The 747 was the eventual outcome of a colossal risk taken by Boeing in the 1940s.

As the Cold War began the U.S. Air Force wanted a new generation of bomber able to fly high and fast. To meet this need, Boeing produced a radical new bomber, the B-47. The design incorporated a concept developed by the Germans during World War II, wings swept-back sharply like an arrow head. A Boeing engineer found the Nazi plans in Germany and sent them back to Boeing’s base in Seattle. The second innovation of the B-47 was that the jet engines were hung in pods beneath the wings. The reason for this was that if bullets from Soviet fighters hit an engine and it caught fire the rest of the wing would be intact. No B-47 was ever intercepted by the Russians but the form, engines suspended on short pylons beneath the wings – and the swept-back wing itself – settled the shape of most future big jets. It took thousands of hours of high risk test flying with the B-47 to “tame” this form to a point where it could become easy for Air Force pilots to handle – and ultimately for airline pilots. The 747 and all those other wide-bodies parked at the airport gate are shaped by that one high-risk innovation.

Jumbo: The Making of the Boeing 747 by Clive Irving will be published 2nd June 2014
The inside story of the men who, against all odds, brought the 747 into being

Available in the following formats:

Paperback £14.99
ISBN 9781909230149
Through Amazon as a paperback

Amazon Kindle ebook £8.99
9781909230163
Through Amazon / Kindle

Apple ebook £8.99
ISBN 9781909230156
Through Apple / iTunes (search for title on iTunes bookstore)

Through The Book Depository
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