Viewing page 8 of 22

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

36

WILLIAM E. BOEING

Pioneer Founder of the Boeing Aircraft Company

William E. Boeing was born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 1, 1881 of wealthy parents who had timber and mining holdings in Minnesota. He attended public and private schools and two years at Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University. 

In 1903, at age 22, Boeing went west where he acquired timber holdings of his own at Gray's Harbor on the Washington coast. 

In 1908 he moved to Seattle, where he began to develop an interest in things mechanical. The early reports of flying interested him and he attended the first Los Angeles Aviation Meet at Dominguez Field, held January 10th to 20th, 1910, and saw that a man could fly. He tried, but failed, to get an airplane ride and returned to Seattle greatly impressed by what he had seen.

Some time later Boeing met Navy Lieutenant Conrad Westervelt, also an aviation enthusiast, who was on official assignment in that area. Their friendship and aviation interest grew. Early in 1915 Montana aviator T. T. Maroney started flying a Curtiss hydro from the water off Seattle's nearby Lake Washington to carry passengers and conduct a flying school. Boeing and Westervelt had a ride with Maroney and both were delighted and greatly enthused with the experience. This ride was undoubtedly the spark that started the Boeing Aircraft Company.

More rides followed, then they decided they could build a better plane. As a result they gathered technical data on planes and hired a group of mechanics and technicians to join them, including local barnstormer and plane builder Herb Munter and an M. I. T. Chinese graduate aeronautical engineer, T. Wong. They planned to build two quite conventional tractor hydro biplanes, to be called B.& W. These were 52-foot span, twin-float machines powered by 125 h.p. 6-cylinder Hall-Scott engines.