WEBVTT - Boeing Really Takes Off 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.240 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios, 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:13.680 How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:16.880 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:18.680 I Heeart Radio and How Stuff Works and a love 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.040 all things tech. And in our last episode, I covered 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.120 the early history of Boeing, from its founding to the 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.640 early years of World War Two, when the pioneering aviation 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:34.680 company was making long range bombers with the designation B seventeen. 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:37.520 Now I didn't get to this factory, but at its 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:44.199 peak production in nineteen four, airplane manufacturers were producing sixteen 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:49.479 B seventeens in twenty four hours. Now that wasn't just 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:53.199 Boeing's factories, mind you. Though Boeing was the company that 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:58.000 designed the B seventeen, other manufacturers got the license to 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.000 produce that same design in order to meet the military's 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.360 need for more aircraft. Today, we're going to continue the 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:07.520 company's history largely through World War Two, because a lot 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:09.920 happened with Bowing at that point, and we're also going 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.360 to talk about some other military aircraft as well as 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:16.640 the commercial aircraft that Boeing would become known for. In fact, 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.639 let's start with a passenger aircraft that Boeing was working 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.840 on while it was also ramping up production of the 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:26.560 B seventeens. So in the mid nineteen thirties, this is 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:29.720 before the United States was in World War Two, the 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:34.640 airline Pan American Airways better known as pan AM at 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:39.279 the time, wanted more aircraft capable of making the transatlantic 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:43.000 flight between Europe and North America. PanAm was one of 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:45.800 many companies that sprung up in the nineteen twenties to 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.720 meet the demand of carrying air mail and then evolved 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:53.680 into a passenger service airline. The airline already had a 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:58.200 few aircraft from another manufacturing company called Martin, so Bowing 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:03.040 bid on this PanAm contract, and one the contract called 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.760 for the design of a flying boat, which kind of 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:08.880 tells you everything you need need to know about that 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:13.359 type of aircraft. So, unlike a seaplane, a flying boat 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:17.680 doesn't have pontoon landing gear, nor doesn't have wheels to 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.440 land on firm ground. Instead, the fuselage of the plane 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.600 itself is designed to float, and the aircraft lands and 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.400 takes off from the water, so it looks like a 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:31.720 boat with wings. These aircraft could be quite large because 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.760 they used very large bodies of water as airports, so 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:38.720 there was no need to build runways or landing strips 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.320 that could be large enough to accommodate them, and that 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.399 was a real limiting factor on early airports. You would 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.120 go out and build an airport with a landing strip 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:51.240 and you know, uh, you know, some some takeoff strips 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.639 and everything was sized to the planes of the time. 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.640 But that meant as they built larger planes, they wouldn't 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.120 fit on those older airports. Well, this got around that 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:05.000 because the airport was essentially the ocean or very large lakes, 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.320 and those were huge, there was no need to worry 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:12.240 about the size constraints. Boeing used much of the design 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:16.280 for their bomber prototype, the x B fifteen, to serve 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:21.080 as the foundation for this new commercial aircraft. This was 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.920 the same prototype that served as the starting point for 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.040 the B seventeen design. So the end result was a 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:31.040 four engine plane propeller engines, mind you, not jet engines, 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:34.960 and the plane was called the Model three fourteen Clipper 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.560 because the aircraft had a max speed of one eighty 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:42.240 eight miles per hour or three hundred and three kilometers 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.840 per hour, and it's cruising speed was closer to a 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.720 hundred fifty five miles per hour or two d nine 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:54.240 kilometers per hour. There weren't that many seats aboard the aircraft. 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:56.720 This allowed for a seating plan in which the seats 0:03:56.760 --> 0:04:00.880 could be converted into beds because a light could take 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.920 twenty hours or so if you're going across the ocean, 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.240 if it's going to be a twenty hour flight, you 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:07.880 need to have a lot of space for people to 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.200 be able to recline and sleep. I mean, that's almost 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.640 a full day of flying. PanAm really pulled out all 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.800 the stops, which, now that I think about, is another 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.360 example of a tech phrase based off of a largely 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:25.719 obsolete type of technology. Anyway, they made service aboard these 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:30.920 planes a real luxury. It was high class travel, and 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:35.320 so it was for a very small population of disgustingly 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:38.560 wealthy people. And I might be showing a bit of 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:42.039 envy here, but anyway, this was one example of a 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.360 civilian aircraft that Boeing would make around the same time 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:48.960 that was starting production on those B seventeen bombers for 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:55.279 the military. Now, that luxury experience wasn't always a smooth one, 0:04:55.839 --> 0:05:00.640 because the Model three four teen Clipper wasn't a pressurized aircraft, 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.920 so that minute actually had to fly at lower altitudes, 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.560 which also meant it would have to fly below or 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:10.560 through weather disturbances, so you can encounter some pretty rough 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:14.599 turbulence depending upon the weather along your flight route and 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.039 all around. That same time, Boeing designed and built a 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:21.400 commercial transport aircraft that could fly much higher because it 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:25.600 had a pressurized cabin, it can maintain a higher air 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.720 pressure inside the aircraft than would be outside the aircraft 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:34.360 at altitude. This particular aircraft had the designation of Model 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.599 three oh seven, but it was better known as the 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:41.200 Strato Liner, and we're gonna get a lot of Strato 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:46.320 aircraft in this episode. Now. The Strato Liner was based 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.560 off of Boeing's B seventeen designed directly. It was not 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:54.560 based off the x B fifteen experimental aircraft like the 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.760 three fourteen Clipper. The Strato Liner was an aircraft that 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.960 Boeing had built for pan Am. It's are in manufacturing 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:05.080 and testing these airplanes in nineteen These would be the 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:09.360 first passenger aircraft to offer pressurized cabins, and they were 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:13.400 also propeller planes. The pressurization allowed the aircraft to climb 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:17.200 to higher altitudes without the pesky issue of subjecting passengers 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.719 to low air pressure where the air isn't thick enough 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.760 for you to actually get a good lungful. So that 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.080 meant that you could have a pressurized cabin and the 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:33.200 passengers could, you know, remain conscious. The strato Liner had 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.680 a limited ability to pressurize the cabin. You couldn't actually 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.400 climb up to the stratosphere in a strato liner, but 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.880 it was still a pretty remarkable feat of engineering. The 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.640 Strato Linner had a passenger capacity of thirty three and 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.760 it would have a crew of six on top of that. 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.960 While the initial plan was to use them for commercial 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.279 air travel both across the ocean and as coast to 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.880 coast service in the United States, World War two would 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.160 mean that many of these aircraft would be purchased by 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.560 the United States military to be used as transport for 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:09.880 personnel and in the military. The strato Liner would receive 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:14.080 the designation of C seventy five, exact same aircraft, although 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.560 with the amenities really stripped out, it didn't need to 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.080 be quite so fancy for military use, but it got 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.920 a new designation. I should also add that the strate 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:28.400 A Liner marked one of Boeing's big tragedies. On March eighteenth, 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:32.320 nineteen thirty nine, Boeing was demonstrating the strate A Liner 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:35.680 for a Dutch airline called k l M. A k 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:40.000 LM technical director named Albert Vaughan Baumhauer served as co 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.360 pilot on this test flight, and there was a Boeing 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.920 test pilot who was serving as the captain. There were 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:48.400 eight other people on the plane as well, one of 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:50.920 them from t w A. Most of the rest were 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.240 either from Boeing or the Dutch air Ministry. And during 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.680 the test, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.440 the aircraft went into a dive and the pilot was 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:04.000 unable to recover, and so the strato Liner crashed and 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.600 all of the people aboard died in the plane crash. 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.880 After an investigation, Boeing engineers would add more components to 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.880 the flight control system of the strato Liner, mainly a 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:16.960 dorsal fin that would help with rudder control on the 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:20.800 tail and thus improved its safety that way. But this 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:24.360 was a very tragic way to learn that. Lesson, there's 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:27.360 another strato Liner incident I should mention when that didn't 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.840 have a tragic ending, but It's interesting because this was 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:35.319 a relatively recent event. Now keep in mind these aircraft 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.040 originally flew in the nineteen forties. But the incident I'm 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.920 talking about happened on March two thousand two, so not 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:47.280 that long ago. A three oh seven Strato Liner, registered 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:50.520 to the National Air and Space Museum and operated by 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:54.280 Boeing was to go through a pretty routine series of tests. 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:58.600 There were two pilots and two test engineers aboard the plane, 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.240 and it was to takeoff and land about three times. 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:06.400 And it was flying between two different airstrips, one in Everett, 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:10.960 Washington and one in Seattle, Washington that belongs specifically to Boeing. 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.480 And meanwhile it was supposed to go through some routine 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.920 maneuvers along the way. The first flight from Seattle to 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.079 Everett went off without a hitch, but the second flight, 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.640 the return trip from Everett to Seattle, was a different story. 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.480 In fact, there are two different stories. So here's how 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:35.080 the official story unravels. Shortly after takeoff from Everett's pain Field, 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.040 the number three engine, so like the three fourteen, the 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.480 strate A Liner had four propeller engines. The number three 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.319 engine experienced a surge. Then it normalized, and it was 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.560 at that point that the crew decided to scrap all 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:51.920 the maneuvering test plans that they had in store and 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.160 instead just fly straight to the Seattle landing Strip and 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.959 land at Boeing Field. On approach to Boeing Field, a 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:01.840 light in the cockpit indicated a problem with the landing 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:05.040 gear on the left side of the plane, so they 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.360 aborted the initial landing because clearly there was something going 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.720 on with the landing gear, and they went into an 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.720 orbit pattern around Bowing Field. The captain manually hand cranked 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.920 the landing gear so it was down into place until 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.240 the indicator light lit up green, letting you know the 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.160 landing gear was fully extended. But that wasn't the end 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.880 of their problems. While the landing gear was now down, 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.440 before the crew could go into an approach course for landing, 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.840 that third engine indicated a loss and fuel pressure and 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:39.440 then failed completely. The other three engines also began to 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.600 indicate lower fuel pressure, and the captain feathered the engines. 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.760 The captain determined that the aircraft didn't have sufficient fuel 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.439 pressure to make it back to Bowing Field, and so 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:53.520 he chose to make an emergency water landing. In Elliott Bay. 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.200 The crew got the aircraft down into the water where 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.959 the airplane remained afloat, and all of the crew were 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.760 able to evacuate wait the strato Liner and they were 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:05.280 whisked off to safety. The plane was later retrieved from 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.360 the bay. It had to be crane lifted out of it. 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.960 But here's the other story. Now, First of all, I 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:16.680 have to say this other story sites unnamed sources, so 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:18.960 we have to take this with an enormous grain of 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:23.120 salt because it could be totally untrue. But this story 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:27.480 states that the Boeing pilots were actually funding this test 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:31.120 flight out of pocket, that they were essentially doing this 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:35.240 because they both really wanted to fly a strato Liner. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:39.040 I mean, this was a classic propeller plane, and they 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.040 had actually planned on doing some circuits, meaning they were 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.640 going to fly around and have fun in this giant aircraft. 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:48.959 And that's kind of understandable. I mean, it is a 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.400 historic aircraft, and they were paying for it themselves, so 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.720 you can think, all right, well, it might seem a little, 0:11:56.440 --> 0:12:00.280 you know, silly, but it also seems reasonable. Mean if 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.679 they're paying for everything, except obviously things didn't turn out okay, 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.640 So According to this version of the story, the pilots 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:11.080 only paid for about three gallons of fuel when they 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:13.920 were at Boeing for the beginning of their trip, and 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.000 their initial plan was they would fly the aircraft to 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.320 pain Field and they would do a little few circuits, 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.479 but then they would land at pain Field and refuel 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:26.160 at pain Field because at pain Field the gas was 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:30.720 slightly cheaper, or really the airplane fuel was slightly cheaper, 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.000 and they could use that fuel for the rest of 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:39.000 their flight shenanigans. But apparently at some point along the 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:43.199 way here, having all this fun, the pilots forgot about this. 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.320 Maybe they were enjoying flying the strate A liner too 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:50.560 much and they failed to refuel the plane sufficiently. So 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:54.760 they took off from pain Field for trip number two, 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.640 and they had not properly refueled, and they started flying 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:02.200 circuits again, taking the plane out on the joy ride, 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.040 and engine three sputtered and died because there wasn't enough 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.959 fuel in the system. They feathered the engine and they 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.319 decided they needed to land the aircraft, and that's when 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:16.199 they found out that the landing gear couldn't lower. And 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.840 why couldn't the landing gear lower? Well, the power for 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:24.000 the landing gear would normally be provided by engine three, 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.440 but they had feathered engine three. Effectively, they had shut 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.440 down the engine, so the engine could not provide the 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.559 power to lower the landing gear, which meant they had 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.160 to lower it manually. And then they decided they would 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:41.080 go back to Bowing Field rather than land back at Pain. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.320 Remember Pain is where they took off, but they decided 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.560 rather than returned to that that landing strip, which might 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.520 have actually been closer before they started doing all their 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:53.439 circuits and stuff, they decided to keep on going towards 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:58.040 Bowing And making matters more confusing is that the Strato 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:02.080 Liner maintenance facility was at Hayne. So why fly back 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:06.120 to Boeing Field. Well, again, according to this unnamed source 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.160 in this story, it's because the crew wanted to go 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.439 back to Boeing Field because that's where they parked their cars, 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:15.319 so the inconvenient if they landed in Pain to get 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.679 everything maintained and fixed. Now, if this version of the 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.200 story is true, the failure was on the part of 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:25.120 the flight crew, not the aircraft. Now, again, I have 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.520 no clue if the details of that story are true, 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:31.000 but it was pretty big news in Seattle in two 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.840 thousand two that Boeing had to ditch a Strato liner 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:38.680 in that bay. So Boeing was making civilian aircraft for 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.440 airlines and bombers for the US military leading up to 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.720 the United States entering World War Two, which happened in December. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:51.160 In nine, a former Boeing leader came back to see 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.920 the company through the massive wartime production operations, and that 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:58.200 was Philip G. Johnson, who had worked for Boeing since 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.760 nineteen seventeen, and he rose to the level of president 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:05.920 of United Aircraft and Transport Company. That was the holding 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:10.720 company of Boeing's various businesses. But then the government, the 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.720 US government forced that company to break apart, so he 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:19.360 left Bowing in ninety three and then established trans Canada Airlines. However, 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.760 he returned to Boeing to serve as the president. He 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.040 was responsible for the company's performance during wartime. And when 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:29.160 we come back, I'll talk about the B twenty nine 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:33.520 super Fortress and how Boeing switched into full on military mode. 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:44.280 But first let's take a quick break. It's hard to 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.880 stress exactly how much the bombing of Pearl Harbor affected 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:51.440 the United States. Not only did it mean the US 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:55.160 would officially declare war and into World War Two. It 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.120 was also a terrifying example of how aircraft could pose 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.680 as a serious threat. One of the actions Boeing took 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.440 was to disguise its manufacturing facilities so that when viewed 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.360 from the air, the facilities looked like a nondescript community. 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.760 They built makeshift houses of stuff like burlap, and they 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.560 put those on the rooftops of their buildings so that 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.120 it looked like it was just a little poor community 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:25.320 instead of buildings that were housing aircraft manufacturing facilities. But 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.360 inside those buildings Boeing was ramping up production on the 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:32.120 B seventeen bomber, and in their manufacturing facilities in Renton, 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:36.440 Washington and Wichita, Kansas, the company prepared to make another 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:40.960 long range bomber, the B twenty nine super Fortress. The 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.240 military had determined that Boeing's B seventeen would be suitable 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.240 for use in the European theater during World War two, 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.520 but that a different aircraft would be required for the 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:53.520 Pacific theater. There was a need for aircraft that could 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:58.880 carry a heavier bomb payload many thousands of miles, so 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:02.720 Boeing was and of several companies to submit a proposal, 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:08.479 and along with manufacturing companies Martin, Douglas, and Lockheed, Boeing 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.600 was invited to build a prototype of its design for 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:16.400 military consideration. Lockeed and Douglas would both cancel their projects 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.480 before they actually got to the prototype stage. They ultimately 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:23.399 determined that it wasn't a profitable approach for them. The 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.600 Army Air Corps, which would officially become the US Army 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:32.280 Air Forces in would choose Boeing's design as their primary bomber, 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.880 and then Martin's design. The B thirty two served as 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:39.960 a backup. Boeing delivered some prototypes and before long entered 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.560 into full production mode. The need was greater than what 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.119 Boeing could accomplish on its own in its own facilities, 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:50.639 and so a Bell Aircraft manufacturing plant and a Martin 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:55.480 facility also would end up producing some B twenty nine aircraft. Also, 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.719 this was the age of Rosie the riveter. That's the 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:02.200 iconic image of a one and dressed for manufacturing work. 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.520 She's flexing her muscles looking really powerful. Well, that wasn't 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:09.680 just an example of propaganda. The workforces in these facilities 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.359 were largely made up of women because the male working 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:17.280 force was largely off at war, so most of these 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:21.800 aircraft were primarily put together by women. The B twenty 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:26.240 nine relied on an eleven person crew that included the pilot, 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.320 the co pilot, You had several gunners, You had the bombardier, 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:31.080 you had the navigator. There are a couple of others 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.760 as well. The B twenty nine was heavier than the 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:37.359 B seventeen, weighed in at seventy four thousand, five hundred 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:42.960 pounds when empty or thirty three thousand seven ms, and 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.360 it was also longer than the B seventeen and also 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.920 had a wider wingspan than the B seventeen. The aircraft 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.720 would be used extensively in the Pacific, and it had 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:56.160 pressurized sections so that the crew could move through them 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.640 even when the plane was flying at high altitudes. One 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.440 ex option of this was for the poor guy who 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.679 served as the tail gunner. So the tail gunner position 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.520 itself was pressurized. I mean that only makes sense. You 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:12.080 need to have a conscious gunner in that position. But 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.639 the area immediately around the tailgunner position, which was you know, 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:19.280 sealed off from the rest of the aircraft, that area 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:22.760 wasn't pressurized, so if you were the tailgunner, you would 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.240 get into the tail gunner position before the aircraft had 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:32.160 climbed into that higher altitude. You'd seal yourself in your position, 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:35.520 would be pressurized, and then you'd be stuck there until 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.480 the aircraft had descended to a low enough altitude where 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.320 you could get out without having the problems of low 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:47.480 air pressure. So that must have been pretty confining. Four 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:49.800 of the machine gun turrets on the B twenty nine 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:53.159 were capable of operation via remote control, which was a 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:55.800 real innovation at the time, and then that two crew 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:59.600 members could control the four turrets, and like the B seventeen, 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.120 most of the guns aboard the B twenty nine were 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.480 fifty caliber machine guns. It was a B twenty nine 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.520 super fortress called the and Nola Gay that would carry 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:11.520 the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Another B 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:14.880 twenty nine called box Car, dropped the one on Nagasaki. 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:18.120 These two attacks would be the first and the last 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:24.000 nuclear attacks in history so far, hopefully they represent the 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:28.359 last one ever. The B twenty nine project would actually 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:32.120 be the most expensive military project in World War Two. 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.240 It was, in fact more expensive than the Manhattan Project 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:39.000 that was the project that was responsible for developing and 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:42.240 building the atomic bombs, but the B twenty nine cost 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:46.560 more money. During World War Two, Boeing also lost its 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.560 company president, Philip G. Johnson, whom I mentioned just before 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.919 the break. He died from a massive stroke as he 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:58.160 was overseeing operations in the Wichita, Kansas manufacturing facility. In nine. 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:04.439 Claremont Claire ex Vette, whose name I continue to butcher, 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:07.399 but he had served as president of Boeing from nineteen 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.400 thirty three to nineteen thirty nine, would actually step back 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.760 into the position for the remainder of World War Two 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.840 as a sort of an interim president, and then he 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.520 would hand the company over to William M. Allen in nine. 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:24.680 Boeing made a couple of other military aircraft during World 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:27.399 War Two besides the famous B seventeen and B twenty 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:30.960 nine bombers. You may have heard about the B fifty 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:34.520 super Fortress, and to be fair, the B fifty was 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:38.200 really a redesignation of what was originally called a B 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:41.199 twenty nine D, so it was part of the B 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:47.000 twenty nine super Fortress family, but then got rebranded, if 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:50.199 you will, into a B fifty. Boeing also made a 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:54.520 long range cargo military aircraft called the Strato Freighter, and 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:57.680 it also made a fighter plane, the XF eight B. 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:02.600 This was a single engine propeller plane intended for the U. S. 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:05.000 Navy as not just a fighter, but also like a 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:09.359 torpedo bomber. Boeing produced a prototype in NT four, but 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.000 World War Two was over before the company was scheduled 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:14.720 to enter into full production mode, so the project was 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:19.879 scrapped with only three aircraft, all prototypes ever built. Boeing 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:23.360 would also take the design of the C nine Strato 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.720 Freighter and then refit it to serve as a commercial 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:30.880 passenger aircraft. The new design needed a new name, which 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:35.800 would become the Boeing three seventy seven Strato Cruiser. Boeing's 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:39.879 customer was once again pan Am. This aircraft was a 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:43.639 bit more posh than the military variant, as you might imagine. 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:47.159 There were different passenger configurations for the Strato Cruiser, but 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:50.040 generally it could hold between sixty three and eighty four 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:53.520 passengers with a crew of four. The main cabin had 0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:56.480 a staircase that led down to a lower deck, and 0:22:56.520 --> 0:23:00.480 the lower deck actually served as a drinks lounge. Very 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:02.800 very you know that kind of swinging. You know, I 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:05.040 feel like I should remind you guys that these aircraft 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:08.280 were all propeller airplanes. These are not jet engine aircraft. 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:12.359 Yet we're not quite there, So this was considered, you know, 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:17.520 very swanky kind of travel arrangements back when, you know, 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:21.399 traveling on an airplane was a big deal and usually 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:24.040 only the world to do could afford to ever set 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:27.040 foot on them. While I'm on the Strato Cruiser, I 0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:31.520 should talk about the aircraft's safety record, because it's pretty dismal. 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:35.399 Right now, the seven thirty seven Max aircraft from Boeing 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:38.080 is in the news due to some truly horrible accidents 0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:40.800 that have happened with it. But that's not the first 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:44.920 aircraft from Boeing to have problems that lead to tragedy. Now, 0:23:44.920 --> 0:23:48.880 it seems like the main fault for the Strato Cruiser 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:52.560 lay in the choice of propellers. At the time of 0:23:52.600 --> 0:23:57.399 its construction, Bowing had essentially two choices for propellers for 0:23:57.440 --> 0:24:00.919 the Strato Cruiser. One was made by Curtis Electric and 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:04.400 the other was made by Hamilton's Standard. The Curtis Electric 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:08.280 propeller blades were heavier and more complex from an electro 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:13.040 mechanical perspective and probably more expensive to the Hamilton's standard 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:17.480 propeller blades would rely on a hydraulic system, so mechanically 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:20.280 they were simpler, and they were also four hundred pounds 0:24:20.400 --> 0:24:24.280 lighter than the Curtis electric propeller blades, so Boeing went 0:24:24.400 --> 0:24:28.360 with the Hamilton's standard ones. They were lighter and they 0:24:28.359 --> 0:24:33.520 were less complicated. Unfortunately, the Strato cruisers operations sometimes placed 0:24:33.560 --> 0:24:38.120