economically.

But the past century has proved that the industry and its aircraft can adapt and evolve to meet whatever exigencies present themselves, and the future is looking no less bright as scientists, engineers, and other pioneers on the ever advancing aviation frontier continue to push the limits of flight. Learn more about the history of each plane on Boeing.com Oct. 4, 1958: ‘Comets’ Debut Trans-Atlantic Jet Age | WIRED Time of Publication: 7:00 am. 7:00 am Oct. 4, 1958: ‘Comets’ Debut Trans-Atlantic Jet Age 1958: Two DeHavilland Comets depart London and New York, each bound for the other city. Flying for the British Overseas Airways Corporation, the two aircraft complete the first trans-Atlantic jet passenger service, dramatically reducing the travel time between the United States and Europe. Jet airliners had been around since the Comet first carried passengers from London to Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1952. But those early jets were very thirsty for fuel compared to today’s airliners, and long routes required several stops.

However, Boeing and Douglas began to develop jet airliners of their own, and the competition to increase the range of the speedy new airplanes was heating up. It was clear by 1958 that a trans-Atlantic jet service was on the horizon, and several airlines were preparing to be the first to make the historic flight. Pan American had ordered Comets from DeHavilland, but a series of well-publicized crashes after the jets entered service had the company rethinking its jet strategy. Pan Am President Juan Trippe desperately wanted to offer trans-Atlantic jet service, and with the Comet no longer on the order book, he managed to get the two U.S. aircraft makers into a competition to build a jet capable of the nonstop crossing. In the meantime the British-made Comets’ problem of metal fatigue leading to cracked fuselages had been fixed. BOAC was finally clear to expand their use. When Boeing introduced its 707 model , Pan Am had the airplane it needed to begin offering flights between the United States and Europe. Juan Trippe touted the trans-Atlantic flights as a new era in travel, and the first Pan Am flight between New York and London was made with a Boeing 707 on Oct.

26, 1958. Unfortunately for Trippe, trans-Atlantic jet service was old news. BOAC had made the first-ever flights three weeks earlier, using the DeHavilland Comet 4, an upgraded version of the original. The Oct. 4 westbound flight had to stop in Newfoundland to refuel, but was able to complete the London–New York route in 10 hours, 22 minutes. The eastbound flight was able to take advantage of friendly tailwinds and made the trip to London in a record-breaking 6 hours, 11 minutes. Propeller planes were taking more than 14 hours to make the multistop trip between the two continents. With the British beating the Americans to making the first crossing, the Comet received a less-than-friendly welcome in New York. According to one of the passengers on the trip, they were booed as they disembarked and walked towards the terminal. In the end, the Comet with its limited number of seats lost out to the 707. BOAC went on to fly the 707 on its own trans-Atlantic flights.

The airline eventually became British Airways through a merger and continues flying the Boeing 747 between London and several U.S. cities every day. Today a massive fleet of aircraft completes about 600 nonstop flights between Europe and the United States every day. Source: Various Timeline of Commercial Aviation | 2011 | Aviation Special Report | Insights & News | Burns & McDonnell Timeline of Commercial Aviation First passenger flight: Wilbur Wright takes an employee along for a ride 1909 Army Airfield established at College Park, Md., by Wilbur Wright, making it the longest continuously operating airport in the world today 1910 Orville Wright opens the first commercial flight school in Montgomery, Ala. 1911 Burgess Co.

becomes the first licensed commercial aircraft manufacturer 1913 Silas Christofferson carries passengers by hydroplane between San Francisco and Oakland harbors 1918 National Air Mail service inaugurated 1919 KLM begins operation, making it the oldest carrier in the world still operating under its original name 1920 Sydney Airport opens for commercial service 1920 Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport opens for commercial service 1920 International air service is offered by Aeromarine West Indies Airways between Key West, Fla., and Havana, Cuba 1922 First permanent airport and commercial terminal used solely for commercial flights opens at Flughafen Devau near Konigsberg, East Prussia 1922 Aeromarine Airways of Cleveland, Ohio, is established as the first airline ticketing agency 1923 First transcontinental non-stop flight 1926 Congress adopts the Air Commerce Act of 1926, which authorized the Secretary of Commerce to designate air routes, develop air navigation systems, and license pilots and aircraft 1926 Deutsche Luft Hansa (now known as Lufthansa) begins scheduled service in Germany 1926 First flight lands at Candler

 Field, today's busiest U.S.

airport - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport 1929 Pan American Airlines inaugurates its first passenger flight from Miami to San Juan by way of Belize and Managua 1930 First female flight attendant, Ellen Church, is hired by Boeing Air Transport (now United Airlines) 1933 United Airlines begins flying coast to coast with a Boeing 247 flight lasting nearly 20 hours 1935 Boeing designs the 307 Stratoliner, the first commercial aircraft with a pressurized cabin 1935 Amelia Earhart dedicates the Newark Airport Administration Building, North America's first commercial airline terminal 1936 Pan American inaugurates passenger flights across the Pacific Ocean 1939 Pan American begins transatlantic passenger service 1939 New York Municipal Airport opens, later renamed LaGuardia Airport after New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who refused to deplane at Newark, N.J., because his ticket read "New York" 1940s Many commercial airlines and airports go offline to commercial traffic to support World War II military efforts 1950 Transatlantic route is the world's most traveled air route 1952

 De Havilland Comet becomes the world's first commercial jet airliner 1958 Pan American initiates its New York to London route with the Boeing 707 1958 Today's second busiest airport internationally, Beijing Capital International Airport, opens 1959 American Airlines offers first domestic jetliner flights with routes from New York to Los Angeles 1962 Attorney General Robert Kennedy swears in the first FAA peace officers, who act as air marshals on requested flights 1967 The modern-day FAA is established as part of the U.S.

Department of Transportation 1973 The first female airline pilot, Emily Warner, flies as second officer for Frontier Airlines 1976 Concorde jet flies first supersonic passenger flight 1978 Airline Deregulation Act is signed into law, removing government control over fares, routes and market entry 1979 First frequent flier program introduced 1980 Almost half of total flights worldwide took place in the U.S.

1981 11,400 air traffic controllers are fired by President Reagan after walking off the job on strike when labor negotiations fail 1993 First ticketless travel becomes available 1995 Boeing produces twin-engine 777, the first aircraft produced via computer-aided design and engineering 1995 First airline tickets are sold via the Internet 1998 Smoking is banned on all domestic flights 1999 First web-based passenger check-in and online boarding passes 2001 Transportation Security Administration established in response to September 11 attacks 2007 Airbus A380 enters commercial service capable of carrying 850 passengers 2009 Transportation Security Administration formally accepts airport scanners as the primary method of pre-flight screening 2009 Branson Airport opens; designed by Burns & McDonnell, it is the only privately owned and operated commercial service airport in the U.S. 2011 Airbus announces signing of the largest aircraft deal in history based on aircraft ordered: 200 planes ordered by AirAsia

Question: In what year did regular Boeing 707 flights begin across he Atlantic?
Answer: 1958