The History of the Boeing 707

The Boeing 707, which made its first commercial flight in 1958, is considered to be the world's first successful commercial passenger jet.

The plane was in production until 1991 and its innovations, like more passenger capacity and greater range, helped usher in the type of air travel we see today.

The plane's fuselage - which carries cargo and people - was 100 feet long, making it the largest passenger cabin at the time.

The plane's wing was also designed so that it could fly about 20 miles per hour faster than Boeing's DC-8 plane.

Boeing also customized the 707 for specific airlines, like installing larger engines for high altitude flights done by Braniff International Airways, a now-defunct American airline.

These customizations, though costly and financially risky for the company, helped make the plane an industry standard. The plane, although intended for medium-range flights, was soon traveling internationally.

Later, the 707 was also modified to accommodate shorter routes and was renamed the 720. The fuselage became shorter and the leading edge flaps on the wing changed. Turbofan engines were also later installed.

The last American Boeing 707 flight was a 1983 flight from Miami to NYC, though the last commercial flight was in 2013. Today, the plane is still in military use.

Even though the Boeing 707 is no longer a passenger plane, it is still memorialized in songs like the Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner." The plane's popularity in turn propelled the popularity of air travel, with changes being made to airport terminals, reservation systems and catering - all now ubiquitous aspects of air travel.

Code and files are on GitHub. Historical facts from Boeing and Britannica.