The Boeing Company, which was founding on July 16, 1916, will turn 100 years old this summer. It has been quite a wild first 100 years, as the company has seen many big ups and downs. The origins of Boeing go back to March of 1910, when William E. Boeing bought a shipyard in Seattle, which later would become his original airplane factory.
Incorporated as “Pacific Aero Products Company” in Seattle in July of 1916, the first aircraft the company built was the “B&W seaplane”. The company changed its name to the “Boeing Airplane Company” in May of 1917. After making some improvements to the first airplane model, Boeing received an order for 50 of its newer version “Model C” from the US Navy following the outbreak of World War I. At the end of World War I in 1918, there was a large surplus of used military planes flooding the market, making it impossible for airplane manufacturers to sell much more expensive new aircraft. This caused allot of existing airplane producers to go out of business. Boeing was able to survive this first threat to its financial liquidity by building furniture and boats.
In 1919 the Boeing “B-1” flying boat made its first flight. It could carry one pilot, two passengers, and mail. This aircraft was followed in May of 1920 by the Boeing “Model 8”, which was the first plane to fly over the Seattle areas famous Mt. Rainier. Boeing also began developing its first fighter aircraft called the “PW-9” in 1923. This plane would migrate into the Boeing “P-12”, making Boeing one of the leaders in fighter aircraft production over the course of the next decade.
The next plane Boeing produced was the “Model 40” mail plane for the U.S. government. It was followed in 1927 by an improved version called the “Model 40A”, which won the contract to deliver mail between San Francisco and Chicago. This was then followed in 1928 by the 12 passenger “Boeing-80” biplane. This aircraft had 3 engines, and was the first Boeing plane built exclusively to be a passenger transport. This version was followed by the improved version “80-A”, which could carry up to eighteen passengers.
