1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios, 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: I Heeart Radio and How Stuff Works and a love 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: all things tech. And in our last episode, I covered 6 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: the early history of Boeing, from its founding to the 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: early years of World War Two, when the pioneering aviation 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: company was making long range bombers with the designation B seventeen. 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: Now I didn't get to this factory, but at its 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:44,199 Speaker 1: peak production in nineteen four, airplane manufacturers were producing sixteen 11 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: B seventeens in twenty four hours. Now that wasn't just 12 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 1: Boeing's factories, mind you. Though Boeing was the company that 13 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: designed the B seventeen, other manufacturers got the license to 14 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: produce that same design in order to meet the military's 15 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: need for more aircraft. Today, we're going to continue the 16 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: company's history largely through World War Two, because a lot 17 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: happened with Bowing at that point, and we're also going 18 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: to talk about some other military aircraft as well as 19 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: the commercial aircraft that Boeing would become known for. In fact, 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,639 Speaker 1: let's start with a passenger aircraft that Boeing was working 21 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: on while it was also ramping up production of the 22 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: B seventeens. So in the mid nineteen thirties, this is 23 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: before the United States was in World War Two, the 24 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: airline Pan American Airways better known as pan AM at 25 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,279 Speaker 1: the time, wanted more aircraft capable of making the transatlantic 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: flight between Europe and North America. PanAm was one of 27 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: many companies that sprung up in the nineteen twenties to 28 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: meet the demand of carrying air mail and then evolved 29 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: into a passenger service airline. The airline already had a 30 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: few aircraft from another manufacturing company called Martin, so Bowing 31 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: bid on this PanAm contract, and one the contract called 32 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: for the design of a flying boat, which kind of 33 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: tells you everything you need need to know about that 34 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:13,359 Speaker 1: type of aircraft. So, unlike a seaplane, a flying boat 35 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: doesn't have pontoon landing gear, nor doesn't have wheels to 36 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: land on firm ground. Instead, the fuselage of the plane 37 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: itself is designed to float, and the aircraft lands and 38 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: takes off from the water, so it looks like a 39 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: boat with wings. These aircraft could be quite large because 40 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: they used very large bodies of water as airports, so 41 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: there was no need to build runways or landing strips 42 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: that could be large enough to accommodate them, and that 43 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,399 Speaker 1: was a real limiting factor on early airports. You would 44 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: go out and build an airport with a landing strip 45 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: and you know, uh, you know, some some takeoff strips 46 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: and everything was sized to the planes of the time. 47 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: But that meant as they built larger planes, they wouldn't 48 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: fit on those older airports. Well, this got around that 49 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: because the airport was essentially the ocean or very large lakes, 50 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: and those were huge, there was no need to worry 51 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: about the size constraints. Boeing used much of the design 52 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: for their bomber prototype, the x B fifteen, to serve 53 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: as the foundation for this new commercial aircraft. This was 54 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: the same prototype that served as the starting point for 55 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: the B seventeen design. So the end result was a 56 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: four engine plane propeller engines, mind you, not jet engines, 57 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: and the plane was called the Model three fourteen Clipper 58 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: because the aircraft had a max speed of one eighty 59 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: eight miles per hour or three hundred and three kilometers 60 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: per hour, and it's cruising speed was closer to a 61 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: hundred fifty five miles per hour or two d nine 62 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: kilometers per hour. There weren't that many seats aboard the aircraft. 63 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: This allowed for a seating plan in which the seats 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: could be converted into beds because a light could take 65 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: twenty hours or so if you're going across the ocean, 66 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: if it's going to be a twenty hour flight, you 67 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: need to have a lot of space for people to 68 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: be able to recline and sleep. I mean, that's almost 69 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: a full day of flying. PanAm really pulled out all 70 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: the stops, which, now that I think about, is another 71 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: example of a tech phrase based off of a largely 72 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: obsolete type of technology. Anyway, they made service aboard these 73 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: planes a real luxury. It was high class travel, and 74 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: so it was for a very small population of disgustingly 75 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: wealthy people. And I might be showing a bit of 76 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: envy here, but anyway, this was one example of a 77 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: civilian aircraft that Boeing would make around the same time 78 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: that was starting production on those B seventeen bombers for 79 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: the military. Now, that luxury experience wasn't always a smooth one, 80 00:04:55,839 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: because the Model three four teen Clipper wasn't a pressurized aircraft, 81 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: so that minute actually had to fly at lower altitudes, 82 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: which also meant it would have to fly below or 83 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: through weather disturbances, so you can encounter some pretty rough 84 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: turbulence depending upon the weather along your flight route and 85 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: all around. That same time, Boeing designed and built a 86 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: commercial transport aircraft that could fly much higher because it 87 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: had a pressurized cabin, it can maintain a higher air 88 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 1: pressure inside the aircraft than would be outside the aircraft 89 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: at altitude. This particular aircraft had the designation of Model 90 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: three oh seven, but it was better known as the 91 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: Strato Liner, and we're gonna get a lot of Strato 92 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: aircraft in this episode. Now. The Strato Liner was based 93 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: off of Boeing's B seventeen designed directly. It was not 94 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: based off the x B fifteen experimental aircraft like the 95 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: three fourteen Clipper. The Strato Liner was an aircraft that 96 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: Boeing had built for pan Am. It's are in manufacturing 97 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: and testing these airplanes in nineteen These would be the 98 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: first passenger aircraft to offer pressurized cabins, and they were 99 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: also propeller planes. The pressurization allowed the aircraft to climb 100 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: to higher altitudes without the pesky issue of subjecting passengers 101 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: to low air pressure where the air isn't thick enough 102 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: for you to actually get a good lungful. So that 103 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: meant that you could have a pressurized cabin and the 104 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: passengers could, you know, remain conscious. The strato Liner had 105 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: a limited ability to pressurize the cabin. You couldn't actually 106 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: climb up to the stratosphere in a strato liner, but 107 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: it was still a pretty remarkable feat of engineering. The 108 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: Strato Linner had a passenger capacity of thirty three and 109 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: it would have a crew of six on top of that. 110 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: While the initial plan was to use them for commercial 111 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: air travel both across the ocean and as coast to 112 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: coast service in the United States, World War two would 113 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 1: mean that many of these aircraft would be purchased by 114 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: the United States military to be used as transport for 115 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: personnel and in the military. The strato Liner would receive 116 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: the designation of C seventy five, exact same aircraft, although 117 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: with the amenities really stripped out, it didn't need to 118 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: be quite so fancy for military use, but it got 119 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: a new designation. I should also add that the strate 120 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: A Liner marked one of Boeing's big tragedies. On March eighteenth, 121 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine, Boeing was demonstrating the strate A Liner 122 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: for a Dutch airline called k l M. A k 123 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: LM technical director named Albert Vaughan Baumhauer served as co 124 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: pilot on this test flight, and there was a Boeing 125 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: test pilot who was serving as the captain. There were 126 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: eight other people on the plane as well, one of 127 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: them from t w A. Most of the rest were 128 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: either from Boeing or the Dutch air Ministry. And during 129 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: the test, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and 130 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: the aircraft went into a dive and the pilot was 131 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: unable to recover, and so the strato Liner crashed and 132 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: all of the people aboard died in the plane crash. 133 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: After an investigation, Boeing engineers would add more components to 134 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: the flight control system of the strato Liner, mainly a 135 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: dorsal fin that would help with rudder control on the 136 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: tail and thus improved its safety that way. But this 137 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: was a very tragic way to learn that. Lesson, there's 138 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: another strato Liner incident I should mention when that didn't 139 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 1: have a tragic ending, but It's interesting because this was 140 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 1: a relatively recent event. Now keep in mind these aircraft 141 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: originally flew in the nineteen forties. But the incident I'm 142 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: talking about happened on March two thousand two, so not 143 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: that long ago. A three oh seven Strato Liner, registered 144 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: to the National Air and Space Museum and operated by 145 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: Boeing was to go through a pretty routine series of tests. 146 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: There were two pilots and two test engineers aboard the plane, 147 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: and it was to takeoff and land about three times. 148 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: And it was flying between two different airstrips, one in Everett, 149 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: Washington and one in Seattle, Washington that belongs specifically to Boeing. 150 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: And meanwhile it was supposed to go through some routine 151 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: maneuvers along the way. The first flight from Seattle to 152 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,079 Speaker 1: Everett went off without a hitch, but the second flight, 153 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: the return trip from Everett to Seattle, was a different story. 154 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: In fact, there are two different stories. So here's how 155 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: the official story unravels. Shortly after takeoff from Everett's pain Field, 156 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: the number three engine, so like the three fourteen, the 157 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: strate A Liner had four propeller engines. The number three 158 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,319 Speaker 1: engine experienced a surge. Then it normalized, and it was 159 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: at that point that the crew decided to scrap all 160 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: the maneuvering test plans that they had in store and 161 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: instead just fly straight to the Seattle landing Strip and 162 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,959 Speaker 1: land at Boeing Field. On approach to Boeing Field, a 163 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: light in the cockpit indicated a problem with the landing 164 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: gear on the left side of the plane, so they 165 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: aborted the initial landing because clearly there was something going 166 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: on with the landing gear, and they went into an 167 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: orbit pattern around Bowing Field. The captain manually hand cranked 168 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: the landing gear so it was down into place until 169 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: the indicator light lit up green, letting you know the 170 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: landing gear was fully extended. But that wasn't the end 171 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: of their problems. While the landing gear was now down, 172 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: before the crew could go into an approach course for landing, 173 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: that third engine indicated a loss and fuel pressure and 174 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: then failed completely. The other three engines also began to 175 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: indicate lower fuel pressure, and the captain feathered the engines. 176 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: The captain determined that the aircraft didn't have sufficient fuel 177 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,439 Speaker 1: pressure to make it back to Bowing Field, and so 178 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: he chose to make an emergency water landing. In Elliott Bay. 179 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 1: The crew got the aircraft down into the water where 180 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: the airplane remained afloat, and all of the crew were 181 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: able to evacuate wait the strato Liner and they were 182 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: whisked off to safety. The plane was later retrieved from 183 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: the bay. It had to be crane lifted out of it. 184 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 1: But here's the other story. Now, First of all, I 185 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: have to say this other story sites unnamed sources, so 186 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 1: we have to take this with an enormous grain of 187 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: salt because it could be totally untrue. But this story 188 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: states that the Boeing pilots were actually funding this test 189 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: flight out of pocket, that they were essentially doing this 190 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: because they both really wanted to fly a strato Liner. 191 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: I mean, this was a classic propeller plane, and they 192 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: had actually planned on doing some circuits, meaning they were 193 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: going to fly around and have fun in this giant aircraft. 194 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: And that's kind of understandable. I mean, it is a 195 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 1: historic aircraft, and they were paying for it themselves, so 196 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: you can think, all right, well, it might seem a little, 197 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: you know, silly, but it also seems reasonable. Mean if 198 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:04,679 Speaker 1: they're paying for everything, except obviously things didn't turn out okay, 199 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: So According to this version of the story, the pilots 200 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: only paid for about three gallons of fuel when they 201 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: were at Boeing for the beginning of their trip, and 202 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: their initial plan was they would fly the aircraft to 203 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: pain Field and they would do a little few circuits, 204 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,479 Speaker 1: but then they would land at pain Field and refuel 205 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: at pain Field because at pain Field the gas was 206 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 1: slightly cheaper, or really the airplane fuel was slightly cheaper, 207 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: and they could use that fuel for the rest of 208 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: their flight shenanigans. But apparently at some point along the 209 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,199 Speaker 1: way here, having all this fun, the pilots forgot about this. 210 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: Maybe they were enjoying flying the strate A liner too 211 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: much and they failed to refuel the plane sufficiently. So 212 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: they took off from pain Field for trip number two, 213 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: and they had not properly refueled, and they started flying 214 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: circuits again, taking the plane out on the joy ride, 215 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: and engine three sputtered and died because there wasn't enough 216 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,959 Speaker 1: fuel in the system. They feathered the engine and they 217 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,319 Speaker 1: decided they needed to land the aircraft, and that's when 218 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,199 Speaker 1: they found out that the landing gear couldn't lower. And 219 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: why couldn't the landing gear lower? Well, the power for 220 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: the landing gear would normally be provided by engine three, 221 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,440 Speaker 1: but they had feathered engine three. Effectively, they had shut 222 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 1: down the engine, so the engine could not provide the 223 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,559 Speaker 1: power to lower the landing gear, which meant they had 224 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: to lower it manually. And then they decided they would 225 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: go back to Bowing Field rather than land back at Pain. 226 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: Remember Pain is where they took off, but they decided 227 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: rather than returned to that that landing strip, which might 228 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: have actually been closer before they started doing all their 229 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,439 Speaker 1: circuits and stuff, they decided to keep on going towards 230 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: Bowing And making matters more confusing is that the Strato 231 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: Liner maintenance facility was at Hayne. So why fly back 232 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: to Boeing Field. Well, again, according to this unnamed source 233 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: in this story, it's because the crew wanted to go 234 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:11,439 Speaker 1: back to Boeing Field because that's where they parked their cars, 235 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 1: so the inconvenient if they landed in Pain to get 236 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,679 Speaker 1: everything maintained and fixed. Now, if this version of the 237 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: story is true, the failure was on the part of 238 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: the flight crew, not the aircraft. Now, again, I have 239 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: no clue if the details of that story are true, 240 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: but it was pretty big news in Seattle in two 241 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: thousand two that Boeing had to ditch a Strato liner 242 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: in that bay. So Boeing was making civilian aircraft for 243 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: airlines and bombers for the US military leading up to 244 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: the United States entering World War Two, which happened in December. 245 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: In nine, a former Boeing leader came back to see 246 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: the company through the massive wartime production operations, and that 247 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: was Philip G. Johnson, who had worked for Boeing since 248 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen, and he rose to the level of president 249 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: of United Aircraft and Transport Company. That was the holding 250 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: company of Boeing's various businesses. But then the government, the 251 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: US government forced that company to break apart, so he 252 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: left Bowing in ninety three and then established trans Canada Airlines. However, 253 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: he returned to Boeing to serve as the president. He 254 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: was responsible for the company's performance during wartime. And when 255 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: we come back, I'll talk about the B twenty nine 256 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: super Fortress and how Boeing switched into full on military mode. 257 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break. It's hard to 258 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: stress exactly how much the bombing of Pearl Harbor affected 259 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: the United States. Not only did it mean the US 260 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: would officially declare war and into World War Two. It 261 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: was also a terrifying example of how aircraft could pose 262 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: as a serious threat. One of the actions Boeing took 263 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: was to disguise its manufacturing facilities so that when viewed 264 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: from the air, the facilities looked like a nondescript community. 265 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: They built makeshift houses of stuff like burlap, and they 266 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: put those on the rooftops of their buildings so that 267 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: it looked like it was just a little poor community 268 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: instead of buildings that were housing aircraft manufacturing facilities. But 269 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: inside those buildings Boeing was ramping up production on the 270 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: B seventeen bomber, and in their manufacturing facilities in Renton, 271 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: Washington and Wichita, Kansas, the company prepared to make another 272 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: long range bomber, the B twenty nine super Fortress. The 273 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: military had determined that Boeing's B seventeen would be suitable 274 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: for use in the European theater during World War two, 275 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: but that a different aircraft would be required for the 276 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: Pacific theater. There was a need for aircraft that could 277 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: carry a heavier bomb payload many thousands of miles, so 278 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: Boeing was and of several companies to submit a proposal, 279 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:08,479 Speaker 1: and along with manufacturing companies Martin, Douglas, and Lockheed, Boeing 280 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: was invited to build a prototype of its design for 281 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:16,400 Speaker 1: military consideration. Lockeed and Douglas would both cancel their projects 282 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: before they actually got to the prototype stage. They ultimately 283 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: determined that it wasn't a profitable approach for them. The 284 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: Army Air Corps, which would officially become the US Army 285 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: Air Forces in would choose Boeing's design as their primary bomber, 286 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:35,880 Speaker 1: and then Martin's design. The B thirty two served as 287 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: a backup. Boeing delivered some prototypes and before long entered 288 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: into full production mode. The need was greater than what 289 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: Boeing could accomplish on its own in its own facilities, 290 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: and so a Bell Aircraft manufacturing plant and a Martin 291 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 1: facility also would end up producing some B twenty nine aircraft. Also, 292 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,719 Speaker 1: this was the age of Rosie the riveter. That's the 293 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: iconic image of a one and dressed for manufacturing work. 294 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 1: She's flexing her muscles looking really powerful. Well, that wasn't 295 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,680 Speaker 1: just an example of propaganda. The workforces in these facilities 296 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,359 Speaker 1: were largely made up of women because the male working 297 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: force was largely off at war, so most of these 298 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: aircraft were primarily put together by women. The B twenty 299 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: nine relied on an eleven person crew that included the pilot, 300 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: the co pilot, You had several gunners, You had the bombardier, 301 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: you had the navigator. There are a couple of others 302 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: as well. The B twenty nine was heavier than the 303 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: B seventeen, weighed in at seventy four thousand, five hundred 304 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: pounds when empty or thirty three thousand seven ms, and 305 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 1: it was also longer than the B seventeen and also 306 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: had a wider wingspan than the B seventeen. The aircraft 307 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: would be used extensively in the Pacific, and it had 308 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: pressurized sections so that the crew could move through them 309 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: even when the plane was flying at high altitudes. One 310 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: ex option of this was for the poor guy who 311 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,679 Speaker 1: served as the tail gunner. So the tail gunner position 312 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: itself was pressurized. I mean that only makes sense. You 313 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: need to have a conscious gunner in that position. But 314 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: the area immediately around the tailgunner position, which was you know, 315 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: sealed off from the rest of the aircraft, that area 316 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: wasn't pressurized, so if you were the tailgunner, you would 317 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: get into the tail gunner position before the aircraft had 318 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 1: climbed into that higher altitude. You'd seal yourself in your position, 319 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: would be pressurized, and then you'd be stuck there until 320 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: the aircraft had descended to a low enough altitude where 321 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: you could get out without having the problems of low 322 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: air pressure. So that must have been pretty confining. Four 323 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: of the machine gun turrets on the B twenty nine 324 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: were capable of operation via remote control, which was a 325 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: real innovation at the time, and then that two crew 326 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: members could control the four turrets, and like the B seventeen, 327 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,120 Speaker 1: most of the guns aboard the B twenty nine were 328 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: fifty caliber machine guns. It was a B twenty nine 329 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: super fortress called the and Nola Gay that would carry 330 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Another B 331 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: twenty nine called box Car, dropped the one on Nagasaki. 332 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,120 Speaker 1: These two attacks would be the first and the last 333 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: nuclear attacks in history so far, hopefully they represent the 334 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:28,359 Speaker 1: last one ever. The B twenty nine project would actually 335 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,120 Speaker 1: be the most expensive military project in World War Two. 336 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: It was, in fact more expensive than the Manhattan Project 337 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: that was the project that was responsible for developing and 338 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: building the atomic bombs, but the B twenty nine cost 339 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: more money. During World War Two, Boeing also lost its 340 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: company president, Philip G. Johnson, whom I mentioned just before 341 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,919 Speaker 1: the break. He died from a massive stroke as he 342 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: was overseeing operations in the Wichita, Kansas manufacturing facility. In nine. 343 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: Claremont Claire ex Vette, whose name I continue to butcher, 344 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,399 Speaker 1: but he had served as president of Boeing from nineteen 345 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: thirty three to nineteen thirty nine, would actually step back 346 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: into the position for the remainder of World War Two 347 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: as a sort of an interim president, and then he 348 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: would hand the company over to William M. Allen in nine. 349 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: Boeing made a couple of other military aircraft during World 350 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: War Two besides the famous B seventeen and B twenty 351 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 1: nine bombers. You may have heard about the B fifty 352 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 1: super Fortress, and to be fair, the B fifty was 353 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: really a redesignation of what was originally called a B 354 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,199 Speaker 1: twenty nine D, so it was part of the B 355 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: twenty nine super Fortress family, but then got rebranded, if 356 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,199 Speaker 1: you will, into a B fifty. Boeing also made a 357 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: long range cargo military aircraft called the Strato Freighter, and 358 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: it also made a fighter plane, the XF eight B. 359 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: This was a single engine propeller plane intended for the U. S. 360 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: Navy as not just a fighter, but also like a 361 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 1: torpedo bomber. Boeing produced a prototype in NT four, but 362 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: World War Two was over before the company was scheduled 363 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: to enter into full production mode, so the project was 364 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:19,879 Speaker 1: scrapped with only three aircraft, all prototypes ever built. Boeing 365 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,360 Speaker 1: would also take the design of the C nine Strato 366 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: Freighter and then refit it to serve as a commercial 367 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,880 Speaker 1: passenger aircraft. The new design needed a new name, which 368 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: would become the Boeing three seventy seven Strato Cruiser. Boeing's 369 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 1: customer was once again pan Am. This aircraft was a 370 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: bit more posh than the military variant, as you might imagine. 371 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: There were different passenger configurations for the Strato Cruiser, but 372 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: generally it could hold between sixty three and eighty four 373 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: passengers with a crew of four. The main cabin had 374 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: a staircase that led down to a lower deck, and 375 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: the lower deck actually served as a drinks lounge. Very 376 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: very you know that kind of swinging. You know, I 377 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,040 Speaker 1: feel like I should remind you guys that these aircraft 378 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 1: were all propeller airplanes. These are not jet engine aircraft. 379 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:12,359 Speaker 1: Yet we're not quite there, So this was considered, you know, 380 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: very swanky kind of travel arrangements back when, you know, 381 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,399 Speaker 1: traveling on an airplane was a big deal and usually 382 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: only the world to do could afford to ever set 383 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: foot on them. While I'm on the Strato Cruiser, I 384 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: should talk about the aircraft's safety record, because it's pretty dismal. 385 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: Right now, the seven thirty seven Max aircraft from Boeing 386 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: is in the news due to some truly horrible accidents 387 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: that have happened with it. But that's not the first 388 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: aircraft from Boeing to have problems that lead to tragedy. Now, 389 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,880 Speaker 1: it seems like the main fault for the Strato Cruiser 390 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: lay in the choice of propellers. At the time of 391 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:57,399 Speaker 1: its construction, Bowing had essentially two choices for propellers for 392 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,919 Speaker 1: the Strato Cruiser. One was made by Curtis Electric and 393 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,400 Speaker 1: the other was made by Hamilton's Standard. The Curtis Electric 394 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: propeller blades were heavier and more complex from an electro 395 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: mechanical perspective and probably more expensive to the Hamilton's standard 396 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: propeller blades would rely on a hydraulic system, so mechanically 397 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: they were simpler, and they were also four hundred pounds 398 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: lighter than the Curtis electric propeller blades, so Boeing went 399 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,360 Speaker 1: with the Hamilton's standard ones. They were lighter and they 400 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: were less complicated. Unfortunately, the Strato cruisers operations sometimes placed 401 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 1: more force on those propellers and their engines than they 402 00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 1: were rated to withstand, and that would lead to the 403 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: propellers becoming unbalanced, which would then cause powerful vibrations that 404 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: could damage the engines, sometimes ripping them clear off the aircraft, 405 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: as appeared to be the case on April nine, that's 406 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,199 Speaker 1: when a Strato Cruiser en route to New York from 407 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: Rio de Janeiro crashed in the Brazilian jungle. All fifty 408 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: people aboard that plane died in the crash. This was 409 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 1: the worst of the tragedies involving the Strato Cruiser, but 410 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: sadly it was not the only one. There were others 411 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 1: as well. There were enough incidents to lead the f 412 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,680 Speaker 1: a A to issue an airworthiness directive about the Hamilton's 413 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: standard propeller blades, and while several accidents were traced to 414 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: problems with propellers and ultimately with a sealant that was 415 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: used to hold these hollow propellers together, other accidents had 416 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,719 Speaker 1: other causes, and there wasn't the only cause of accidents 417 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: aboard Strato cruisers. One involved a cabin door being improperly sealed, 418 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: and upon climbing to cruising altitude and achieving its pressurized status, 419 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 1: that door ultimately failed and the cabin suffered explosive decompression, 420 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:54,160 Speaker 1: and it resulted in one passenger dying. Truly awful awful events. 421 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: Between nineteen forty seven to nineteen fifty, Boeing would manufacture 422 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: fifty six Strato cruisers, and during the time of their operation, 423 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:07,959 Speaker 1: a total of one thirty nine people died in accidents 424 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: involving Strato cruisers, the last of which took place in 425 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy with a converted Strato cruiser that was meant 426 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,880 Speaker 1: to carry heavy aircraft parts. Now I got a backtrack 427 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: just a bit, because we were in the nineteen forties 428 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,640 Speaker 1: and then I just went down the Strato cruiser line. 429 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: But in ninety six Boeing signed a contract to develop 430 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: what was called the ground to air pilotless Aircraft. And 431 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: from that name it sounds like it could be a 432 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: remote controlled drone, but that's not it. That was actually 433 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: the name for a two stage missile designed to fly 434 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: faster than the speed of sound, the first missile Boeing 435 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: ever designed. It was an anti aircraft missile meant to 436 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: intercept aircraft that could fly up to seven hundred miles 437 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 1: per hour or one thousand, one hundred twenty six kilometers 438 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: per hour and up to altitudes of eight thousand feet 439 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 1: or two thousand, four hundred thirty eight meters. The GAPPA, 440 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,440 Speaker 1: as it was called g A p A, never saw 441 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 1: active use in defense, but did serve as the basis 442 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 1: for future missiles designed by Boeing. Also in nineteen six, 443 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:14,439 Speaker 1: Boeing agreed to supply two prototype aircraft designated XB forty 444 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: seven to the Army Air Forces. This was a long 445 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:23,120 Speaker 1: range bomber design with six turbo jet engines, so jet engines, 446 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: not propeller engines. It also had a swept wing design, 447 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: which means the wings weren't at a straight ninety degree 448 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: angle out from the body of the aircraft. The wings 449 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,400 Speaker 1: of the XB forty seven were angled back with respect 450 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: to the aircraft's cockpits, so that's how most swept wing 451 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: aircraft are. There are a few that actually have wings 452 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,160 Speaker 1: that are angled forward rather than backward. During World War Two, 453 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: the German military had settled on swept wing designs for 454 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: high speed aircraft. They found that they were more stable 455 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: than could withstand the forces better than straight winged aircraft, 456 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,719 Speaker 1: so after the war those designs would find their ways 457 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: into aircraft plans in the former Allied nations to clear 458 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,439 Speaker 1: the United States, and wind tunnel tests confirmed that the 459 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: design was far more stable for high speed aircraft than 460 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 1: the straight winged version, so that was the design for 461 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 1: the XP forty seven. The engines of the XP forty seven, 462 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: the nickname of which was the strato jet, we're in 463 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,400 Speaker 1: what we're called pods or nacells. These were suspended under 464 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,200 Speaker 1: the wings of the jet, and like I said, there 465 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: were six engines. So on each wing you had two 466 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,360 Speaker 1: engines that were side by side in a single nay 467 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: cell that was closest to the body of the aircraft, 468 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 1: and then the third engine for that side was suspended 469 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: toward the end of the wing. So it's a pretty 470 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: funky looking bomber, And if you listen to my episode 471 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: about jet engines, you'll remember that they're a little challenging 472 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: to get going when you're on the ground. Once you're 473 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: traveling at an appropriate speed through the air, the air 474 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: rushing through the jet engines is sufficient for it to 475 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: maintain operation. But at rest that doesn't work. So these 476 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: XB forty seven jets had to have a little help 477 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: when they needed to take off, and that help came 478 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: in the form of eighteen rocket units in the fuselage, 479 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:13,960 Speaker 1: So those rockets would ignite for takeoff, and the XB 480 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,680 Speaker 1: forty seven would have what was called a jet assisted 481 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 1: takeoff or jt J a t O. And the XB 482 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: forty seven would also have to deploy a drag parachute 483 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 1: to slow its speed when it was coming in for 484 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: a landing. The XB forty seven became the model for 485 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: the B forty seven bomber. That bomber only needed armament 486 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: in the rear of the plane because it moved so 487 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: fast that no fighter aircraft of the time could attack 488 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: it from any angle but from behind. So the B 489 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,360 Speaker 1: forty seven would become the backbone of the new United 490 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: States Air Force Strategic Air Command, which operated the bombers 491 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: from nineteen fifty one to nineteen sixty. Now I'm gonna 492 00:29:57,760 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: take another quick break, but when we come back, we'll 493 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: talk about a few more aircraft that emerged in the 494 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: years following World War Two, as well as Boeing's attempt 495 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: to get into commercial jet airliners. Okay, so I mentioned 496 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: the XB forty seven agreement happened in nineteen forty six. 497 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: That same year, Boeing also landed a contract to design 498 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: the B fifty two long range bomber. The B forty 499 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: seven would have six engines. The B fifty two had eight, 500 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: with engines paired up in nace cells. But that's not 501 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: how the design first began. The original plan for the 502 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: B fifty two was for it to be a six 503 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:48,640 Speaker 1: engine propeller bomber with a straight wing design. Those plans 504 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: were obliterated in nineteen forty eight when a military officials said, 505 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: now we want a jet powered bomber. So the design 506 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: team that had been working on the B fifty two 507 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:02,000 Speaker 1: for two years pulled a crazy weekend shift to come 508 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: up with an all new jet powered design with a 509 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: swept wing approach. The Air Force ordered thirteen B fifty 510 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: two S, and Boeing built three that were designated B 511 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: fifty two A, but then converted production toward a new 512 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: model called the B fifty two B. It followed the 513 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: same design but had larger engines and could carry more weight. 514 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: Between nineteen fifty two and nineteen sixty two, Boeing would 515 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: produce seven hundred forty four B fifty two's later versions 516 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: were more powerful and could fly further. The B fifty 517 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: two H, first flown in nineteen sixty one, is an 518 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: aircraft that, believe it or not, is still in service 519 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: with the US military today, and it's expected to remain 520 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: in service into the twenty fifties. That's a phenomenal aircraft. 521 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,959 Speaker 1: On the B fifty two also had a nickname. It 522 00:31:55,040 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: was the Stratoh Fortress. Of course it was Bowing wasn't 523 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: done with propeller aircraft either. It also built the L 524 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: fifteen Scout, which was a short takeoff and landing aircraft 525 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,840 Speaker 1: with a single engine propeller engine. The company only made 526 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 1: a dozen of them, which ultimately found their way into 527 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: use in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Now, 528 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: as we've seen in this episode, for many years, Boeing 529 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: was relying heavily on military contracts for revenue. The conclusion 530 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: of World War Two meant that those contracts were becoming 531 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: less frequent. The company was eager to diversify and to 532 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: find other means of generating revenue, and so we come 533 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: to one of the more odd elements of Boeing's history, 534 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: the introduction of a gas turbine engine for a truck. 535 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty, so, in other words, a jet powered 536 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 1: truck sort of. Boeing was partnered with another Seattle based company, 537 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:58,040 Speaker 1: the truck company Kenworth. The truck company had helped with 538 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: Boeing's manufacturing runs early or during the war, and so 539 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: Boeing outfitted a Kinworth truck with a one horsepower gas 540 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: turbine engine. The gas turbine seemed to have some pretty 541 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 1: clear advantages, at least on paper. It weighed a fraction 542 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: of the traditional diesel engines that were used in large trucks. 543 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,200 Speaker 1: It could also accept lots of different kitents of fuel, 544 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 1: including gasoline, diesel, and even kerosene. The engine was also smaller. 545 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:30,960 Speaker 1: It took up just thirteen percent of the same physical 546 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,960 Speaker 1: space as a diesel engine, But when it came to performance, 547 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: the gas turbine engine just couldn't match the traditional diesel engines. 548 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 1: The truck went on a test run, actually several test 549 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,720 Speaker 1: runs between Seattle and Los Angeles, and according to some reports, 550 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: these trips were taking several hours longer than a run 551 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: in a normal diesel truck. The performance was just lacking. 552 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: The trucks couldn't accelerate really well, they were putting way 553 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: too much exhaust out, and there was also a little 554 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,840 Speaker 1: issue with fuel economy. Uh it was down to a 555 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 1: dismal one mile per gallon of fuel. Yikes. Boeing would 556 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,719 Speaker 1: continue to work on gas turbine engines for land vehicles 557 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: and eventually landed a contract with a company called American 558 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: La France, which put them into fire trucks. And the 559 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 1: stories behind those were also pretty interesting, since it sounded 560 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: like the cruise using those trucks had to find creative 561 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,400 Speaker 1: workarounds to compensate for the shortcomings of the engines. But 562 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:31,880 Speaker 1: they also said that they were really fun to operate, 563 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 1: so I guess that's the tradeoff. Also in nineteen fifty, 564 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: Boeing submitted a proposal for the Baumark missile. This was 565 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,279 Speaker 1: a design that incorporated stuff that Boeing engineers had learned 566 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,920 Speaker 1: while making those GAPPA missiles back in nineteen six. The 567 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,719 Speaker 1: Bomark was the first long range anti aircraft missile in 568 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,840 Speaker 1: the world, and unlike GAPPA, this would be a missile 569 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: that Boeing would actually mass produce. While World War Two 570 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: was long over, the Cold War was really ram being up, 571 00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,879 Speaker 1: and the U. S Military had deep concerns about the 572 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:08,279 Speaker 1: then Soviet Union's military capabilities, including the development of long 573 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: range bombers that could potentially fly over the United States. 574 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: The Bomark was meant to be a defense against those 575 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,879 Speaker 1: types of aircraft. The anti aircraft missile was a young 576 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,399 Speaker 1: enough technology that the Air Force didn't have a good 577 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 1: way to designate it, so originally, the Bomark was referred 578 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: to as an x F N nine, and the F 579 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,400 Speaker 1: and x F stood for fighter, as in Bomark was 580 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 1: considered a pilotless aircraft, and fighters seemed to be the 581 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:42,239 Speaker 1: closest thing they could use to describe it now. Eventually, 582 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,200 Speaker 1: the Air Force would change its designation system and they 583 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 1: renamed it the I M, with i AM standing for 584 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 1: Interception Missile. Boeing would test the prototype of the Bomark 585 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:56,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty two and went into full production in 586 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:01,280 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five. The missile had some rawbacks. The biggest 587 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: one was that the earlier version of the missile relied 588 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:08,200 Speaker 1: on liquid rocket fuel, and that liquid rocket fuel was 589 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 1: highly corrosive. Because of that, you couldn't pre fuel a 590 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 1: missile before you had to use it. The fuel would 591 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 1: actually corrode the interior of the fuel tank for that missile, 592 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: making it unreliable or worse. So you had to hold 593 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,000 Speaker 1: off on fueling the things until it was time to 594 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:29,080 Speaker 1: use them. And the fueling process took about two minutes, 595 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,040 Speaker 1: and as you might imagine, every minute counts when you're 596 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: potentially defending against an incoming aerial attack. So Boeing later 597 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:40,480 Speaker 1: addressed this problem by making a switch and they changed 598 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:44,160 Speaker 1: out the liquid rocket fuel motors with a solid fuel 599 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,759 Speaker 1: rocket booster that lowered the response time for the so 600 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:52,359 Speaker 1: called super Bowmark missile to less than thirty seconds. The 601 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:55,799 Speaker 1: company would produce five hundred seventy bo Mark missiles, which 602 00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:59,280 Speaker 1: became part of a network called the Semi Automatic Ground 603 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 1: Environment or SAGE. They were kept inside launch shelters and 604 00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:07,920 Speaker 1: remote locations. You've probably seen stock footage of these things, 605 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,840 Speaker 1: where these these big hatches would open up and missiles 606 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: would come out. It's that kind of stuff. But these 607 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:20,360 Speaker 1: weapons were mes defense measure against bombers aircraft flying overhead. 608 00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: As the focus would shift to intercontinental ballistic missiles, the 609 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:29,160 Speaker 1: usefulness of these older Beaumark missiles was determined to be 610 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,480 Speaker 1: somewhat limited, and the military chose to decommissioned them in 611 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:36,600 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two. Now I'm gonna end this episode with 612 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: a project that Boeing started in nineteen fifty two. It 613 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,560 Speaker 1: was known as the three sixty seven eighty, also called 614 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,759 Speaker 1: the Dash eight. Boeing gave the project name the three 615 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,279 Speaker 1: seven eighty to disguise its real purpose because the name 616 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 1: seemed to indicate that it was going to be a 617 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:56,920 Speaker 1: variant of the C nineties seven Strado freighter. But this 618 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 1: was actually a project to explore the possibility of producing 619 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:03,640 Speaker 1: jet propelled commercial aviation aircraft. So one of the words 620 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:07,560 Speaker 1: passenger jets, and this wasn't a new idea. Bowing didn't 621 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,200 Speaker 1: invent this. In fact, the Boeing president of the time, 622 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:14,120 Speaker 1: Bill Allen, had been part of a group of Boeing 623 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,719 Speaker 1: executives that went to see a jet powered airliner called 624 00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:21,239 Speaker 1: the Haviland Comment it flew in an air show in 625 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:24,279 Speaker 1: the UK. The Comment made its first test flight in 626 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:27,680 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine, and it entered into commercial service in 627 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,800 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two. The same year Boeing committed to exploring 628 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:33,120 Speaker 1: the possibility of getting into that same business in the 629 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,160 Speaker 1: United States. The dash A D took about two years 630 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:40,560 Speaker 1: from the launch of the project to the production of 631 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:45,880 Speaker 1: the first aircraft, and that first model three eighty, debuted 632 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:50,839 Speaker 1: on May fourteenth, nineteen fifty four. William Bowing himself, who 633 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,600 Speaker 1: was seventy two years old at that point, attended the event. 634 00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:59,359 Speaker 1: The project had cost sixteen million dollars to fund. That 635 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:04,280 Speaker 1: represented about two thirds of Boeing's profits since World War Two, 636 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:08,440 Speaker 1: so this was a significant undertaking. The dash A D 637 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 1: served as the basis for a new line of aircraft 638 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:15,879 Speaker 1: technically two lines of aircraft. Boeing even started to gear 639 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,799 Speaker 1: up to go into full production, even though it had 640 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:22,640 Speaker 1: not yet received a single order, either from the military 641 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:27,080 Speaker 1: or from an airline like pan Am. But the demonstration 642 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,680 Speaker 1: turned heads and before long the Air Force ordered a 643 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,719 Speaker 1: military version of the dash A D. This one would 644 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:36,040 Speaker 1: be called the k C one thirty five jet tanker 645 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,799 Speaker 1: the commercial side was a tougher cell. Bowing was up 646 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:44,720 Speaker 1: against its competitor Douglas. With much wheeling and dealing, Bowing 647 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,200 Speaker 1: sales reps were able to land a contract with pam 648 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:51,120 Speaker 1: AM to deliver twenty commercial versions of the Dash A 649 00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:54,040 Speaker 1: D which would be known as the seven O seven. 650 00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:57,279 Speaker 1: At the same time, PanAm had also put in an 651 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:01,359 Speaker 1: order for twenty five d C eight from Douglas, so 652 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:05,400 Speaker 1: Boeing's long term success in commercial jets was not yet assured. 653 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,000 Speaker 1: In our next episode, I'm going to continue looking at 654 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:12,360 Speaker 1: Boeing's history and commercial jets, as well as explore some 655 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,320 Speaker 1: of the technology behind the recent tragedies with the seven 656 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:19,400 Speaker 1: thirty seven Max, and we'll talk more about the different 657 00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:23,960 Speaker 1: layouts and configurations of these aircraft. And uh, hopefully you 658 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 1: guys are finding this interesting. I'm finding it fascinating. I've 659 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,440 Speaker 1: always heard bits and pieces about Boeing, but this is 660 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,919 Speaker 1: the first time I've taken a deep dive into their 661 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:36,640 Speaker 1: history and the various aircraft and technologies they've been uh 662 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: instrumental in developing, And to me, it's pretty interesting stuff. 663 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:44,120 Speaker 1: If you guys have suggestions for future topics of tech stuff, 664 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:47,000 Speaker 1: send me a message. You can email me at tech 665 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:50,040 Speaker 1: Stuff at how stuff works dot com, or dropped by 666 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,839 Speaker 1: our website that's tech stuff podcast dot com. You'll find 667 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,200 Speaker 1: an archive of all of our past episodes, as well 668 00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:58,120 Speaker 1: as links to where we are on social media, and 669 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:00,160 Speaker 1: you also find a link to our online story or 670 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,520 Speaker 1: where every purchase you make goes to help the show 671 00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:05,200 Speaker 1: and we greatly appreciate it, and I'll talk to you 672 00:41:05,239 --> 00:41:13,040 Speaker 1: again really soon. Text Stuff is a production of I 673 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts from I 674 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,799 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 675 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:21,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.