Wide-Body: The Triumph of the 747

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In the twentieth century, a handful of American companies have - with the introduction of a single product or product line - literally transformed the lives of millions. Among them are Xerox, IBM, and AT&T. But only one company - Boeing - undertook the single massive speculative leap, a billion-dollar gamble, of the kind that resulted in the 747 and ultimately transformed the world's transportation habits. Today, little more than twenty years after the first 747 rolled off the line, the Boeing Jumbo is ...
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More About This Book

Overview

In the twentieth century, a handful of American companies have - with the introduction of a single product or product line - literally transformed the lives of millions. Among them are Xerox, IBM, and AT&T. But only one company - Boeing - undertook the single massive speculative leap, a billion-dollar gamble, of the kind that resulted in the 747 and ultimately transformed the world's transportation habits. Today, little more than twenty years after the first 747 rolled off the line, the Boeing Jumbo is probably the most recognizable artifact of American technological achievement in the world. Yet the behind-the-scenes story of its birth is largely unknown. In Wide-Body, Clive Irving shows how the creation of the 747 transformed the destiny of the Boeing Company and, at the same time, how such a "bet the company" decision was very much of a piece with Boeing's history, going right back to its roots and remoteness in the Pacific Northwest. The story of the 747 is an aviation adventure of the first order. The odyssey of the plane is studded with heroism under pressure, technological wizardry, and a tradition of test pilots deeply imbued with the right stuff. Equally fascinating is the story of the business culture behind the plane: a culture shaped by a generation of brilliant young engineers who made Boeing the world leader in commercial aviation. Often in dispute, always innovative, they were led by a lawyer, reluctant to accept the job, who became steely-nerved in the face of gigantic risks. To win primacy, Boeing had to outperform its two most-feared rivals, Douglas and Lockheed. Several times the outcome was in the balance. There were agile deals with generals, often frustrated by double-dealing politicians. The company's fate culminates in a secretive deal between two magnates determined to dominate their respective industries. There has never seemed a better time to be reminded of this triumphant and uniquely American business story.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
The Boeing 747, the jetliner which revolutionized air travel, was launched on its first commercial flight in 1970. For the past two decades, it has been the most popular large plane, with the wide body accommodating hundreds of passengers per flight. The exciting story of the events of the four years that led up to the triumphant debut of the 747 is ably told here by Conde Nast Traveler editor Irving. Boeing had made its reputation largely with military aircraft and was the first major company to believe that jets could serve as the civilian planes of the future. In producing the 747, the firm worked jointly with Pan Am, whose enigmatic, quixotic president, Juan Trippe, put constant pressure on the Seattle corporation, according to Irving. The interplay of personalities related here between Trippe and Boeing Chief Bill Allen is interesting, as are the clashes between two types of engineers: formulaic and intuitive. This is business history at its best. Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.)
Library Journal
This intriguing book is as much a history of commercial passenger aviation as it is of the development of the Boeing 747 wide-body jet airplane. Given the cast of characters, which is as large as that of War and Peace , remembering who is doing what can be difficult. At times, the story reads like a mystery and at times like a thriller. Behind the different business enterprises of building airplanes and providing air transport for the masses was an unlikely melding of the personalities: CEOs, chief engineers, lawyers, scientists, test pilots, and accountants. It is these diverse personalities who grab and hold the reader's interest, while the author spins his stranger-than-fiction tale of how the plane that couldn't fly not only flew but changed the face of intercontinental air travel. Highly recommended for popular collections.-- Eric C. Shoaf, Duke Univ. Lib., Durham, N.C.
Booknews
Chronicles and lauds the technological and business/financial achievements that put those auditoriums into the sky. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
David Rouse
Boeing Company, the aircraft manufacturer, has been the subject of numerous portraits, most recently Robert Serling's "Legend & Legacy" (St. Martin's, 1992), which commemorated the company's seventy-fifth anniversary. Boeing's introduction of the 747 in 1970 revolutionized passenger air travel. The history of the 747 represents both an engineering and a marketing marvel, and its story, too, has already been told several times. Laurence Kuter's "The Great Gamble" (Univ. of Alabama Press, 1973) and Douglas J. Ingells' "747: Story of the Boeing Super Jet" (Aero Publishers, 1970) each straightforwardly chronicled the history of the 747 from drawing board to runway. Irving, an editor for "Conde Nast Traveler", has the advantage of nearly a 25-year perspective, and his account of the technological gamble Boeing and its customers took with the 747 is told with drama and vivid behind-the-scenes detail.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780688099022
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 1/1/1993
  • Edition description: 1st ed
  • Pages: 384

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