Boeing 707 Airline Markings

It was a $16 million gamble that was waiting for flight on the threshold of the runway in Renton, Washington, on July 15, 1954. The Boeing design model 367-80, know to the public as the prototype Boeing 707, sat awaiting, be it somewhat restlessly, for her pilot, A. M. "Tex" Johnston, to release the brake. Her four 10,000 pound thrust engines were straining against an invisible harness for the freedom that only speed and altitude could provide. When she finally broke free, little did her owners know that this was the start of the most successful family of commercial jet aircraft ever to be built. Read the whole 707 story here.