A Gift of Flight: The William E. Boeing Story

The William E. Boeing Story: A Gift of Flight is the first ever full-length biography of William E. Boeing, the father of commercial aviation. Boeing's story is an exciting one, complete with bootleggers, kidnappers, and disastrous run-ins with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and future Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. Boeing's story covers every aspect of early aviation, starting with his first ride in a balloon in 1896 to the christening of the revolutionary jet-powered Dash-80/707 in 1955. Along the way Boeing developed some of the world's most iconic airplanes including the P-26 Peashooter, the Boeing 247, the B-17 Flying Fortress and the mighty B-29 Superfortress.