BOEING

Boeing was incorporated in Seattle, Washington by William E. Boeing, on July 15, 1916, as "Pacific Aero Products Co." following the June 15 maiden flight of one of the two "B&W" seaplanes built with the assistance of George Conrad Westervelt, a U.S. Navy engineer. On May 9, 1917, the company became the "Boeing Airplane Company". By the end of 1917,Boeing designed the Model C seaplane with the assistance of Tsu Wong,a talented aeronautical engineer.This little seaplanes flew well during the performance test by U S navy and the Navy ordered 50 Model Cs -- the company's first production order. Early in 1919, William Boeing and pilot Eddie Hubbard used Boeing's C-700 to carry 60 letters from Vancouver, B.C., to Seattle, delivering the first international airmail. On May 24, 1920, the Boeing BB-L6, the first airplane to fly over Mount Rainier, made its first flight. The company's second international sale was the BB-1 seaplane, sold to a Canadian in 1920.They also got orders from the Army Air Service to build 200 Thomas-Morse MB-3A pursuit fighter biplanes and to modernize 298 British-built de Havilland DH-4 fighter biplanes.The Boeing Model 15 (PW-9) prototype made its first flight in 1923.They launched Model 40 mail plane in 1923 and advanced version 40A in 1925.In 1927 Boeing Air Transport (BAT) was formed to run the new airline which merged a year later with Pacific Air Transport and the Boeing Airplane Company. 12-passenger, three-engine Model 80 biplane, the first Boeing plane built specifically as a passenger transport made its first flight July 27, 1929.The company changed its name to United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in 1929 and acquired Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Standard Propeller Company, and Chance Vought. United Aircraft then purchased National Air Transport in 1930.In 1930 company rolled out XP-9, the company's first monoplane fighter followed by first Boeing monoplane bomber, the B-9 bomber, .In 1933 the revolutionary Boeing 247 was introduced, the first truly modern airliner .

The Air Mail Act of 1934 prohibited airlines and manufacturers from being under the same corporate umbrella, so the company split into three smaller companies - Boeing Airplane Company, United Airlines, and United Aircraft Corporation, the precursor to United Technologies. As a result, William Boeing sold off his shares.Claire Egtvedt, who had been named president of the Boeing Airplane Co. in 1933, took over the chairmanship as well as the presidency .Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner,the first pressurised airliner made its successful first flight,on June 1939.