The Boeing 247; The First Modern Airliner

Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1991. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Victor J. Seely. xiii, [1], 254 pages. Illustrations on endpapers. Illustrations. Appendices (Includes Boeing 247-D Cockpit Check List). Notes. Bibliography. Index. Published for the National Air and Space Museum. Dr. F. Robert van der Linden is the Chairman of the Aeronautics Department of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. He is also Curator of Air Transportation and Special Purpose Aircraft. He is the responsible curator for the Milestones of Flight gallery, the Hall of Air Transportation and the Golden Age of Flight gallery. He is also the lead curator for the award-winning America by Air gallery. In 1991, the University of Washington published his first book entitled The Boeing 247: The First Modern Airliner. He co-authored 100 Years of Flight: A Chronicle of Aerospace History, 1903-2003, in 2003. In 2006, he co-authored Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1, and in 2011, he revised an earlier work entitled The Nation's Hangar: Aircraft Treasures of the Smithsonian. This well written history of the Boeing 247 is not only for fans of the largely forgotten commercial transport. It also provides an interesting picture of the U.S. business environment in 1933, and the development of the passenger air travel market. The 247's reputation for reliability and safety is well documented. The Boeing Model 247 was an early United States airliner, considered the first such aircraft to fully incorporate advances such as all-metal (anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing and retractable landing gear. Other advanced features included control surface trim tabs, an autopilot and de-icing boots for the wings and tailplane. The 247 first flew on February 8, 1933 and entered service later that year. No significant changes to this basic formula appeared until cabin pressurization and high altitude cruise were introduced in 1940, with the first pressurized airliner, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner.