The first widely used commercial jet, the Boeing 707, brought America into the 'Jet Age' of the late 1950s and created the template for worldwide air travel today. The 707 remained in production until late 1978, by which time it was too small to handle the increased passenger densities on many routes, and it was retired to make way for more-modern jetliner types. This book provides a fascinating portfolio of images depicting a wide range of Boeing 707 variants in service around the world, in passenger, cargo and military use, showcasing many of the aircraft's diverse and colorful liveries.
In 1916, William Boeing officially incorporated his new aircraft business. He successfully sold aircraft to the United States Armed Forces and formed an air transport operation, which used aircraft of his own making. In the lead up to World War Two, Boeing produced some advanced designs, including a pressurized airliner and a large, long-range flying boat. As the war began, Boeing forged ahead with its famous B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and the pressurized B-29 Superfortress.

While Boeing had focused on bombers during the war, Douglas and Lockheed had produced troop transports that were easily adapted as airliners for the postwar market. Boeing produced the Stratocruiser to fulfill that role, but it was not as big a success as the company wanted, and Boeing continued to try and design an alternative. It was heavily involved in the United States Air Force jet bomber program and, using that experience, designed what became the world's most famous airliner in the form of the Boeing 707. Boeing went from being a company that was not known as a commercial aircraft manufacturer to taking over the market and dominating the airline scene, with aircraft such as the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. Fully illustrated, this new book edition of Aeroplane Classic Airliner: Boeing Stratocruiser and 707 covers the design, development, and service - both military and civilian - of two of Boeing's iconic aircraft.