• History

See Incredible Photos of Vintage Airplanes

1 minute read

It was only about a decade after the Wright Brothers’ first flight that Bill Boeing, who was in the timber business in Seattle, decided to learn how to fly planes. After he ordered a plane of his own, Boeing decided the design left room for to be improved upon. So he did. In 1934, TIME called him “a hard-headed industrialist who turned to flying as a hobby, began making airplanes as a whim and ended up by giving the world a new standard of aircraft performance.”

The eponymous company he founded in 1916 has been part of nearly every step of the aviation industry’s evolution, from wood-and-canvas contraptions to the jets of the modern age.

100 Years of Boeing
© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC

In a new book, Higher: 100 Years of Boeing, by Russ Banham (available Aug. 4), 200 photos—mostly from Boeing’s company archives—are used to trace that history, and all of the pit-stops in between.

A Boeing Model C awaits flight in Boeing's Lake Union boathouse in Seattle.
A Boeing Model C awaits flight in Boeing's Lake Union boathouse in Seattle. 1917.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC
Boeing Factory Workers Sewing a MB-3A Wing
Boeing Factory Workers Sewing a MB-3A Wing. 1922.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC
Passengers pose in front of the Model 80, built by Boeing Air Transport.
Passengers pose in front of the Model 80, built by Boeing Air Transport. 1930.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC
Boeing Model 247D in Flight over New York City
Boeing Model 247D in flight over New York City. The Model 247 ushered in the age of speed, reliability, safety and comfort in air travel. 1935.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC
Overview of B-17 Flying Fortress Manufacturing
Overview of B-17 Flying Fortress Manufacturing. 1944.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC
P-51D Mustang in Flight
The P-51D Mustang was arguably the best fighter plane of the Second World War. 1945.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC
Dash 80 707 Prototype Rollout
On May 14, 1954, Boeing workers in Renton, Washington, celebrate the rollout of the Dash 80, prototype for the 707.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC
First 737-100 in Factory
The first Boeing 737. 1967.© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC

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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com