Details

This film explains the concept of the 4 engine jet transport along with the various systems that comprise the then new Boeing 707 Dash 80 airliner.

Boeing rolled out their 707 Dash 80 in 1954. This is a quite nicely preserved color film that was made to capture this historic event. The new 707 could fly twice as fast, carry twice as many passengers as the prop planes it replaced, and could fly at twice the altitude. But it was also considerably more costly than the prop airliners of the mid 1950s.

So Boeing had to promote their new jetliner to the airlines and the travelling public as best they could if they were to be successful in selling the jet into the airline marketplace of the 1950s.

In hindsight, we know Boeing was terrifically successful with the gamble they made on the Boeing 707 jetliner development, as it was the stepping stone to other famous jets like the 727, 737 and of course the 747, all of which were developed in the decade of the 1960s.

Boeing’s modern day jetliner success on a global scales was all forged on the mid 1950s public acceptance of the Boeing 707 Dash 80. Which makes this film all the more special as an historic document to look back and marvel what was possible, so many decades ago.