Subject: Boeing Book

From: [email-masked] (System Support)
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 92 13:59:40 AUS

Maybe someone can help me. I'm trying to get hold of a new book about
Boeing entitled something like "The Boeing Story".  Does anyone have
any ideas about such a book, author? Any help would be much
appreciated. Does Boeing (Seattle) have an email address?

Thanking You in appreciation,
Michael

[email-masked]

--

---

From: [email-masked] (Carl A Slenk)
Date: 01 Dec 92 00:13:24 PST

A new book out in January of 93 looks interesting:
Wide-Body: the Triumph of the 747 by Clive Irving
Pub: William Morrow &co

-- 
Carl A. Slenk             |  "A computer lets you make more mistakes faster
[email-masked]     |   then any other invention with the possible
University of Vermont     |   exceptions of handguns and Tequilla" -
My opinions;get your own  |            Mitch Ratcliffe

---

From: Christopher Davis <[email-masked]>
Date: 01 Dec 92 00:13:26 PST

Michael> == System Support <[email-masked]> 

 Michael> Maybe someone can help me. I'm trying to get hold of a new
 Michael> book about Boeing entitled something like "The Boeing Story".
 Michael> Does anyone have any ideas about such a book, author? Any help
 Michael> would be much appreciated.

This might be the Robert Serling _Legend & Legacy_, which I hope to find
the time to do a book review on, eventually.  *Very* good book.  (I
don't have an ISBN handy, the book's at home.)

 Michael> Does Boeing (Seattle) have an email address?

Probably not an official one, if that's what you're asking.  There are a
number of divisions of Boeing, and they're all under the boeing.com domain.

---

From: [email-masked] (Karl Swartz)
Date: 01 Dec 92 02:10:51 PST

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (System Support) writes:
>any ideas about such a book, author?

As Christopher Davis pointed out, "Legend and Legacy" sounds like the
book you're after.  There was a review posted on rec.aviation recently;
I believe Robert Dorsett may have it archived on rascal.ics.utexas.edu
if you have anon ftp access.

A good source for books on airliners (though not this particular one;
the review mentioned B. Dalton's as having it) is "Just Plane Crazy"
in Miami, the retail arm of World Transport Press which publishes both
Airliners and Airliners Monthly News, and is the U.S. distributor for
the JP fleet lists.

The best way of reaching them is by phone, and thankfully (for those
of us on the west coast of the U.S.) they are open late, until 10 pm
Eastern Time.  Saturdays until 6 pm and they open at 10 am.  From the
48 continental states try 1-800/875-6711; elsewhere, 1-305/477-7163.
They also have a 24-hour FAX line at 1-305/599-1995.

By mail, write to

    Airliners Catalog
    P.O. Box 521238
    Miami, FL 33152-1238
    USA

If you happen to be visiting Miami, they're right next to Miami
International Airport at 1200 NW 72nd Ave. in the Perimeter Road
Building.

All that said, I have no affiliation with them other than as a
satisfied customer on several occasions.

Their latest catalog includes several new books which may be of
interest, including

    Douglas DC-8: A Pictorial History

    Grounded: Frank Lorenzo and the Destruction of Eastern Airlines

	Too bad he's gone from the scene -- we'd have great fun
	picking on him!!!  :-)

    Jet Airliner Production List (2nd Edition)

	Mine has been on order for a week; damned Christmas mail
	must have it trapped along the way!

-- 
Karl Swartz	|INet	[email-masked]		
1-415/854-3409	|UUCP	uunet!decwrl!ditka!kls
		|Snail	2144 Sand Hill Rd., Menlo Park CA 94025, USA
 Send sci.aeronautics.airliners submissions to [email-masked]

---

From: Christopher Davis <[email-masked]>
Date: 01 Dec 92 13:54:48 PST

ckd> == Christopher Davis <Christopher Davis <[email-masked]>> 
Michael> == System Support <[email-masked]> 

 ckd> This might be the Robert Serling _Legend & Legacy_, which I hope
 ckd> to find the time to do a book review on, eventually.  *Very* good
 ckd> book.  (I don't have an ISBN handy, the book's at home.)

Okay, I'm at home now...information follows in (hopefully) refer format:

%A Robert J. Serling
%T Legend & Legacy: The Story of Boeing and Its People
%P 480
%I St. Martin's Press
%C New York
%D 1992
%O ISBN 0-312-05890-X
%Y US$24.95 (hc)

There is a photo section in the center, including some interesting
"747-300" shots (a trimotor design in the same class as the
L-1011/DC-10, which obviously never saw production), the 2707 SST
mockup, the Boeing hydrofoil (one of which I once rode on between
Victoria BC and Seattle as the _Flying Princess_), and some others.  It
does not include the Boeing light rail vehicle (streetcar) that Boston
and San Francisco wound up with.

(Interesting note: I have had the [probably extremely rare] experience
of having been a passenger in Boeing vehicles below ground, at ground
level, at (and slightly above) sea level on water, and of course the
traditional jet cruising altitudes.  Now if I could have only managed a
trip to the Moon; both the Saturn first stage and the Lunar Rover...)

---

From: [email-masked] (Mark Brader)
Date: 01 Dec 92 13:54:53 PST

> Wide-Body: the Triumph of the 747 by Clive Irving

An excerpt from this forthcoming book appears in the current, i.e.
December-January, issue of "AIR & SPACE / Smithsonian" magazine.
-- 
Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto  |  "Yet Another Wonderful Novelty -- YAWN!"
utzoo!sq!msb, [email-masked]	     |				-- Lee R. Quin

This article is in the public domain.

---

From: [email-masked] (Robert Dorsett)
Date: 01 Dec 92 23:15:23 PST

In article <[email-masked]> you write:
>book you're after.  

It might also be "Boeing: Planemaker since 1916," by one Philip M. Bowers.
It's an exhaustive review of all the airplanes (and variants) Boeing's 
produced, sort of a mini Jane's.  It's a long book (over 600 pages).  It
appeared at Bookstop here in Austin sometime this summer; it's about $36.

---
Robert Dorsett
[email-masked]
...cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!rdd

---

From: [email-masked] (Geoff Peck)
Date: 03 Dec 92 00:40:17 PST

In article <[email-masked]> Christopher Davis
<[email-masked]> writes:
> the time to do a book review on, eventually.  *Very* good book.

OK, I'll bite.  Here's a review of "Legend and Legacy" which I wrote for
rec.aviation in mid-September:

  From: [email-masked] (Geoff Peck)
  Subject: Book Review: Legend and Legacy
  Message-ID: <[email-masked]>
  Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1992 18:08:22 GMT

I just finished the book "Legend and Legacy: The Story of Boeing and Its 
People" by Robert J. Serling (St. Martins Press, New York, 1992).  It's 
an incredibly well-written corporate biography of Boeing at its seventy-
fifth anniversary, and is superb reading for Boeing fans, aviation fans, 
and those interested in corporate management, philosophy, and 
development.  Besides, the book is chock-full of reliably-documented 
anecdotes, incredibly funny deeds, and priceless one-line quotes from a 
huge variety of Boeing folks.

One example, which seems to come up on the net with some regularity, is 
the question of the Famous 707 Barrel Roll.  I've included as an 
attachment below a slightly generous excerpt from the book which
describes this famous incident to whet your appetite.

The book, of course, details many of the projects that the immensely 
complex and diverse organization has worked on -- from commercial 
aircraft to cruise missiles to the lunar roving module to military 
aircraft to bedroom furniture (no, I'm not kidding) to the never-
produced passenger SST to helicopters and light rail vehicles to 
completely overhauling NASA's project management structure.  The variety 
of projects, and the number of innovative experiments, will truly boggle 
one's mind.  I was most impressed by the personal and corporate 
integrity of the people who are Boeing -- this book really almost 
justifies the well-worn phrase "if it doesn't say Boeing, I'm not 
going."

A minor word of caution on this book -- once you start reading it, you'll
find it incredibly hard to put down, much like a Robert Ludlum novel.  You
may find yourself staying up all night trying to finish its generous
460-plus pages in one sitting.  You're also likely to exclaim, after
reading a particularly favorite chapter (I only had about 10 or 12 such
chapters) "goodness -- that was much too short -- there should be a whole
_book_ on this subject!"

The book, as one might expect, does see Boeing through the rose-colored
glasses of memory.  It's well-researched -- Serling spent quite a bit
of time interviewing Boeing employees and searching company documents.
But one doesn't read this kind of book expecting a critical exposee of
mis-deeds ... nor would one really expect much of that in a corporate
biography of a company as principled as Boeing.

Now, what might be the ideal reading environment for Legend and Legacy?
Well, I read most of it ... while flying inside Boeing jetliners.  (And
I'm still sitting inside a 737, bouncing around in light, occasionally
moderate, turbulence, as I type this article!)  Although the order of
flying the Boeings didn't quite match their presentation in the book, on
this trip I flew in 757's, a 737, a 727, and even a 707.  Well, sort of.
The 707 was actually UAL flight 707 from Newark to Denver, operating today
as a 757.  :-)  Ah, well.  I still do very fondly remember the 707 (and
the 320B, and the 727-100, the 727-200, and the 737-100, and the 737-200,
and ...).  Alas, no 747 or 767 on this trip, but I certainly have enough
passenger-hours in those types.  If it doesn't say Boeing, _I'm_ not
going!  For those amused by historical significance, my 727 flight ended
by landing on runway 22 at New York's LaGuardia airport.

I can't recommend this book highly enough!  It should be available at 
most general booksellers (I bought mine at a B. Dalton in a mall) in 
hard cover at $24.95.

						Geoff

---

[Excerpt from _Legend_and_Legacy regarding the 707 roll]

[This occurred] when the same Aircraft Industries Association group and 
representatives of the International Air Transport Association held 
joint meetings in Seattle.  The Gold Cup hydroplane races were being 
held at the same time, and Allen [Boeing's CEO] invited the industry 
dignitaries to watch the events from three yachts Boeing had chartered 
for the occasion.  As a special treat he also told Tex Johnston to stage 
a flyby in the Dash-80 on the day of the races so everyone could see the 
airplane of the future.

Tex never did anything halfway.  PR director Carl Cleveland had told him 
to come over Lake Washington, where the boat races were being held, at a 
prearranged time.  When that moment arrived, the Dash-80 was in the 
middle of a routine test flight over the Olympic Peninsula and Johnston 
said to copilot Jim Gannett, "I'm gonna roll this bird over the Gold Cup 
course."

"They're liable to fire you," Gannett warned.

"Maybe, but I don't think so."

The Dash-80 was doing 450mph when Tex brought it over Lake Washington at 
only 300 feet, put the jet into a 35-degree climb and proceeded to do a 
complete 360-degree barrel roll.  Then he reversed course, came back 
over the lake and repeated the maneuver -- again in full view of 300,000 
awed spectators, some vastly impressed industry officials, and a very 
unhappy William McPherson Allen.

After the second roll, Allen turned to Larry Bell of Bell Aircraft, one 
of his guests.  "Larry, give me about the of those heart pills you've 
been taking.  I need them worse than you do."

Bell laughed.  "Bill, I think he just sold your airplane."

Allen ignored him and said to Carl Cleveland, "I don't think we should 
have anything in the newspapers about this."

Poor Carl pointed out it was going to be a little difficult to keep 
something out of the papers that 300,000 people had just witnessed.  
Allen didn't pursue that matter further, but at eight o'clock Monday 
morning, Johnston appeared in his office where not only Allen but Wells, 
Beall, Schairer, and Martin were waiting.

Allen's first question was directed not at Tex but at Schairer.

"Did you tell him to do it?"

Schairer never had a chance to reply, for Johnson immediately said, "No, 
he didn't."

Allen turned to Tex.  "What made you do it?"

"I was selling the airplane," the test pilot answered.  He went on to 
explain that the Dash-80 was never in any danger, that an airplane 
doesn't recognize altitude if the forces imposed on its structure do not 
exceed one g (the force of gravity).

Allen, still openly upset, was silent for a moment.  "You know that," he 
finally said, "and now we know that.  But the public doesn't know it.  
Don't ever do it again."

Tex promised to behave.  What he didn't tell Allen, however, was that he 
had rolled the prototype near Mt. Rainier on a previous flight and his 
fellow test pilots agreed with him that the maneuver, while spectacular, 
never endangered the airplane because the roll was slow and carefully 
controlled.  They heard later of one incident in which an Air Force 
pilot actually did a _full_loop_ with a KC-135, the 707's military 
designation, and got away with it, although both outboard pods were torn 
off.

Maynard Pennell didn't get mad at Tex, either.  "It was an unnecessary 
sales job," Pennell commented, "but it really was a spectacular way to 
demonstrate the airplane.  With a skilled pilot, the risk was minimal."

Johnston believed Allen had forgiven him.  In fact, he was invited to 
Allen's home for dinner the same day of the on-the-carpet session, and 
the first person to greet him was Eastern's crusty Eddie Rickenbacker.

He grabbed Tex's Stetson hat, pulled it down over the pilot's ears, and 
chortled, "You slow-rolling son of a bitch -- why didn't you let me know 
you were gonna pull that?  I would have been riding the jump seat!"  
Allen overheard this and smiled when Rickenbacker added, "Damn, Bill, 
_that's_ the way to get attention with a new airplane."

Mef Allen said the roll was the talk of that evening, most of it 
expressions of approval and admiration that a huge commercial jet could 
be rolled safely.  But while Tex left the house convinced he had been 
exonerated, there is considerable evidence that it took a long time 
before Allen really forgave him.

Many months went by and Johnston was attending the annual management 
lawn party at the Allen home.  He poked Allen in the chest with a finger 
and asked, "Bill, are you finally willing to admit that slow-rolling the 
Dash-80 was the greatest thing that ever happened to that program?"

Allen gave him a look that would have frozen boiling water.

"No," he said icily.

In a 1977 speech to the Washington State Historical Society, Allen said 
he thought at first the rolls might have been unintentional and that he 
summoned Johnston to his office merely to ask if something had gone 
wrong with the controls.  He didn't get angry, he insisted, until the 
test pilot admitted he rolled the $16 million prototype deliberately.

"It has taken nearly twenty-two years for me to reach the point where I 
can discuss the event with a modicum of humor," he told the audience.

-----

There are at least two other interesting stories about rolling an 
airplane in the book -- but for those, you get to go read the book!

Okay, okay.  One more short excerpt:

-----

There was Mark Miller, for example, who was an absolute terror when it 
came to spelling.  He actually got angry at anyone who would misspell a 
word.  One day he was reviewing a Minuteman progress presentation being 
delivered on a chart by Bob Edelman of engineering.  The word _relieve_ 
appeared on the chart, but it was spelled _releive_.

"Dammit, Edelman," Miller scolded, "_i_ always goes before _e_."

"You're absolutely right," Edelman agreed.  He took out a grease pencil 
and at the bottom of the chart, he changed _Boeing_ to _Boieng_."

-----

Go buy the book!

						G

----- End Included Message -----

---

From: [email-masked] (Greg Wilson)
Date: 04 Dec 92 22:30:35 PST

>Thanking You in appreciation,

Interestingly, I happen to be just about finished reading "Vision: The Story
of Boeing," by Harold Mansfield.  This is an older book (1966) that I picked
up in a used bookstore.  Published by Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, New York.

Haven't read "Legend and Legacy" yet - but it looks like I will have to!

Greg Wilson
[email-masked]

---

From: Robert Dorsett <[email-masked]>
Date: 04 Dec 92 22:30:37 PST

This was posted to rec.aviation.misc in October...

                ---------------

From: [email-masked] (Mark Cousins)
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 08:42:00 GMT
Subject: More _Legend_and_Legacy_
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>
Organization: HP General Systems Division
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.misc

Okay, now it's my turn to post my favorite parts of _Lengend_and_Legacy_, the
book about Boeing that Geoff Peck reviewed a while back.

I have two:

"Frye ordered six Stratoliners for TWA, and Pan Am signed for four; the only
other potential 'launch' customer was the Netherlands' KLM, which expressed
enough serious interest to send a technical delegation to Seattle for
evaluation.  Lindbergh, too, arrived at Boeing as a technical consultant for
Pan Am, and secretarial hearts fluttered enough to generate a strong breeze.
As was his custom, he went through the charade of using a fictitious name, a
transparent device because he was easier to recognize than any movie star; at
Boeing he was knwn either as 'Mr. Charles' or 'Mr. Morrow.'

"He showed up ahead of schedule for a meeting one day, found Marge Blair
rearranging some chairs, and offered to help.  While they were lifting a chair
together, his hand accidentally brushed hers.  Lindbergh's face turned beet
red, he mumbled an apology, and fled the room.

"'Talk about being bashful and shy,' Marge laughed.  'You would have thought
he tried to assault me.  Most of the time he looked like a young farmer lost
in the big city.'"

=====

To be sure, I don't have that effect on secretarial hearts, and he flew better
than I, but the story struck a resonance in me.  I'm pretty bashful also and
probably would react similarly (smile) .  .  .

=====

This next one is, so far, my favorite of them all.

"Another early 707 was involved in an incident that might be termed the Great
Boeing Air Raid.  This was Pan Am's second airplane off the line, being flown
by Boeing's Lew Wallick and Water Haldeman, an FAA check pilot.  They were
doing some tests around the Los Angeles area and just before heading back to
Edwards Air Force Base for refueling, Wallick remembered that the DC-8 was to
make its first flight that day.

"They were about 20 miles from Long Beach where the maiden flight was
scheduled to take place later that morning, and Wallick asked the Long Beach
control tower for permission to fly over the airport.  He requested a modest
5,000 feet but the tower turned out to be more cooperative than requested.

"'What is your identification number?'

"'Seven-oh-seven Peter Alpha.'

"'Are you a Boeing 707?'

"'Affirmative.'

"'Well, you're cleared to cross the airport at one thousand.'

"About one mile out the tower controller, apparently a Boeing fan, changed his
mind.

"'You're cleared to cross the airport as low as you want,' he decreed.

"At this particular moment, the airport coffee shop was jammed with media
people having breakfast before covering the long-anticipated first flight of
the DC-8.  Wallick came screaming over the field at 500 feet, rattling the
coffee shop windows.  Everyone rushed outside in time to see a four-engine
jetliner clawing skyward, four black plumes streaming in its wake.  Reporters
did the natural thing; they phoned their offices to report that the DC-8 had
just taken off on its maiden flight.

"Once that news was broadcast, Douglas employees planning to attend the
first-flight ceremonies stayed away by the droves.  Donald Douglas was livid;
Wallick heard later that he called Bill Allen, raised hell, and when he found
out that Wallick's copilot was an FAA employee, tried to get Haldeman fired."

=====

Enjoy!

Mark
-- 
Mark Cousins                Hewlett-Packard Co.        [email-masked]
HP-UX VAB programs    19055 Pruneridge Ave., MS 46T5
(408) 447-4659             Cupertino, CA  95014          FAX: (408) 447-4364

---

From: [email-masked] (Christopher Davis)
Date: 09 Dec 92 18:45:35 PST

RD> == Robert Dorsett <[email-masked]>

 RD> It might also be "Boeing: Planemaker since 1916," by one Philip M. Bowers.
 RD> It's an exhaustive review of all the airplanes (and variants) Boeing's 
 RD> produced, sort of a mini Jane's.  It's a long book (over 600 pages).  It
 RD> appeared at Bookstop here in Austin sometime this summer; it's about $36.

There are three books about Boeing that, together, do an exemplary job
of covering the company's growth, products, and people.

_Legend & Legacy_ is the best for "reading"; it is the one most likely
to keep you up all night until you finish.  (I believe it is also the
newest.)  It focuses on the people, rather than the products, and has
been extensively discussed here recently.

_Boeing: Planemaker to the World_ is a "coffee-table" book with plenty
of wonderful photos and charts and the like, including discussion of the
Boeing hydrofoils, furniture, Lunar Roving Vehicle, and streetcars.
(Oh, and airplanes :)

_Boeing Aircraft since 1916_ (title may not be exact, I have to find my
copy) goes into much more detail on the aircraft, including lists of
customer codes, production information, and the like.  Many b&w photos,
though it lacks the spectacular color photos of _Planemaker to the World_.

There are others, of course.  _Vision_ is a bit out of date.  _Boeing
Trivia_, by Carl Cleveland (former PR director, as I recall) is a good
companion to _Legend & Legacy_, lacking the "storyline" aspects but
adding a number of wonderful anecdotes from the "inside".
--
Christopher K. Davis      | ``Usenet seems to run much like the Kif (or,
<[email-masked]>   EFF #14   |   for the TV generation, Klingon) high command.
System Administrator, EFF |   Whoever takes action and can be heard wins.''
+1 617 864 0665  [CKD1]   |   --Peter da Silva <[email-masked]>