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 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and How Stuff Works and I love 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: all things tech. And as I record this, there is 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: an ongoing story in tech and aviation news. You've probably 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: heard about it that's focusing on the troubles with Boeing's 8 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: seven thirty seven Max aircraft. So far, it's resulted in 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: two fatal accidents in less than half a year, which 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: led to the entire fleet of seven thirty seven Max 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: aircraft being grounded across the world, while lots of people 12 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: are looking into it and figuring out how to fix 13 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: things and how to prevent such tragedies from happening in 14 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: the future. Now, in a subsequent episode, I'll look into 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: that specific problem more closely, because obviously it is very important. 16 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 1: A lot of people lost their lives in those tragedies. 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: But today we're going to look at the history, the 18 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: origins of Boeing and the role that the company has 19 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: played in technology over the years, not just in commercial jets, 20 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: but also military technology like helicopters and bombers and things 21 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: like that, and missiles as well as even components for 22 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: space vehicles. And the company is more than a century 23 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 1: old at this point. So how did it all get started? Well, 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: we should probably begin by focusing on the founder of 25 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: the company itself, William E. Boeing. William E. Bowing was 26 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: born in eighteen eighty one in Detroit, Michigan, and his 27 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: is not a rags to riches story. It's more like 28 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: a riches to holy cow. That's a lot of money 29 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: riches story. His father was Wilhelm Boeing. Uh that spelling 30 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: of Boeing is slightly different from the modern spelling. Modern 31 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: spelling is b o e i n g the Anglicized 32 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: spelling of Boeing, but originally it was b oh with 33 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: an oombl out i n g. So. Hillhelm Boeing immigrated 34 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: from Europe to the United States in eighteen sixty eight. 35 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: Wilhelm himself was from a well to do family, though 36 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: he did not have a fortune to his name upon 37 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: arriving in the US. He had a lot of connections 38 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: which helped him out. But he didn't exactly come over 39 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,839 Speaker 1: to the States with pockets full of cash. He had 40 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: to make his own fortune. He would meet a man 41 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: named carte Ortmann, who essentially helped Wilhelm get into the 42 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: lumber trade, where he would flourish and he amassed a fortune. 43 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: He also got into mining during his own lifetime. The 44 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: mining operations that he created weren't terribly um profitable, but 45 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: they would prove to be so in the long run. 46 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: It was just unfortunately after he had already passed away. 47 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: He also eventually married uh cart Portman's daughter, Marie, and 48 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: they had three kids, including William E. Boeing Uh. He 49 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: was born into wealth as a result, and Wilhelm would 50 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: die in eight nine. He contracted influence. He actually died 51 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: on a train ride back home. William Boeing was only 52 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: eight years old at that time. His mother remarried and 53 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: he was sent off to attend a prestigious boarding school 54 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: in Switzerland. So talk about a life that I can't 55 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: really identify with at all. He would return to the States. 56 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: He attended other rather exclusive prep schools before he would 57 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: eventually enter Yale University, and he decided to study engineering. 58 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: Now at the time, the engineering program at Yale was 59 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: a three year program, but Boeing wanted to pursue his 60 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: own fortune a little earlier than that, and so he 61 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,839 Speaker 1: draw out of university after just two years. He then 62 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: decided to move to the Pacific Northwest and following his 63 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: father's footsteps and get into the lumber trade. At this point, 64 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: the Michigan area was pretty heavily deforested. I mean there's 65 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: still had plenty of forests, but the lumber industry had 66 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: really operated for quite some time there, so he decided 67 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: the Pacific Northwest was the next prime real estate for 68 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: the lumber industry. Boeing's company, the Greenwood Timber Company, proved 69 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: to be very successful, and by now it was the 70 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds. Around nineteen ten, William E. Boeing would 71 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: attend an air show near Los Angeles, California, and he 72 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: got a look at early airplanes. Now keep in mind 73 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: this is nineteen ten. The Right brothers had their successful 74 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: flights just in nineteen o three, so very early days 75 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: for aviation. William Boeing was immediately interested in airplanes and aviation, 76 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 1: and he even tried to arrange for a ride in 77 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: an airplane, but found that none of the pilots were 78 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:07,160 Speaker 1: particularly willing to provide one, and so it would go 79 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: until about nineteen fourteen. That's when William Boeing met another 80 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: person named George Conrad Westerveldt. He was an officer in 81 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: the U. S. Navy who also had a fascination with 82 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,720 Speaker 1: aircraft and had been stationed over on the West Coast. 83 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: The two men became close friends. They shared a lot 84 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: of common interests together, and in nineteen fifteen they met 85 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 1: an aviator named Terra Mahoney and he was happy to 86 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: have them aboard his Curtis seaplane and he gave them 87 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: some flights around and that just cemented their interest in aviation. 88 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: Boeing decided to officially enroll in flight school in nineteen 89 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: fifteen in Los Angeles, California. He completed his training, and 90 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: then he decided to, you know, treat himself the only 91 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: the way that that multi millionaire types can. He bought 92 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: his own airplane. There was a model t a seaplane, 93 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: and essentially this was a type of training aircraft. To 94 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: be fair, there weren't a whole lot of different varieties 95 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifteen. There's still very early days for aircraft. 96 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: He did not exactly fall in love with this airplane 97 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: as soon as he purchased the aircraft, he had to 98 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: pay for a replacement pontoon. This seaplane had a single 99 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: pontoon upon which it would land, as opposed to the 100 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: dual pontoons you often see with seaplanes. He hired on 101 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: a crew to maintain the plane, but he didn't own 102 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: it for very long before it had an accident and 103 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: got partially wrecked. In the fall of nineteen fifteen, it 104 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:47,119 Speaker 1: crashed into Lake Washington. Boeing was not aboard the plane 105 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: at the time, so he wasn't piloting the aircraft or anything, 106 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: so he was not injured in this, but the aircraft 107 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: itself was damaged, and Boeing was just largely unimpressed with 108 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: the performance of the aircraft. He became convinced he could 109 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,679 Speaker 1: help design a superior airplane. Now, around that same time, 110 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: there were more than a dozen fledgling companies that were 111 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: trying to design and build aircraft, but I don't mean 112 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: to suggest there were a lot of actual aircraft being 113 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: produced as a result. In fact, in nineteen fourteen, there 114 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: were fewer than fifty planes manufactured by all of these 115 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: companies put together, and at this point there were no 116 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: real practical applications for planes, so there wasn't much call 117 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: for making more of them. They were mostly seen as 118 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: playthings for wealthy hobbyists who were otherwise pretty bored with life. 119 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: So if you had a lot of money and you 120 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: didn't have a whole lot of concern for your own 121 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: personal safety, you might try to start building aircraft or 122 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: buying one. So a lot of those companies were founded 123 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: by people who weren't that different from William Boeing himself. 124 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: Though at least Boeing had had some engineering training under 125 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: his belt, some of the people who founded some of 126 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: these early airplane companies didn't even have that. Boeing reached 127 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: out to Westervelt to help him with the design, and 128 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: they also hired on a mechanic and pilot named Herb 129 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: Munter as well. Westervelt secured time with a wind tunnel 130 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: that was operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or 131 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: m i T, and they tested their various designs. They 132 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: would bring wooden models to test in the wind tunnels 133 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: and take very careful measurements of how well those designs 134 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: were doing. These were not full scale replicas, but you know, 135 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: small scale wooden ones. Ultimately, Westerveldt designed a plane that 136 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 1: didn't look that much different from the Model T A 137 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: C plane that Boeing had purchased in the past. There 138 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,559 Speaker 1: were some important differences, So the Model T A had 139 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: that single pontoon on it, but the new aircraft would 140 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: actually have two pontoons to help with stability. But in 141 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: many other ways, it was a fairly close copy of 142 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: that T A airplane. They called this first plane that 143 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: they built the Blue Bill, and they put it through 144 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: a test flight on June fift nineteen sixteen. It was 145 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,959 Speaker 1: a success. It actually did very well on that test flight, 146 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: and it would become the basis for the company's first aircraft, 147 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: which became known as the BMW Model one B and 148 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: W stood for Boeing and Westerveldt. Of course. One month 149 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: after that test flight, on July nineteen sixteen, William Boeing 150 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: filed articles of incorporation for a new company called the 151 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: Pacific Aero Products Company. Those articles of incorporation were rather vague, 152 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: no telling if it was purposeful or not, but it 153 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: would end up being a huge help to the company 154 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: a little later on. I'll explain more in a bit, 155 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:57,439 Speaker 1: but this is the company that would ultimately become bowing 156 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: and why Boeing The company traces their history back to 157 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen. Officially, the company would change its name a 158 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 1: little less than a year after it had formed, and 159 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,439 Speaker 1: it became the Boeing Airplane Company in May nineteen seventeen. 160 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: But we've got a little bit more to talk about 161 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: before we get to nineteen seventeen. So Westerveldt would not 162 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: stay on. He couldn't. He was actually transferred back to 163 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: the East Coast. So he had this sort of end 164 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: his official business relationship with Boeing. However, he would remain 165 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: important to the company. He would refer talent from the 166 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: East Coast to go and work for his friends company 167 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: out west, and one of those referrals was a man 168 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: named Wong Sue, who would become known as the first 169 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: actual engineer on Boeing's staff, and some would even call 170 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: him the father of Boeing because of his influence in 171 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:57,559 Speaker 1: those early early days. So Wang Sue was born in Beijing, China, 172 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety three. When he was only twelve years old, 173 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: the Manchu government would select him to become a navy 174 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: cadet at the Young Thai Naval Academy. When he was sixteen, 175 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 1: the government sent him to study naval architecture and engineering 176 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: in England at Armstrong Technical College. Then he had the 177 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: opportunity to attend m I T and study their brand 178 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 1: new courses in aeronautical engineering. It was the first of 179 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: such programs in the United States. He expressed a desire 180 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: to stay in the US for a couple of years 181 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,959 Speaker 1: beyond his graduation in order to get some practical experience 182 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: designing and building aircraft before returning to China. When Westervelt 183 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: was looking for someone to send over to Boeing, Wong's 184 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: instructor at m I T, the guy who actually created 185 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: this aeronautical engineering UH program at M I T, a 186 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: guy named Jerome Huntsucker amediately said that Wong was the 187 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,959 Speaker 1: right candidate. He would play an important part in Boeing's 188 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: early successes. So the original Boeing factory back west was 189 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: a boat house that wasn't too far from Seattle, Washington 190 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: on the Duomish River. And by the way, I'm sure 191 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: I'm mispronouncing and butchering names, and I will continue to 192 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 1: do so throughout this episode, and my deepest apologies for that. 193 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: That is a failing on my part. Well, William Boeing 194 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: had some interesting ideas about creating incentives for employees his engineers. 195 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: He said, well, you know what if you are designing 196 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: a plane, if you're building a plane, you also can 197 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: fly it. You're allowed to fly the planes that you're building. 198 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: So they weren't just the engineers and manufacturers, they were 199 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,679 Speaker 1: the test pilots as well, and Wong would get to 200 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: construct planes for Boeing and get to fly them if 201 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: you wanted to the first plane, Wong would have a 202 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: hand in designing, and really the main one was the 203 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: Model C, which was ready for its first test flight 204 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: on uh November five, nineteen sixteen, which was just a 205 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: few months after the BMW test flights. So one thing 206 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,439 Speaker 1: that really struck me as I was doing research for 207 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: this episode was how close together some of these dates are. Like, 208 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: it's amazing to me. The thought of putting together a 209 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: prototype aircraft and then flying it, and then going right 210 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: into the design and production of a different prototype aircraft 211 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: right away and being able to do it within a month. 212 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: It's phenomenal to me. Now. Granted, in these days these 213 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: aircraft were made out of canvas and wood, that would 214 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: be a while before they would switch over to metals 215 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: like aluminum. But still, and you know, they were also 216 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: in lumber country up in the Pacific Northwest. They had 217 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: no shortage of that, and and of course Boeing himself 218 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: operated a lumber uh company, so that helped as well. 219 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: But still, it's pretty amazing to me. Anyway, the BMW 220 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: had showed that Boeing could make a working aircraft, but 221 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,560 Speaker 1: it had very little application outside of that wealthy obbyist market, which, 222 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: as you might imagine, was a pretty limited slice of 223 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: the population. The Model C would prove to be much 224 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: more versatile, and it was helped in no small part 225 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 1: by the fact that over in Europe the Great War 226 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: what we would later call World War One, was raging 227 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: and it was only a matter of time before the 228 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: United States was pulled into it. So the aircraft that 229 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 1: flew on November five, nineteen sixteen was called d C four, 230 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: and that was because it was the fourth airplane that 231 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: William Boeing ever owned, and Wong would redesign the Model C, 232 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: giving it a bigger rudder, among other changes, and this 233 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:43,120 Speaker 1: redesign Model C was ready by April nineteen seventeen. That 234 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: was the same month that President Woodrow Wilson would declare 235 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: war on Germany, putting the United States into World War One. 236 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: As for Wong, he received the princely sum of fifty 237 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: dollars and seventy seven cents for his work as an 238 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: engineer and then was released from Boeing the company, that is, 239 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: on May twenty, nineteen seventeen. He returned to China and 240 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: he established the first Chinese airplane factory there. So, while 241 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: we're talking about money, this fifty dollars and seventy seven 242 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: cents that Wong earned for all his work with the 243 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: Boeing Company, let's talk a little bit about how much 244 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: the Boeing Company earned from a contract they made with 245 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: the United States Navy during World War One. The Navy 246 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: wanted proof that the Model C would meet its needs, 247 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: and they asked for a demonstration at a naval base 248 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: in Pensacola, Florida. Now, for those of you not familiar 249 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: with US geography, Pensacola, Florida is pretty darn far away 250 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: from Seattle, Washington. The two locations are on opposite sides 251 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: of the country. Seattle, Washington's in the northwest, Pensacola, Florida's 252 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: in the southeast. And the United States is really wide. Well. 253 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: This presented something of a challenge because the Mode SEE 254 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: aircraft had a fairly short range of flight. These early 255 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: airplanes could not go that far, so in order to 256 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: get to this demonstration, Boeing actually had to pack a 257 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: couple of planes up in pieces disassembled on a train 258 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: an urban munter. The mechanic and pilot I mentioned a 259 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: little bit Ago, as well as a factory superintendent named 260 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: Claude Berlin, would travel with these disassembled planes across the 261 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: country on train, arriving at Pensacola and then assembling them 262 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: again so that they could be flown on behalf of 263 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: the Navy so that they could evaluate the aircraft. Now. 264 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: The flight test was a huge success, and the Navy 265 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: put in an order for fifty Model c's. The price 266 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: tag for those fifty planes was five hundred seventy five 267 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, so quite a bit more cheddar than Mr 268 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: Wong had earned. The Boeing company would build a new 269 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: manufacturing facility near Seattle nicknamed the Red Barn, and the 270 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: Navy would also order a couple of other special aircraft 271 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: on top of these fifty Model cs. They wanted a 272 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: couple of modified models c's sometimes referred to as E 273 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,959 Speaker 1: A s of e A standing for experimental aircraft, and 274 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 1: these were land planes. They were meant to land on 275 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: firm ground rather than on water. They also asked for 276 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 1: another variant called the C one F, which had a 277 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: single main pontoon as opposed to the pair of pontoons, 278 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,680 Speaker 1: as well as a couple of auxiliary floats to add stability. 279 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: And that was the beginning of some pretty lush days 280 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: for Boeing. But when we come back, I'll talk about 281 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: another industry that opened up real opportunities for Boeing beyond 282 00:17:49,880 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: the military. But first let's take a quick break. You know, 283 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: it's got to be pretty weird to have a business 284 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: really take off, because whatever it is that you happen 285 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: to be making is really important for war efforts, because 286 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,120 Speaker 1: your profitability is dependent upon violent struggles in which millions 287 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: of lives are potentially at stake. And moreover, it creates 288 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: an odd situation which you might on some level wish 289 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: for continued hostilities because that means you stay in business. 290 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,399 Speaker 1: It's pretty dark. In fact, the Boeing Airplane Company was 291 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: almost completely dependent upon military contracts. In addition, to the 292 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: model C aircraft they were making for the Navy. They 293 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: also secured a contract to build another company's aircraft. This 294 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: would be the Curtis H S two L from the 295 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 1: Curtis Aeroplane Company. The Navy would use these types of 296 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: aircraft on anti submarine patrols off the coast of France, 297 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: and the Navy anticipated a greater need than what Curtis 298 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: could produce in its own manufacturing facilities, so Boeing landed 299 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: what would have been a pretty lucrative contract to create 300 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: licensed versions of the same aircraft. So Bowing didn't design 301 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,479 Speaker 1: this aircraft. They were working from a Curtis design uh 302 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,399 Speaker 1: and they would get a certain amount of money for 303 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: producing these aircraft. However, before Boeing could really get moving 304 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: on this production, World War One came to an end 305 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: and the Navy canceled the order for those HS two 306 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: L planes. At that point, Boeing employed three seven people, 307 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: but the contract with the military was seen as a 308 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: really pivotal contract for the company's survival. It was important 309 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: because there weren't really any other streams of revenue coming 310 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: in that were reliable. So William Bowing first loaned some 311 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: of his own money to the Boeing Company for the 312 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: purposes of meeting payroll, because they weren't bringing in enough 313 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: revenue to pay everybody. Even so, the demand for aircraft 314 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: plummeted once the war was over, and Boeing had little 315 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,120 Speaker 1: choice but to scale back the airplane company. They reduced 316 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: it down to sixty seven employees by nineteen nineteen. But 317 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: Boeing had another application for aircraft early on that wasn't 318 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 1: dependent upon military actions, and it wasn't commercial flights either, 319 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: because those were still several years away. Instead, it was 320 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: delivering the mail, or at least the potential for that. 321 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: On March third, nine, nineteen, William Boeing himself co piloted 322 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: a plane that was designated the Sea seven hundred, so 323 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: another variant of the Model C. It was to carry 324 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: mail from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Seattle, Washington, and 325 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: technically it was the first international airmail delivery to the 326 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: United States. I think it was something like sixty letters 327 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,240 Speaker 1: or packages, so it wasn't a whole lot, and it 328 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: wasn't exactly a total success. Boeing and his co pilot, 329 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: a guy named Eddie Hubbard, were forced to land prematurely. 330 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: They landed about twenty five miles north of Seattle, because 331 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: again these aircraft weren't really capable of taking very long 332 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: flights and they were running very low on fuel. But 333 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,120 Speaker 1: it was a sort of proof of concept for air 334 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: delivery and would help establish the practice in earnest. Later on, 335 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: the Post Office would take full control of that for 336 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: quite a few years. Now, there was a real danger 337 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 1: of Boeing going out of business in these early years. 338 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:29,159 Speaker 1: Not only did the contracts with the military dry up, 339 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,359 Speaker 1: but the country was also entering into an economic depression. 340 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: This wasn't the Great depression that would come on a 341 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,679 Speaker 1: little bit later, but it was an economic depression and 342 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,160 Speaker 1: there was very little call for aircraft. So to keep 343 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: the factories in operation, the company began to produce other stuff. 344 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: This was partly possible because, as I mentioned earlier, when 345 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 1: William Boeing was first incorporating his business, his articles of 346 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: incorporation were pretty darned vague, So his company was allowed 347 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: to make lots of different stuff, and he dedicated factories 348 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: to build whatever was in demand, like furniture, So you 349 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:07,919 Speaker 1: could have ended up with a dining table created by 350 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: aeronautical engineers possibly. The company also had a contract to 351 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,640 Speaker 1: provide maintenance and service to military aircraft, which helped a little, 352 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 1: and Boeing would land another big military contract. This time, 353 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: the agreement involved the design and construction of twenty g 354 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 1: A one and twenty g A two bombers. Now, these 355 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: were also aircraft that weren't designed by Bowing. These were 356 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 1: designed by the New Army Air Service, and Boeing would 357 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,200 Speaker 1: just act as the producer of those aircraft. The manufacturer 358 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,959 Speaker 1: of those aircraft. The company got to work, but the 359 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: Army canceled the contract after ten g A one bombers 360 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 1: and three g A two bombers were complete. However, the 361 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: Army also chose Boeing to build two hundred MB three aircraft, 362 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: and the NB three were fighter planes, also not designed 363 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: by Boeing. They were created by a different company called 364 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: Thomas Morse. So why did Boeing end up with the 365 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 1: contract to build this other company's planes. It's because William 366 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 1: Boeing was incredibly aggressive when bidding for contracts, and Boeing 367 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: came in with the lowest bid at one point four 368 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: million dollars for two d aircraft, and so the government said, 369 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: you win, you get to build them. Meanwhile, there was 370 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,360 Speaker 1: still a need to find civilian uses for airplanes. Eddie 371 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: Hubbard would convince William Bowing to make a sincere push 372 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: for air carrier operations, so airmail. Essentially, those were the 373 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: guys who had made history back in with what had 374 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,640 Speaker 1: been at the time mostly a proof of concept airmail run, 375 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,680 Speaker 1: but Hubbard felt that it was a possible legitimate avenue 376 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: and a source for revenue for the company outside of 377 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: military contracts. At the time, the United States Post Office 378 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: was operating all of its own aircraft for air mail delivery. 379 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: The aircraft in question was a clunky beast called the 380 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: d H four, and it wasn't a particularly agile for 381 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: more importantly safe aircraft. The Post Office initially hired forty 382 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: pilots to deliver airmail by and this is a sobering fact, 383 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:26,679 Speaker 1: thirty one of those forty pilots had died in plane crashes. 384 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,679 Speaker 1: So the Post Office sought for a new, more reliable, 385 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: and more maneuverable plane to take over the job of 386 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: the d H four, which obviously was not not performing 387 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,440 Speaker 1: up to standards. It was far too dangerous. Boeing proposed 388 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 1: a new design. They called it the Model forty A. 389 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: One of the most important components of this particular aircraft 390 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: was that it would use a totally different kind of 391 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: engine from previous aircraft. So engines can get really hot 392 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: and airplane engines like the d H four relied on 393 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,639 Speaker 1: water cooling, but that meant the airplane would have to 394 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: carry a tank of water in addition to everything else 395 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: in order to keep the engine cool. Water is heavy, 396 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: and the slashing of water can make it hard to 397 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,640 Speaker 1: fly a plane steady. The Model forty A instead had 398 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,919 Speaker 1: an air cooled engine designed by a company called Pratt 399 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:22,120 Speaker 1: and Whitney, which was essentially part of the Boeing family. 400 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: As the name implies, these engines manage heat by dissipating 401 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: it into the air, typically through a finned surface. The 402 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: finned surface increases surface area and thus increases air cooling efficiency. 403 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: In addition to the opportunity to build air mail aircraft, 404 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,159 Speaker 1: Boeing also had the chance to bid for actual airmail 405 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 1: routes see the Post Office. Would open up this possibility 406 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: because the US government passed a piece of legislation called 407 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: the Contract air Mail Act, and that did pretty much 408 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: what the name suggests. It gave private come and E's 409 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: the opportunity to bid on airmail routes on a contract basis, 410 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: and there were lots of different private companies that could 411 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: do this. There are a lot of companies that were 412 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:16,360 Speaker 1: operating very small regional aircraft services. So Hubbard would convince 413 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: Boeing to go after one of these routes, this being 414 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: a big one between San Francisco and Chicago. Boeing once 415 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: again got really aggressive with his bidding for that particular contract. 416 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: In fact, his bidding was almost too aggressive. The Post 417 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,639 Speaker 1: Office very nearly disregarded Boeing's bid because they considered it 418 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: too low to actually be serious. It was much much 419 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: lower than the main competitor for that contract, that was 420 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: a company called Western air Express. Bowing used his political 421 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: connections to reach out to Wesley Jones, who was a 422 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: Senator from Washington State, in order for Jones to reach 423 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: out to the Postmaster General and reassure the Postmaster General 424 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,119 Speaker 1: that Bowing, both the man and the company was serious 425 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: and that the company was completely capable of doing the 426 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: job at the quoted price. Even so, Boeing was compelled 427 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: to put his money where his mouth is. He had 428 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 1: to post an eight hundred thousand dollar bond to guarantee 429 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 1: his company would actually live up to its contractual obligations. 430 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: I guess you got to spend money to make money 431 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: with the ink drying on that contract. Boeing also reached 432 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 1: out to Pratt and Whitney with an order of twenty 433 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: five of those air cooled engines, and William Boeing would 434 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 1: form a subsidiary company called Boeing Air Transport. It officially 435 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: went into business on July one, nineteen twenty seven. The 436 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: contract would give Boeing the stability it needed to continue 437 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: to grow. In addition, Charles Lindbergh made history by flying 438 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: across the Atlantic Ocean in nineteen twenty seven, which prompted 439 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: renewed interest in aviation, and the stock market was performing 440 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 1: well right at that time, so bowing the company went 441 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: public in n in an effort to raise more money 442 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,640 Speaker 1: through a stock offering that also began to offer out 443 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 1: the opportunity for passengers to fly on aircraft. Now, this 444 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 1: was not exactly luxury travel, nor was it a big 445 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: commercial jet or anything along those lines. Boeing altered a 446 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:24,439 Speaker 1: few of its Model forty A aircraft, the ones that 447 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: were being used for airmail, and these altered aircraft had 448 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: two whole extra seats in them, so you had the 449 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,240 Speaker 1: pilot and co pilot seats, and then you had two 450 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 1: passenger seats, so passengers could book one of two seats 451 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: and travel with all the airmail to a specific route. 452 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: Air travel for passengers was in its infancy and Boeing 453 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: was a dominant player in that space. It was a 454 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: small space, but Bowing had carved out a pretty significant 455 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: portion of that pie. Uh The estimate was that Boeing 456 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: was handling about of all passenger and airmail travel in 457 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: the United States at this time, and William Boeing wanted 458 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: to bring his subsidiaries altogether and unify them under a 459 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: single holding company. And this was in an effort to 460 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: remain competitive against other growing companies, and it led to 461 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: the foundation of what was called the United Aircraft and 462 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: Transport Corporation, which was formed in nineteen twenty nine. It 463 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: was essentially an umbrella company for the new Boeing air 464 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 1: Transport Company, the older Boeing Airplane company, Pratt and Whitney, 465 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: that engine manufacturing company I talked about a second ago, 466 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 1: and some other smaller companies that Boeing had kind of 467 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: acquired along the way. In nineteen thirty the United States 468 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: Congress passed the air Mail Act in an effort to 469 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: improve air mail service across the United States and to 470 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: encourage the development of commercial air travel for passengers. As 471 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: part of that strategy, companies like Boeing would be allowed 472 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: to make use of the infrastructure that the United States 473 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: Post Office had established when it first built out airmail routes, 474 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,440 Speaker 1: so all those air travel booy's and things of that 475 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: nature these companies were allowed to use. The Postmaster General, 476 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: a guy named Walter Brown, thought the best way to 477 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: improve airmail service was to rely almost exclusively on larger 478 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: air carrier companies, and he put criteria in place that 479 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: only the big companies could actually meet, and it ended 480 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,960 Speaker 1: up pushing out a lot of smaller, independent companies that 481 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: had been doing these routes up to that point. And 482 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: more importantly, some of those smaller companies had been doing 483 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: this at more competitive bids than the bigger companies. So 484 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: a reporter investigated this matter in nineteen thirty three and 485 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: discovered that the Postmaster General had met with a few 486 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: select large companies like Boeing's parent company, and essentially divvied 487 00:30:55,480 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: up the nation's airmail routes between a select few big companies, 488 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: leaving out these smaller ones, even the smaller ones that 489 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: were posting more competitive bids. This prompted a full on 490 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: investigation into the matter by Congress, and ultimately the investigation 491 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: found that Brown technically didn't do anything against the laws, 492 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: so the Postmaster General didn't technically do anything illegal, but 493 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,760 Speaker 1: it seemed like it was unethical, and so Congress ended 494 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: up putting pressure on the airplane companies as well as 495 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:32,800 Speaker 1: on President Franklin Roosevelt to make something happen to change things. 496 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: So Roosevelt initially ordered that all air mail service should 497 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: fall exclusively under the auspices of the Army Air Corps 498 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: in ntour, and that the Army Air Corps was to 499 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: take over immediately and provide that service, which ended up 500 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: being a disaster. Twelve pilots would die in crashes within 501 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: the first two months of this change, which of course 502 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,680 Speaker 1: prompted the President to reverse this decision and flip it 503 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: back so that private companies would provide airmail service. However, 504 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: Hugo Black, who was the the politician who had actually 505 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:14,040 Speaker 1: overseen the congressional investigation into the whole mess earlier would 506 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: offer a new piece of legislation called the Airmail Act 507 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty four, and that prohibited companies from operating 508 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 1: as both an airplane manufacturer and an airmail carrier. You 509 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 1: could do one or the other, but you couldn't do both. 510 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 1: You could not be both an airmail carrier and build airplanes. 511 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:34,880 Speaker 1: And the big companies that have been part of the 512 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: cozy relationship a couple of years earlier were expressly forbidden 513 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 1: from getting airmail contracts. So those same big companies that 514 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: the Postmaster General had met with in just a you know, 515 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,480 Speaker 1: a few years earlier, were they were out of luck. 516 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: So in response, United Aircraft and Transport would break apart 517 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: into three separate companies. There were two manufacturing companies. There's 518 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: the Boeing Airplane Company that's the one we're gonna stick with, 519 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: that's still bowing that oversaw manufacturing operations west of the Mississippi. 520 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: There was United Aircraft that was a manufacturing company that 521 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: had its factories east of the Mississippi. And then you 522 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: had a third company that would actually act as an 523 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:20,680 Speaker 1: air transportation company for cargo and for passengers that would 524 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:25,720 Speaker 1: become United Airlines. So I could talk all about United Aircraft, 525 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: United Airlines, but that's for a totally different show. So 526 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: when we come back, I'll talk more about the history 527 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,600 Speaker 1: of Boeing, starting with the departure of its founder. But 528 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:45,160 Speaker 1: first let's take another quick break, all right, So we're 529 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: up to nineteen thirty four. The holding company that had 530 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: only been around for a few years had to break 531 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: up into three different companies, and William Boeing, who did 532 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: not take this terribly well, was fed up with everything 533 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: he had to give testimony during that congressional investigation, and 534 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: during that process he felt he was being somewhat unfairly 535 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,280 Speaker 1: targeted he and his company, so he chose to retire. 536 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,399 Speaker 1: He was fifty three years old. He divested all of 537 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 1: his stock in the company in the process of retiring, 538 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,279 Speaker 1: and this really wasn't too far off from what his 539 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,360 Speaker 1: established plan had been, because he had frequently spoken of 540 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 1: determining that he was going to retire by the time 541 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,640 Speaker 1: he was fifty, So he actually stuck around a little 542 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: longer than his original intention happened to be. So it 543 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 1: wasn't so much that he retired early. He actually retired late. 544 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 1: If you take him at his word from his previous statements. 545 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,319 Speaker 1: Now I'm only going to focus on Boeing in your 546 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: plane from this point forward, because, as I said, the 547 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,279 Speaker 1: other companies would require their own episodes. It would just 548 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:55,400 Speaker 1: make this far too long. Boeing the man leaves Boeing 549 00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: the company in clairemont Claire, act VET. And I know 550 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,120 Speaker 1: I've butchered that last name. It's E G T V 551 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: E D T. It's a Norwegian name and I cannot 552 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 1: pronounce Norwegian words to save my life. Anyway, he became 553 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: the new chairman of Boeing. He had been working for 554 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,960 Speaker 1: the company since nineteen twenty. He started as a draftsman 555 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: and designer. He rose to the position of chief engineer, 556 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 1: became a vice president, and then would become the successor 557 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 1: to William Boeing. And he also would play an important 558 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: role in bringing the company to new heights. And yes 559 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 1: that was a pun. See Another thing happened in that 560 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: was really important to Boeing, and that's the the Army 561 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:45,680 Speaker 1: Air Corps had issued a specification sort of a request 562 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:49,040 Speaker 1: for proposal for the design of a long range heavy 563 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:53,719 Speaker 1: bomber aircraft. And by long range, we're talking five thousand 564 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: miles of a range that's a heck of a distance 565 00:35:57,239 --> 00:36:03,319 Speaker 1: to travel. So Lair pursued this opportunity. He submitted a 566 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,880 Speaker 1: bid that landed the company the chance to design a 567 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: bomber of this type, and the prototype was called the 568 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:15,759 Speaker 1: x B fifteen. Initially, Boeing was competing against the Glen L. 569 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 1: Martin Company, which today is actually part of Lockheed, but 570 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:24,279 Speaker 1: the Martin design never got to the prototype phase it 571 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,960 Speaker 1: was it was canceled while it was still an idea 572 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:31,040 Speaker 1: on paper. And the XB fifteen was quite a beast. 573 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,800 Speaker 1: It had four engines. Most bombers at the time only 574 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,319 Speaker 1: had two engines. It measured more than eighty seven and 575 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:41,360 Speaker 1: a half feet long or twenty six point seven meters, 576 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:45,520 Speaker 1: had a wingspan of nearly one fifty feet or nearly 577 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: forty five and a half meters when it was empty 578 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,800 Speaker 1: without any bombs or anything like that. It weighed nearly 579 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:57,399 Speaker 1: thirty eight thousand pounds or more than seventeen thousand kilograms, 580 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,320 Speaker 1: and its top speed it could travel one dred ninety 581 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,799 Speaker 1: seven miles per hour or three D seventeen kilometers per hour, 582 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: so it wasn't a speed demon, and that meant that 583 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,280 Speaker 1: a five thousand mile trip would take more than thirty 584 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: hours to complete, so you would actually have multiple crews 585 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 1: on one aircraft and they would operate in shifts. The 586 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:21,399 Speaker 1: bomber actually had sleeping quarters aboard it and so big 587 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:24,200 Speaker 1: it was at bunks that people could sleep in. The 588 00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:28,239 Speaker 1: aircraft also featured an autopilot mode, which was pretty revolutionary 589 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:32,120 Speaker 1: at the time. It also had independent gasoline fueled electrical 590 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: generators to act as auxiliary power units. So it was 591 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:39,200 Speaker 1: a really impressive aircraft and while the military would take 592 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,279 Speaker 1: possession of the prototype, it would not order more to 593 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: be made. However, Boeing would incorporate much of that aircraft's 594 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:51,719 Speaker 1: designs into the next big project, known internally as Model TO, 595 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:54,880 Speaker 1: but it would be known to the rest of the 596 00:37:54,920 --> 00:38:01,040 Speaker 1: world by the designation BE seventeen Flying for Trip. This 597 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 1: was another response to an Army Air Corps specification. This 598 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,919 Speaker 1: one was searching for a long range bomber that could 599 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:12,920 Speaker 1: fly at high altitudes far above anti aircraft artillery range 600 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,520 Speaker 1: and also be used during daytime bombing runs. It had 601 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,319 Speaker 1: to travel at least two hundred miles per hour at 602 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:22,880 Speaker 1: top speed to meet specifications. Also had to be capable 603 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:26,759 Speaker 1: of flying for ten hours at least, so Boeing would 604 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 1: go into competition with two other companies. Glenn Martin was 605 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: one of them, and the Douglas Aircraft Company was the other, 606 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,200 Speaker 1: and this sort of flyoff competition would happen in nineteen 607 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:42,880 Speaker 1: thirty five. Boeing's aircraft exceeded the specifications. It could travel 608 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,400 Speaker 1: at a top speed of two hundred eighty seven miles 609 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:47,960 Speaker 1: per hour with an average cruising speed of more than 610 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,240 Speaker 1: two hundred fifty miles per hour, so it was plenty 611 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:54,000 Speaker 1: fast enough according to the specifications. It was also heavily armed. 612 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 1: Uh the initial designs had five thirty caliber machine guns 613 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:02,000 Speaker 1: and a capability of holding up to forty hundred pounds 614 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:07,560 Speaker 1: or twenty ms of bombs. The flyoff competition went incredibly 615 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 1: well for Boeing, and the Army Air Corps put in 616 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,799 Speaker 1: an initial order of sixty five of the aircraft and 617 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,600 Speaker 1: nearly a hundred thousand dollars each, which amounted to about 618 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:21,799 Speaker 1: two million dollars per plane in today's money. However, a 619 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:27,319 Speaker 1: disaster nearly made all of that moot on October. This 620 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,719 Speaker 1: is still before the whole competition is over. Boeing has 621 00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:34,520 Speaker 1: already received an initial preliminary order for those sixty five 622 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:40,400 Speaker 1: aircraft well on that day. On October, Boeing employee Less 623 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:45,080 Speaker 1: Tower and an Army Air Corps pilot named Major Player 624 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:49,959 Speaker 1: Peter Hill were to take the prototype for another test flight. 625 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:55,360 Speaker 1: But the control surfaces on the test the prototype aircraft. 626 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,320 Speaker 1: Those would be the surfaces that can move in relation 627 00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,320 Speaker 1: to the aircraft to control things like steering, pitch, yaw 628 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,880 Speaker 1: and roll. If you've ever looked at an airplane's wing 629 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:07,359 Speaker 1: and you've seen a little flap that can go up 630 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:11,080 Speaker 1: or down, that's the sort of control service we're talking about. Anyway, 631 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:14,680 Speaker 1: they were all locked down and what was called gust 632 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:19,040 Speaker 1: lock mode gust as in gust of wind. This was 633 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:22,000 Speaker 1: to prevent those surfaces from being damaged by winds when 634 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:26,440 Speaker 1: the aircraft was actually on the ground. Proper operating procedure 635 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:31,480 Speaker 1: would include the ground crew disengaging the gust locks before 636 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:36,120 Speaker 1: the aircraft would be allowed to taxi and then take off. 637 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:38,520 Speaker 1: That would allow the pilot to have full control of 638 00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:42,760 Speaker 1: the aircraft in flight. Tragically, that step was not done 639 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:47,520 Speaker 1: on October, so the gust locks were still in place 640 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:52,040 Speaker 1: when they took the aircraft up and as it was climbing, 641 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:55,400 Speaker 1: the aircraft stalled it went into a dive and Tower 642 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,600 Speaker 1: and Hill could not control the plane and the plane 643 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:02,560 Speaker 1: would crash. It kill both pilots and it injured several 644 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:06,719 Speaker 1: people on the ground. The crash meant the aircraft could 645 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,320 Speaker 1: not complete the full competition and the Air Corps would 646 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:14,279 Speaker 1: cancel the order of sixty five B seventeens. Instead, they 647 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:18,520 Speaker 1: opted to order the Douglas B eighteen Bolow aircraft. It 648 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:21,360 Speaker 1: might have all ended there, but the Air Corps personnel 649 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:26,000 Speaker 1: were so impressed by Boeing's performance that through some maneuvering, 650 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:28,719 Speaker 1: the next year they were able to place an order 651 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:32,320 Speaker 1: for thirteen B seventeens. This would be in November nineteen 652 00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:36,480 Speaker 1: thirty six. These would be just the first B seventeens 653 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,200 Speaker 1: that Boeing would deliver to the US military. Over the 654 00:41:39,239 --> 00:41:42,319 Speaker 1: next several years, orders would continue to come in for more, 655 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:44,880 Speaker 1: and for the first few years it was usually fewer 656 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,520 Speaker 1: than forty aircraft per year, but then the United States 657 00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:52,040 Speaker 1: would enter into World War Two. But then the U 658 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,120 Speaker 1: s would enter into World War two and Boeing would 659 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:59,120 Speaker 1: have to step up production significantly. In total, the company 660 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:03,520 Speaker 1: would manufacture are nearly thirteen thousand B seventeen bombers is 661 00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:06,960 Speaker 1: around twelve thousand, seven hundred or so. There were so 662 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,760 Speaker 1: many orders that Boeing would be in a new position. 663 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:13,200 Speaker 1: It would license out the aircraft designed to other manufacturers 664 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:17,800 Speaker 1: like Lockheed, Vega and Douglas. So similar to what Boeing 665 00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,960 Speaker 1: itself had done in the past, now it was licensing, 666 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:25,719 Speaker 1: licensing out its own designs, and the design would actually 667 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:28,160 Speaker 1: evolve over time too. It wasn't like the B seventeen 668 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:30,600 Speaker 1: was designed, and that's exactly how it was made. From 669 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,879 Speaker 1: that point forward, the thirty caliber machine guns would be 670 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,640 Speaker 1: replaced by fifty caliber versions. At turrets were in the 671 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:40,880 Speaker 1: upper fuselage, the belly, and the tail of the aircraft. 672 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:45,440 Speaker 1: The B seventeen G variant, which entered into service in 673 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:51,080 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, had thirteen fifty caliber machine guns. It 674 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,720 Speaker 1: was pretty intimidating. The Army Air Corps also had developed 675 00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:57,839 Speaker 1: a strategy in which nine or twelve aircraft would fly 676 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:01,479 Speaker 1: together in what was called a box formation, sometimes called 677 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:06,279 Speaker 1: a staggered formation, which was a pretty daunting site. Even so, 678 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:10,040 Speaker 1: the B seventeens needed fighter pilot escorts. They could not 679 00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:13,919 Speaker 1: just operate without any sort of fighter pilots around them 680 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:18,480 Speaker 1: because while they could suffer an impressive amount of damage 681 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:22,520 Speaker 1: and remain operational if they didn't have more maneuverable aircraft 682 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:27,399 Speaker 1: supporting them, they were very vulnerable to enemy fighters. By 683 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:29,920 Speaker 1: the way, despite the fact that there were thousands of 684 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:32,719 Speaker 1: these things made, the B seventeen was not the most 685 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:36,520 Speaker 1: produced bomber. That honor would actually go to the consolidated 686 00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:41,279 Speaker 1: Aircraft B twenty four Liberator. But the B seventeen would 687 00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:44,840 Speaker 1: be the most prolific US bomber in World War Two. 688 00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:49,279 Speaker 1: It dropped more bombs than any other US aircraft, which 689 00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,000 Speaker 1: is a dubious honor, to be sure, but one that 690 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:55,879 Speaker 1: spoke to Boeing's design. Now, in our next episode, I'm 691 00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:58,759 Speaker 1: going to continue the story of Boeing and now the 692 00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:02,279 Speaker 1: B seventeen set the stage for an even larger and 693 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:07,000 Speaker 1: much more expensive aircraft, the B twenty nine super Fortress. 694 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:11,560 Speaker 1: I'll also talk about Boeing's contribution to commercial aircraft and 695 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:15,359 Speaker 1: the space race. But for now it's time to sign off. 696 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:19,040 Speaker 1: So in our next episode will continue our story. In 697 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:22,600 Speaker 1: the meantime, if you have suggestions for future episodes of 698 00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:24,759 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff, you can let me know by sending an 699 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:29,320 Speaker 1: email the addresses Tech stuff at how stuff works dot com, 700 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,040 Speaker 1: or you can pop on over to our website that's 701 00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:35,680 Speaker 1: text stuff podcast dot com. You'll find an archive of 702 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,600 Speaker 1: all of our past shows. There, you'll find links to 703 00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:41,520 Speaker 1: where we are on social media. You'll also find a 704 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:44,319 Speaker 1: link to our online store, where every purchase you make 705 00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,360 Speaker 1: goes to help the show. We greatly appreciate it, and 706 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:54,920 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is 707 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:57,440 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For 708 00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:00,520 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart 709 00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:03,759 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 710 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:08,920 Speaker 1: favorite shows. H