Tag Archives: Boeing

…Moving for the First Time in 60 Years

So much is going on! Our builders have finished with the construction part of the new museum and we have started on the exhibit creation. This part of the move will continue until we open. It’s a pretty big job.

The week of March 5th, we packed exactly one artifact. However, it was one of our largest artifacts in terms of size and a very big deal for us because this artifact has not moved from its exhibit since 1951. Yep, we have taken down the Boeing B1. (Watching this MOHAI Minute to learn more about the B1.) Below is a day-by-day explaination of how MOHAI, Century Aviation and Hansen Brothers prepared this iconic artifact for its move to South Lake Union.

Monday, March 5
On Monday, Century Aviation arrived at MOHAI at 7:30 to put up scaffolding. They needed to make a level surface on the sloped ramp to lower down our Boeing B-1 Flying Boat Plane.

Tuesday, March 6
Century Aviation replaced MOHAI’s rigging with their own so that they could slowly and carefully lower the B-1 plane down. Then, the dismantling began. On Tuesday, the right side wings were removed from the plane and carried up the ramp and into Merrill-Green.

Wednesday, March 7
Century Aviation removed the left side wings on Wednesday and moved them to Merrill-Green as well. They will be conserved by Century Aviation before being installed in the Armory.

Thursday, March 8
Finally, the wingless, tail-less plane was detached from its engine. It was amazing how much of a boat it looks like! No wonder they called it a flying boat…

Friday, March 9
Here are a number of people from the wing moving crew, standing in front of the wings we moved (Unfortunately, the people took up more of the picture than the wings…)!From left to right: Karen Barrow (Century Aviation), Betsy Bruemmer (MOHAI, Kristen Halunen (MOHAI), Allison Loveland (MOHAI), Mark Smith (Century Aviation), Marcus (Century Aviation), Steve (Century Aviation), Clara Berg (MOHAI), Crista Alejandre (MOHAI intern), and Sarah Bishop (MOHAI)

Boeing Clipper 314 Fuselage Inside Boeing Aircraft Company Hanger, Seattle, 1938

The fuselage of the Clipper 314, Boeing’s seventy passenger, long-range flying boat, is gently rolled out of Boeing’s assembly plant. Final assembly, including wings that span 152 feet, would be completed on the outer dock of the plant. This is the first of six double-decker Clippers built for Pan-American Airlines for their transoceanic routes. Only 12 Clippers were ever built.

Photographer: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Staff Photographer

Image Date: 1938

Image Number: 1986.5.181.1

 To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@seattlehistory.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.

Boeing Workers Demonstrating in Downtown Seattle, 1943

Protest signs: Our Contributions to War Chest $159, 000 – All This on [62%?] Wage. Remove Inequalities and Watch Production Soar. We Won the Army & Navy “E” – Also a Star – All This on [62%?] Wage. Production Always Above Expectation – All This on [62%?] Wage. Our Record 94.8 in Purchase of Defense Bonds – All This on [62%?] Wage.

Photographer: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Staff Photographer

Image Date: 1943

Image Number: 1986.5.8850.3

To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@seattlehistory.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.

…Doing it Better

Unveiling of Boeing's new 707 jet, Renton, 1954

Sunday Quote

[Boeing CEO Bill] Allen had seen the Comet, at an air show in Farnborough, England, in 1950, while it was still in production and testing, and his response was curiously evocative of the conversation back in 1914 between Bill Boeing and Conrad Westervelt, the one that had launched the company.

“I think we could build a better!” Boeing had told Westervelt that day on Lake Washington.

At a dinner in London just after the air show, Bill Allen had a question for one of his top engineers, Maynard Pennell. “How do you like the Comet?” “We could do better,” said Pennell. Allen thought about it some more, and even zipped himself up in a flight suit for a test of various military jets. He was impressed not only by the speed, but also by the lack of vibration and noise, compared with the rat-a-tat motion and roar of a propeller airliner.

[...]

… A month later Allen got the board’s go-ahead, and he told his engineers to draw up some plans but keep it all quiet for a few months. Then in the summer of 1952, the consummate lawyer issued the most carefully crafted of statements – complete with a suggestion, though not an explicit statement, that perhaps Boeing had been at work on the idea far longer than it really had been. “The Boeing Company,” announced Bill Allen, “has for some time been engaged in a company-financed project that will enable it to demonstrate a prototype jet airplane of new design to the armed services and the commercial airlines in the summer of 1954.”

Taken from Jet Age: The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World by Sam Howe Verhovek. The quote describes in part Boeing’s decision to invest in jet technology, starting on the path to create the Boeing 707, the first commercially successful jetliner.

Jet Age is available in the Museum Gift Shop or from Amazon.com.

…On and Above Lake Union

MOHAI Minute


The newest MOHAI Minute has Helen and Peder exploring the origins of Boeing on Lake Union as well as a very special mail airplane residing at MOHAI.

To see all the other MOHAI Minutes, click here.