--- title: Boeing at 100: See Photos from Aviation History description: A new book offers a look into the company's archive of photos, from the earliest days of flight to the modern age canonical: https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-29T11:00:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:22.268Z article:section: History og:title: Boeing at 100: See Photos from Aviation History og:description: A new book offers a look into Boeing's photo archives og:url: https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5a40b559c1260e/69885a4b524fc037f9df37d9/150708-boeing-04.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 100 Years of Boeing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Boeing at 100: See Photos from Aviation History twitter:description: A new book offers a look into Boeing's photo archives twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5a40b559c1260e/69885a4b524fc037f9df37d9/150708-boeing-04.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Incredible Photos of Vintage Airplanes ## Video: Amazing Drone Footage [Watch (HLS stream): Amazing Drone Footage](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nRfSLNxe.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2014-07-08. Here's some of the best drone footage from the web._  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 29, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  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. 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  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 29, 2015 11:00 AM UTC 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](http://time.com/vault/issue/1934-05-14/page/38/) 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.  © 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC In a new book, [_Higher: 100 Years of Boeing_](http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Years-Boeing-Russ-Banham/dp/1452140537/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436282195&sr=8-1&keywords=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. 1917. © 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC  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. 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. 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. 1944. © 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC  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  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  The first Boeing 737\. 1967. © 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/"},"headline":"See Incredible Photos of Vintage Airplanes","datePublished":"2015-07-29T11:00:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:41:22.268Z","description":"A new book offers a look into Boeing's photo archives","url":"https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/","keywords":["Transportation","Boeing","photography","flight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5a40b559c1260e/69885a4b524fc037f9df37d9/150708-boeing-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5a40b559c1260e/69885a4b524fc037f9df37d9/150708-boeing-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"100 Years of Boeing","caption":"Boeing Model 247D in Flight over New York City","creditText":"© 2015 The Boeing Company, from Higher: 100 Years of Boeing published by Chronicle Books LLC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/","name":"See Incredible Photos of Vintage Airplanes"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Amazing Drone Footage","description":"Here's some of the best drone footage from the web.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nRfSLNxe/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-08T18:49:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nRfSLNxe.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3951607/boeing-airplane-photos-history/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```