New Zealand link to fledgling Boeing firm

Model 8 (1920) and the P-12 fighter (1928). The P-12 was lighter and more agile than any military aircraft competitor and between 1929 and 1932 the US Navy purchased 586 P-12 fighters and variants – it was the commercial making of The Boeing Airplane Company.

July 28, 1928 was a big day in the history of Boeing. It was the delivery date of Boeing’s first custom built passenger aircraft, a three-engine, 12-passenger biplane, the Boeing 80. In the ensuing years William Boeing presided over a series of new designs amongst which were the first Boeing all metal aircraft (Model 220, 1930) and the first twin engine passenger aircraft that could fly on one engine (Boeing 247, 1933). 1934 saw the US Air Mail Act which prohibited airlines and aircraft manufacturers being managed and operated by the same company. This forced the Boeing company to be split into three separate companies: United Airlines, United Aircraft Corporation and The Boeing Airplane Company.

At this time William Boeing sold off all of his shares and left the company.

Since 1934 the Boeing company has participated in every step of the development of the aircraft and played a major part in making the global aviation industry what it is today. Boeing manufactured legendary aircraft such as the hugely successful Boeing 707 (1957), the Boeing 737 (1967), the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet (1969) and the Boeing 787 (2009).

Today, 100 years after its inception, the Boeing company is an international aviation powerhouse with divisions that make commercial aircraft, military hardware and aerospace equipment. It has more than 160,000 employees and an annual revenue of NZ$130 billion.

Even William Boeing could not have imagined that his desire to build a seaplane with his friend Westervelt would transform into the colossal aviation company it is today.

One wonders, in the many speeches recognising the centenary of the Boeing company this year, how many will acknowledge the Walsh brothers in New Zealand. They showed confidence in a little-known boat builder in far-flung Seattle when they purchased the first two Boeing Model 1 aircraft. Sadly, what happened to those two and only Model 1s is a mystery – the example in Seattle’s Museum of Flight is a replica.