A century of flight with Boeing

Here are a few of the many Boeing projects that shaped the 20th century, selected by Boeing engineers and historians

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Model 40A: The 1927 biplane was the first commercial aircraft. It had greater carrying capacity and was more economical to operate than its competitors.

Model 247: In 1933, the all-metal monoplane was called the first "modern" commercial transport. It incorporated innovations such as a gyro panel for instrument flying, retractable landing gear, and other improvements.

DC-3: This commercial airliner is credited with making air travel popular and affordable. First flown in 1935, it provided passengers with comfortable travel. More than 10,000 of the C-47, the military version of the DC-3, were used in every theater of World War II. It was made famous by its airdrops on D-Day.

Model 314 Clipper: The "flying boat" was built in 1938 and was the largest passenger transport of its time. It included a lounge, dining salon and bridal suite.

Model 307 Stratoliner: The world's first pressurized commercial transport started scheduled U.S. domestic transcontinental service in 1940.

Model 367-80: The "Dash 80" was the prototype for both the KC-135, the only jet airplane designed specifically for aerial refueling, in 1956, and for the 707, the first Boeing commercial jet transport, in 1957.

Model 747: Built in 1969, the 747 was the world's first giant airliner. Today, it is still the largest long-range commercial airplane in service.

Model 777: The first commercial jet to be 100 percent digitally designed with three-dimensional solid-modeling technology.

MILITARY

Stearman Kaydet: One of the most produced biplanes in America, it was the primary trainer for the U.S. Army and Navy during World War II.

B-17: The "Flying Fortress" proved itself in daylight bombing raids during World War II, became a household word, and was legendary for its ability to stay in the air after taking brutal poundings.

P-51: The Mustang fighter's superior aerodynamics, range and speed allowed it to outperform enemy planes during World War II. It turned the tide of the Allied bombing campaign in Europe.

F-86: The Sabre Jet was America's first swept-wing jet fighter, and it remained the world's first-line fighter for more than a decade after it was designed.

B-47 and B-52: The B-47, the United States' first swept-wing jet bomber, also was the world's first large multi-engine, sweptwing jet. The B-52 was the country's first long-range swept-wing jet bomber. It is now in its fifth decade of service.

F-4: The Phantom fighter, last delivered in 1979, could fly at more than twice the speed of sound; it was one of the most versatile fighters ever built. At its peak, it served in the first line of more Western air forces than any other jet.

Minuteman and Nike missiles: The Minuteman program established Boeing as a manager of complex military systems and North American's Autonetics Division as a developer of inertial guidance systems. The Nike missile was the first operational ground-based supersonic antiaircraft missile in the United States.

F-15: The Eagle is the world's most technologically advanced tactical aircraft in service today and the leading dual-role fighter, performing air-to-ground and air-to-air missions with unmatched success. It can fly higher than 50,000 feet at more than Mach 2.5.

SPACE

Thor and Delta: The Thor, an intermediate-range ballistic missile, was built in record time to provide nuclear deterrence before intercontinental ballistic missiles were ready. The first version of the Delta expendable launch vehicle was a modification of the Thor, and its successful launch in August 1960 placed the first passive communications satellite on orbit.

Mercury: On May 5, 1961, in a Mercury spacecraft, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space.

Saturn V: The 363-foot-tall rocket was the launch vehicle for the Apollo missions to the moon and for Skylab, the first crewed space station.

Inertial Upper Stage: The unpiloted, upper-stage booster rocket sent the Magellan spacecraft to the planet Venus in April 1988. In 1990, it sent Galileo to Jupiter and Ulysses—which also used the McDonnell Douglas Payload Assist Module—to the sun.

Space shuttle: The shuttles, the first reusable space vehicles, were designed to meet America's space transportation needs well into the 21st century.

AWACS: The Airborne Warning and Control System became the world's standard for such systems, first with the 707 airframe and then with the 767.

International Space Station: The Space Station, the size of two U.S. football fields, permits up to seven astronauts to live on orbit for long periods of time.

The X-15: The experimental rocket research airplane was the pioneer of hypersonic flight, testing the realms of extreme speed and temperature. The X-15 set the world speed record of Mach 6.7 and achieved a record altitude of 354,200 feet, 67 miles above Earth.