< Browse to Previous Essay | Browse to Next Essay > Boeing 247
takes flight from Boeing Field, opening new vistas in commercial
air travel, on February 8, 1933. HistoryLink.org Essay 2018 :
Printer-Friendly Format At noon, on February 8, 1933, the Boeing
247 takes flight from Boeing Field, ushering in a new era of air
travel. The twin-engine, ten-passenger monoplane blazes new
trails in aviation, but is quickly overtaken by the competing
Douglas Aircraft's DC-2, and never takes off commercially the
way Boeing hopes it will. At the time, the 247 was the fastest
transport plane around, with a top speed well over 200 miles per
hour. Variable-pitch propellers gave the plane superb takeoff
abilities and an economical cruising speed. Its cantilevered
wings housed landing lights and de-icers, and the landing gear
was retractable, lessening the drag coefficient in flight.
Appearing at the 1933 Chicago's World Fair, the plane proved a
hit with visitors. In 1934, it won the Collier Trophy, which is
given to great achie