BBC: Boeing 707: The aircraft that changed the way we fly
Oct 22, 2014, 11:02 am
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BBC: Boeing 707: The aircraft that changed the way we fly
Oct 22, 2014, 1:03 pm
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[Removed copy and paste of story]
Last edited by cblaisd; Oct 22, 2014 at 4:57 pm Reason: Sorry, wholesale copy-and-pasting of a copyrighted news story is not allowed by the FT Rules
Oct 22, 2014, 2:15 pm
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IIRC, the 707 was originally designed for 2-3 spacious seating, until Juan Trippe came along.
Last edited by DenverBrian; Oct 23, 2014 at 8:04 pm Reason: Name change to reflect more factual information
Oct 22, 2014, 4:42 pm
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Oct 22, 2014, 4:54 pm
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I believe that I only flew on a 707 once, on an AA flight ORD-BOS. This was in the summer of 1978.
Last edited by amanuensis; Oct 23, 2014 at 1:51 pm Reason: Added when I flew on the 707.
Oct 23, 2014, 6:41 am
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Oct 23, 2014, 8:30 am
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Oct 23, 2014, 9:34 am
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m the BBC article linked above comes this:
What was holding Boeing back was the fact that the 707 was narrower and slightly smaller than the DC-8. When William Allen, Boeing’s president offered American Airlines an extra half-inch in width over the DC-8, he won an order for fifty 707s. From that moment, the sales success of the Boeing was assured.
Last edited by Xyzzy; Oct 23, 2014 at 10:29 am
Oct 23, 2014, 10:08 am
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DC10 -- Originally 2-4-2 with roomy Y seating; later in the 70's was changed to 2-5-2.
747 -- Originally 3-3-3 with roomy Y seating; later became 3-4-3.
In the 70's, NW was a holdout and advertised themselves as "the roomier wide cabin airline".
Another story is that UA, at one point, tried to leverage putting more seats on the plane by advertising "Now, you have a better chance of getting your favorite seat".
Oct 23, 2014, 12:52 pm
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Flew on a BA 707 once from LHR to Nassau Bahamas in 1975. There was a metal pin not quite flush with the sidewall panel that got condensation on it throughout the flight and regularly dripped water on me. Watched the original Taking of Pelham 123 on that flight. It was my first jet flight. I still have a soft spot for the 707.
Oct 23, 2014, 1:23 pm
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When I was in first grade we had a field trip to JFK to "tour" a B707. The tour was simple a walk up and down the aisle, but man I remember I was so thrilled to be there!
Oct 23, 2014, 8:06 pm
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Here's some info from
http://airandspace.si.edu/collection...m_A19730272000
In searching for a market, Boeing found a ready customer in Pan American Airway's president Juan Trippe. Trippe had been spending much of his time searching for a suitable jet airliner to enable his pioneering company to maintain its leadership in international air travel. Working with Boeing, Trippe overcame Boeing's resistance to widening the Dash-80 design, now known as the 707, to seat six passengers in each seat row rather than five. Trippe did so by placing an order with Boeing for 20 707s but also ordering 25 of Douglas's competing DC-8, which had yet to fly but could accommodate six-abreast seating. At Pan Am's insistence, the 707 was made four inches wider than the Dash 80 so that it could carry 160 passengers six-abreast. The wider fuselage developed for the 707 became the standard design for all of Boeing's subsequent narrow-body airliners.
Oct 24, 2014, 4:58 am
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The last time I flew on a 707 was from Bucharest to JFK with a refuelling stop in Vienna in in summer of 1991. TAROM still allowed smoking on board!