The Boeing 707 was the first aircraft to convince the world's airlines that jet propulsion was the way ahead. During its long life it has served with most of the principal international carriers and derivatives have seen service in many guises with military air services around the world.

A definitive look at the plane that revolutionized air travel and its place in aviation history from the author of Comet! The World’s First Jet Airliner. The Boeing 707 family—that includes the forerunner Model 367-80, the KC-135 series of military transports and the slightly smaller Model 720—was the pioneer of the sweptback wing, incorporating podded engines borrowed from the B-47 military bomber. It was the aircraft that many regard as the design that really ushered in the Jet-Age. This book from the established aviation historian Graham Simons examines the entire course of the Boeing 707’s history, charting an impressive design evolution and illustrating the many ways in which the 707’s legacy continues to be felt to this day. In laying the foundation for Boeing’s preeminence on the world’s jetliner market during the 1980s and 90s, the 707 paved the way for future innovations in both civilian and military fields and Graham Simons has put together an image-packed history that records the historic and landmark milestones of this iconic aircraft type. “The book is well worth the price and will provide many hours of intriguing reading and research support. It is a good addition to one’s aviation bookshelf.”—Air Power History “An impressive volume that is well-written, and easy to read. Its research is of a high standard. It will, of course, appeal to Boeing 707/C-135 ‘enthusiasts’ and as such could well become a ‘Standard Reference Work’ on its subject.”—NZ Crown Mines

Although the Boeing 707 is known worldwide as the machine which took civil aviation from the piston engine era into that of the jet engine, what is very often not known is that its existence was only made possible by the success of its immediate predecessor, the KC – 135, a flying fuel tank used for refueling the strategic B – 52 bomber, also made by Boeing. Although these two models came from the same prototype, the “Dash 80”, which first flew in July 1954, they were in fact two radically different machines sharing only a limited number of common features. More than 800 KC – 135s were produced spawning an impressive number of variants and specialized versions, from training astronauts to collecting samples, from transporting headquarters staff to waging electronic warfare. More than 1000 Boeing 707s were built up to the end of the 20th century and also had a long career with various versions and re-engined variants, the last machines coming off the production lines, so the story goes, destined for the military market, in the form of the E – 3 Sentry which will remain in service into the middle of the present century.

One of the most influential jetliners in the history of air travel is treated to first-class accommodations in this complete design and development history. Francillon profiles the use of the Boeing 707 and includes coverage of 707 and 720 development, details of all variants, airline orders, deliveries and operational uses. Contains a unique chapter on the 707's second-hand market. Filled with military 707s, including C-137, C-18, E-3, AWACS, E-6 TACAMO, and E-8 J-STARS.

The captivating story of the titans, engineers, and pilots who raced to design a safe and lucrative passenger jet. In Jet Age, journalist Sam Howe Verhovek explores the advent of the first generation of jet airliners and the people who designed, built, and flew them. The path to jet travel was triumphal and amazingly rapid-less than fifty years after the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, Great Britain led the world with the first commercial jet plane service. Yet the pioneering British Comet was cursed with a tragic, mysterious flaw, and an upstart Seattle company put a new competitor in the sky: the Boeing 707 Jet Stratoliner. Jet Age vividly recreates the race between two nations, two global airlines, and two rival teams of brilliant engineers for bragging rights to the first jet service across the Atlantic Ocean in 1958. At the center of this story are great minds and courageous souls, including Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, who spearheaded the development of the Comet, even as two of his sons lost their lives flying earlier models of his aircraft; Sir Arnold Hall, the brilliant British aerodynamicist tasked with uncovering the Comet's fatal flaw; Bill Allen, Boeing's deceptively mild-mannered president; and Alvin "Tex" Johnston, Boeing's swashbuckling but supremely skilled test pilot. The extraordinary airplanes themselves emerge as characters in the drama. As the Comet and the Boeing 707 go head-to-head, flying twice as fast and high as the propeller planes that preceded them, the book captures the electrifying spirit of an era: the Jet Age. In the spirit of Stephen Ambrose's Nothing Like It in the World, Verhovek's Jet Age offers a gorgeous rendering of an exciting age and fascinating technology that permanently changed our conception of distance and time, of a triumph of engineering and design, and of a company that took a huge gamble and won.

Concise visual history of Boeing's first jetliner.

This book outlines the critical engineering discoveries leading to the jet transport age - from observations of birds in flight to modern jet transports. Starting with the Wright Brothers, it traces a path to the Boeing XB-47 swept-wing jet bomber, ending with the first generation of commercial jet transports: the Comet, the Convair 990, the DC-8, and the 707. Chapters include: The Pioneers; Airmail and the Early Transports; The 247 Airliners; The DC-3 and the Four-Engine Transports; The Four-Engine Bombers; The War Years; The Turbo-Jet Engine; The GE TG-180 Jet Engine; The Boeing High-Speed Wind Tunnel; The Swept Wing; The Jet Bomber; The Dash-80 Prototype; The 707-DC-8 Competition; and The Fan Engine. A clearly-written and easy-to-read book that is a must-read for all aircraft enthusiasts. William H. Cook started working for Boeing Engineering in 1938. There he held many prominent positions, including Manager of High-speed Wind Tunnel Design; B-29 Assistant Project Engineer; XB-47 Aerodynamics Unit Chief; and Chief of Technical Staff, Transport Division. Cook retired in 1974, but his engineering expertise is still in use today.