WASHINGTON
STATE
A CENTURY OF KNOW-HOW
A CENTURY OF KNOW-HOW
Building Aerospace Legends in Washington State
“Throughout time, people of many cultures have woven myths of flight. In
fashioning their dreams, their heroes and their gods, they yearned to rise
above the earth. They were inspired by flight as power, flight as freedom,
flight as mastery of the world and travel to worlds beyond.
“In the 20th century, the dream of flight became a reality. This practical
accomplishment transformed our world, altering perceptions of time and
distance, joining diverse cultures.
“But the dream of flight has not faded. It lives on, challenging our
achievements, daring new journeys, inspiring new visions of the Universe.”
-Anonymous
WASHINGTON STATE - THE GLOBAL AEROSPACE LEADER
While other states are relatively new to the airplane building game, we
have a rich history of aerospace accomplishments gained over a century
of leadership and know-how. Washington State engineers, designers and
builders have redefined the very concept of air travel over the last
100 years; helped win wars through innovation and an unbridled
passion for doing the impossible; devised bold new solutions
to vexing problems in avionics, materials and design; and
challenged what is known to venture into the unknown and
conquer it with a pioneer spirit that permeates every aspect
of Washington’s culture.
Regardless of your business model, you’ll find Washington
State to be the perfect fit. With 1,256 companies to potentially partner with and a highly skilled workforce of more than
131,000, many second and third generation aerospace workers,
the state offers opportunities that no other U.S. state can. Add
to this visionary public-private partnerships in education to ensure a steady supply of trained workers and some of the most highly respected R&D universities and incubators in the world, and it’s
easy to see why Washington has such an established and successful
legacy in aviation and space.
This book is dedicated to the tens of thousands of talented and skilled
men and women in Washington State who have propelled the
aviation and space industry forward
over the last century,
expanding our horizons,
shrinking our world and
exploring the vast unknown.
As J.C. Mars piloted his gas-powered dirigible high over the
fairgrounds of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in the
summer of 1909 – straddling a rickety wood frame without
a safety harness – it probably never dawned on anyone in
the crowd below that they were witnessing the birth of an
aerospace giant – Washington State.
1909 – 1919 WASHINGTON TAKES WING
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A year later, Charles K. Hamilton came to town. His Curtiss Reims Racer was a huge sensation, flying high over
the crowd that had gathered at the Meadows Race Track
in Seattle, roughly where today’s King County International
Airport is located. Hamilton holds the honor of piloting the
first powered flight in
Washington. Two days
later, he crashed into
a nearby pond, earning
the dubious distinction
of also being the first
to crash.
A lumber baron creates a legend
It’s a good bet that William E. Boeing was in the
racetrack crowd that day. A successful lumber
business owner, Boeing was fascinated by the
idea of flight. But hitching a ride wasn’t easy in
the early days of aviation. It wasn’t until 1915 that
he and his friend Conrad Westervelt took their first
flight with a barnstormer, Terah Maroney, who was giving
rides in his two-seater floatplane on Lake Washington.
Some say that Boeing never came back down to the ground that
day. For his part, Westervelt “could never find any definite answer as to why the plane held together” and both he and Boeing
felt they could build a far better airplane than anything on the
market.
A year later, Boeing, Westervelt and Herb Munter
started work on that “better airplane.” The
new B&W floatplane, the first of many
planes to bear the Boeing
name, took its first flight on
June 15, 1916 with Boeing
himself at the controls.
1909 – 1919 WASHINGTON TAKES WING
The die was cast. Soon afterward, Pacific Aero Products was incorporated. The new company, according to filing papers, was to be engaged in the “general manufacturing business and to manufacture
goods, wares and merchandise of every kind, especially to manufacture aeroplanes… and all
patterns thereof.”
The name Pacific Aero Products was to be short-lived; the company changed its name to the Boeing Airplane Company in
1917. It was the height of World War I and the company was
flooded with orders for the Model C flying boat from the
Navy. The plane was designed by Boeing’s first engineer,
Wong Tsu. He was paid $50.77 for his services before he
returned to China to start the first airplane factory there.
ARMISTICE DAY – NOVEMBER 1918
The bubble, however, was about to burst. When Armistice
Day came orders dried up virtually overnight and the
company fell on hard times. The 28 workers at the
company – pilots, carpenters, engineers and seamstresses – were tasked with building dressers,
counters and furniture for a corset shop as well as
flat-bottomed boats called sea sleds. At one point
Boeing personally covered the $700 a
month payroll by guaranteeing a loan with
his own money.
1920 – 1939 SEATTLE TO NEW YORK IN 56 HOURS
Early aviators in Seattle were challenging the very limits of the technology of the
time. Three years before Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic, four
planes departed Seattle on an ambitious and historic journey. Covering 23,942 nautical miles in 175 days, the planes were the first to circumnavigate the world by air,
demonstrating the potential of this new mode of transportation.
As orders for aircraft fell off after the war’s end, the Boeing Airplane Company diversified. Following the advice of Eddie Hubbard, the company got into the lucrative
airmail route business. Using the company’s B-1 flying boat, mail was shuttled between Seattle, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia for eight years, the plane
logging more than 350,000 air miles.
The burgeoning air route business gave birth to another innovation, the Boeing
Model 40, which could not only carry mail and cargo, but passengers. The journey
from San Francisco to Chicago took just 22 ½ hours in the Model 40, with two to
four passengers crammed into a cabin that wasn’t much bigger than a freezer.
“You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky.”
- Amelia Earhart
The age of air travel had arrived and the company seized on the
opportunity by forming Boeing Air Transport, the predecessor of
today’s United Airlines.
The demand for bigger and faster aircraft led to the construction
of the tri-motor Model 80. The plane could not only carry up to 18 passengers with
fewer stops, but it added a new wrinkle to air travel, the stewardess. Though stewards had flown on some European routes, it was Ellen Church and seven other nurses who introduced the concept of the stewardess to U.S. travelers. Their original
duties not only included tending to passengers, but loading luggage, fueling
planes and screwing down loose seats.
Commercial and military aviation were changing rapidly. The P-26, nicknamed the Peashooter, was superior to the biplanes that were the mainstay
of the Army Air Corps in the 1920s and early 30s. The Army’s first all-metal
monoplane, the fighter retained the open cockpit, fixed landing gear and
external bracing on the wings; throwbacks to an earlier era.
A revolution in air travel
As passenger travel exploded new ideas were explored, all in an
effort to make flying more comfortable and profitable. Though it
is often overlooked in the annals of aviation, the Model 247 was
truly revolutionary. It was the first modern airliner, adding such
features as an all-aluminum surface, retractable landing gear
and deicing boots on the leading edge of the wings. Carrying 10
passengers, the 247 could fly coast-to-coast in just 20 hours
amenities found in the contemporary ocean liners of the time.
The Model 314 was massive in nearly every regard. While in flight,
engineers could service the plane’s four Cyclone engines, crawling into passages built into the thick wings. In the cabin, passengers enjoyed the view from large picture windows. Staterooms
had dressing rooms; there was a dining salon, lounge and even a
bridal suite. During the 26½ hour Atlantic crossing, the Clipper’s
seats could be converted into 40 bunks. The plane also featured
While the 247 was revolutionary, nothing captured this golden two innovations that would later find their way onto the Boeing
age of air travel like the 314 Clipper. Even today, the Pan Am 747, a spiral staircase and upper deck cockpit.
Clipper is the definition of luxury travel by air with many of the
Model
247 re
fuels
.
1940 – 1957 A WORLD AT WAR
The golden age of air travel would come to an abrupt halt as the world went to
war and precious resources were used to produce fighters, bombers and tanks, not
commercial aircraft.
The last of the pre-war airliners was the Stratoliner. Utilizing a similar wing and tail
design as the B-17, also in development, the Stratoliner’s cabin was pressurized
and heated to allow the plane to fly at higher altitudes, above the turbulence. Its 33
passengers could cruise comfortably at 20,000 feet on long distance routes, including Miami to Latin America and Los Angeles to New York. The plane also introduced
the flight engineer to the cockpit, who was responsible for monitoring the plane’s
complex systems and engines.
While the Stratoliner’s bright future dimmed with the onset of war and materials
rationing, the B-17 earned its place in the history books, becoming the most famous
bomber of World War II. Design work on the plane started in the mid 1930s and
deliveries began in 1937. Dubbed the Flying Fortress by a Seattle news reporter,
the bomber went through a number of improvements during its nine-year production run, morphing
from a lightly armed bomber to a plane bristling
with offensive and
defensive firepower. Thanks to the closely spaced
stringers, ribs and
spars, the plane could take an amazing amount
of
punishment
and still return home. Pilots regularly landed
planes that were
missing portions of the wings, nose and
even most of the
tail.
Working together for a common cause
In Washington State nearly everyone was
involved in the war effort. Thousands of
women went to work in plants throughout
the state during World War II. At the Kenworth truck plant, for example, Rosie the
Riveters worked around the clock doing
subassembly work on Boeing bombers. Of
the 517 workers on the Kenworth payroll,
415 were women.
Washington women also joined the military. One of first female WASPs (Women
Airforce Service Pilots) was Barbara Erickson. She became the first female pilot
to receive the Air Medal for Meritorious
Achievement, earning the honor by flying
four 2,000-mile plane deliveries in just
five days.
To keep up with the need for factory workers, Washington’s schools went to war as
well. While workforce training may be a
new concept in some parts of the country, schools in Washington began turning
out highly trained aerospace workers in
the 1940s. Workers could go straight from
school to work with no additional training.
Seventy years later, the state still leads
the way in innovative workforce training
programs and partnerships.
The spirit of competition in peacetime
gave way to a new spirit of cooperation in
war as companies joined together to produce nearly 7,000 B-17s in Seattle. At one
point, 16 new Flying Fortresses emerged
from the factory every 24 hours.
The plant itself was under heavy security.
Armed sentries stood guard at plant entrances. To hide the factory from enemy
reconnaissance, the building was camouflaged. Houses made of burlap and lawns
fashioned from chicken wire made the factory look like an ordinary Seattle neighborhood from the air.
Production of the B-17 was eventually
eclipsed by the need for the next generation of bomber – the B-29 Superfortress.
The Air Force’s requirement for a very
heavy bomber that could fly 5,000 miles
was a tall order. But Washington State
engineers answered the call. The tail was
the height of a three-story building and the
plane featured such cutting edge advances as a remotely controlled gun system,
tricycle landing gear and a pressurized
fuselage that allowed the crew to travel
in comfort during marathon high altitude
missions. In an apparent nod to its Northwest origins, the Superfortress’ tables,
ladders and floors were all made of wood.
The B-29 and its successor the B-50, which
featured upgraded avionics and engines,
were the mainstay of the U.S. Air Force
until the dawn of the jet age, serving admirably in the Pacific Theater of World
War II as well as the Korean War. Wherever
wars were fought, Washington planes were
there.
The postwar era turns cold
The world unfortunately, would never be the
same. The hopes of postwar peace were dashed
by a new threat – the threat of nuclear annihilation. A new war was at hand – a Cold War.
Aviation moved into a period of transition
in Washington State. Influenced heavily by
a cargo derivative of the B-29, the postwar
Stratocruiser was the height of luxury. Its
pressurized double-deck cabin provided
comfortable seating for 100 passengers. On longer
flights the seats could be converted to 28 sleeping
berths. Downstairs there was a lounge and a bar.
But the days of the propeller-driven plane were numbered. The promise of jets, which could allow aircraft to
fly higher and faster, could not be ignored.
The B-47 Stratojet, the first all-jet bomber in the U.S. arsenal, was a shining example. With its slender, 35° swept-back wings and six engines slung under the wing in pods, it’s fair to say that every
large jet made today can trace its ancestry to
the Stratojet. The new
design was not only elegant, but broke speed
and distance records, crossing the United
States in under four hours, averaging 608
miles an hour. The only armament was in the
tail as no fighter of the time could keep up
with it.
1958 – 2000 JETS & SPACE EXPLORATION
Commercial air travel exploded in the 1950s. In just eight short
years the number of passengers flying more than doubled, from
17.3 million to 38 million. One of the reasons for this unparalleled
growth was the addition of coach seating. Designed to compete
with the railroad’s “coach” class, the new classification made air
travel affordable.
President William Allen had seen de Havilland’s plane at a British
air show in 1950 and knew that jets were the future of commercial aviation.
He bet big on that future too, plowing 20% of the company’s
worth into creating a commercial version of the Model 367-80,
which had been developed for the military’s KC-135 tanker and
Airplane design, however, was still playing catch up. Airlines transport program. By the time the first 707 rolled out of the
were still using propeller-driven aircraft, including the Lockheed factory in 1957 development costs had soared to $185 million,
Constellation, DC-4, the Stratocruiser and even DC-3s on smaller more than the company’s net worth.
routes. More than half of the commercial airplane market was
controlled by the Douglas Company, which introduced the DC-6
and DC-7 to keep up with demand.
A true game changer was just over the horizon. Britain’s de Havilland Comet, launched in 1952, brought the jet age to commercial air travel, but suffered structural fatigue issues. It was up
to the 707 to successfully introduce scheduled jet service to
passengers worldwide. Ironically, it was the arrival of the Comet
that spurred the
development of
the 707. Boeing’s
“To invent an airplane is nothing.
To build one is something.
To fly is everything.”
- Otto Lilienthal
Allen may have bet the company, but it was a smart bet. Able to
fly 225 miles an hour faster than its closest propeller-powered
rival, the 707 was an instant success with airlines and the flying
public.
In the mid-1960s, the 727 came onto the market, followed by the
737 family of jets. Designed to serve short and medium routes, the
727 featured built-in stairs at the rear of the aircraft so it could
serve smaller airports and had its own auxiliary power unit onboard
so ground support wasn’t required.
The 737 shared many of the design features of the 727, including
the doors, engine nacelles and cockpit layout. With more than 10,000
planes either delivered or on order, the 737 is by far the
most successful commercial airliner in history. To keep up
with demand, a new 737 rolls out of the Renton, Washington plant every day. The new 737 MAX, the latest version
of the aircraft, promises to offer unprecedented levels
of efficiency, reliability and passenger appeal. The MAX
is expected to burn eight percent less fuel per passenger seat than its closest competitor when it debuts
in 2017.
A monumental risk for a non-existent market
The residents of Washington State are famous for taking risks. The state’s
pioneers built floating bridges over deepwater lakes and channels, giant dams
to harness the 5,000 miles of rivers to produce inexpensive energy, and roads
over rugged mountains to connect east and west, long before the automobile.
But the 747 proved to be the biggest risk of all. Once again William Allen
rolled the dice, putting the entire future of the company on the line for a
plane that really didn’t have an established market for its capabilities. Two
and a half times the size of the 707 (the economy section of the interior was
longer than the Wright brother’s first flight), the 747 became the world’s first
jumbo jet.
The plane’s significance in the history of commercial aviation cannot be overemphasized. Often referred to as the “Everyman Plane,” it ushered in the era
of affordable international plane travel, thanks to its economies of scale.
More than 1,200 747s have found their way into service since 1969.
The plane was so big, in fact, that it needed a new
factory to house it. The resulting building in Everett,
Washington covers 98.3 acres (399,480 m2); it is
large enough to hold four Disneylands including the
parking lots. Each massive hangar door is bigger than a
football field and the building creates its own weather.
Today, the 747, 767, 777 and 787 are built at the
sprawling plant.
Tough times and new directions
The region’s diversification in aviation and space allowed it to weather rough times.
Following the cancellation of the supersonic transport (SST) program in the early
1970s, aerospace companies in Washington turned their attention to other revenue
streams besides commercial aircraft.
Defense contracts for missiles as well as space exploration projects kept the
growing number of aerospace companies in Washington State busy, even as
the commercial aircraft market lagged in the midst of a major economic
recession. Production of the airborne warning and control system (AWACS)
helped keep the region going, as did orders for OEM and aftermarket parts.
Two new commercial programs were launched in the 1970s that would
propel the region to new heights in the 21st century. The much anticipated replacement for the 727, the 757, and the wide-body 767 were a
new generation of aircraft, utilizing the latest technologies to reduce
aircraft noise, improve fuel efficiency and simplify crew operations. This
was made possible by using the same flight deck for both planes so pilots
could qualify on the 757 and 767 at the same time. The 767 was so fuel
efficient and dependable that it was the first twin-engine plane to be
rated ETOPS (extended operations), allowing it to fly non-stop over vast
expanses of ocean.
By now, the region’s end-to-end supply chain was coming into its own. New aircraft required new
concepts in manufacturing as aircraft companies worldwide started outsourcing production that had been traditionally handled in-house. Washington State companies were in
the right place at the right time. The state became a stronghold of Tier 1 and 2 suppliers
for aerospace interests in the U.S. and abroad.
The value of this supply chain became evident in the development and production of
the 777, which was the first commercial aircraft to be designed entirely on computers and utilized an integrated supply chain that was not only monumental in scope,
but also international. Production of the aircraft is equally revolutionary, using a
constant motion, U-shaped assembly line that moves at the rate of 1.8 inches per
minute through the factory.
2001 – TODAY: NEW IDEAS FOR A NEW AGE
Our second century as a global leader in
aviation and space has just begun and yet,
Washington State is already building new
business legends in aerospace. More than
1,250 companies are located in the state,
employing 131,000+ highly skilled, highly experienced workers. These companies
produce components, parts and products
for the global market, serving as supply
chain partners for Boeing, Airbus and
Bombardier as well as countless smaller
aviation and space firms.
Though commercial and military aircraft
are manufactured in other parts of the
U.S., no other location can make a legitimate claim to being the leader in global
aerospace. More than 1,200 aircraft pour
from state factories every year, including
500 commercial and military jets and 700
unmanned aerial vehicles. Washington
State is the sole producer of the popular
737, 767, 747 and 777 series of aircraft
and produces the vast majority of 787
Dreamliners.
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A robust composites industry develops
With our low-cost energy, some of the lowest in the country, Washington State has become a
hotbed of innovation in the composites industry. Composite materials are an essential component of the next generation of aircraft, creating stronger and lighter structures and simplifying
manufacturing. The state’s composite industry can be traced to the 1960s when Health Tecna
started to produce exotic new materials for defense projects. Today, approximately
100 companies are engaged in the development, fabrication, production and tooling of
composites, creating an industry that generates $3.3 billion in annual revenue.
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These companies are supported by a world-class composites research and development network, including the Automobili Lamborghini Advanced Composite Structures
Laboratory at the University of Washington, the Center of Excellence for Aerospace
and Advanced Materials Manufacturing, Western Washington University’s Department
of Engineering Technology and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Sustainable aviation fuels
Biofuels are still in their earliest stages of development, but Washington State has been leading
the way when it comes to their use in aviation. In
2010, local companies, airlines and airport operators joined forces with Washington State University
to form a center for advanced biofuels research.
More than 800 million gallons of aviation fuel is
used regionally and it is projected that demand will
increase by another 200 million gallons by 2030.
Next generation aviation biofuels are designed to
improve efficiency using non-food crop sources
that are sustainable, including solid waste, forest residues and algae. Alaska Airlines has proven
the viability of these new fuels, flying 75 of their
routes using biofuels in recent years.
Researchers in Washington continue to make
steady progress in advancing biofuel technologies.
While the answer won’t come over night, the day
will come when aircraft are able to burn competitively priced and sustainable biofuels, reducing
costs and emissions in the process.
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A new standard in air travel
Looking to the future, Boeing proposed a radical departure from
its popular family of jets in the 1990s. Dubbed the Sonic Cruiser,
the delta wing transport was designed to fly just below the speed
of sound. Airlines had other ideas, asking for lower operating
costs instead of higher speeds. Boeing listened and the more
fuel efficient 787 was put into production.
Christened the Dreamliner, the plane is designed to be 20%
more fuel efficient than its predecessors while offering new
onboard luxuries such as larger windows with electrically controlled shades and lighting that can reduce jet lag. The one-
piece composite fuselage is not only lighter than traditional
airframes, but eliminates 1,500 sheets of aluminum and 45,000
fasteners per section. The fuselage only requires 10,000 holes.
The 747, in comparison, needs one million.
Composites make up half of the primary structure of the Dreamliner, including the wing and fuselage. Sophisticated onboard
systems help the plane monitor its overall health and report
maintenance items to the ground crew. To date, 58 airlines have
ordered the 787, making it the most successful twin-aisle airplane the company has ever produced.
Aviation is proof that given, the will,
we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.
- Eddie Rickenbacker
Space – the final frontier
While Florida, Alabama and Texas were once the strongholds of
America’s race to space and putting man on the moon, the privatization of space exploration has moved Washington front and
center.
created as much excitement as the Curiosity mission to Mars.
Thanks to Aerojet’s innovative design and engineering skills,
Washington-made engines were responsible for allowing the
lander to hover in position as Curiosity was gently craned down
to the planet’s surface. The company also built the engines for
While our roots in space reach back to the days of Apollo and the Viking lander missions in the 1970s, which paved the way for
the Space Shuttle, our future efforts are focused on the explora- additional missions to Mars.
tion of the heavens. Perhaps no other recent space mission has
Another important NASA program is Orion. A dozen Washington
companies are heavily involved in the Orion program, which
one day will take us to the Moon, Mars and
perhaps even beyond on manned missions.
Aerojet has been tapped to build the thrusters for the capsule and Janicki Industries
is building the nose cover that will conceal smaller thrusters being developed
by Systima Technologies, another Washington State aerospace firm.
Two of Seattle’s legendary businessmen, Microsoft co-founder
Paul Allen and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, are also involved
in private space ventures. Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems uses a
supersized aircraft powered by six 747 engines to carry payloads
to the outer limits of the atmosphere to reduce the amount of
fuel needed for spacecraft to reach low-earth orbit. Bezo’s Blue
Origin space vehicle is another exciting project, one that may
one day help supply the International Space Station with its reusable rocket and capsule design.
WASHINGTON
STATE
A CENTURY OF KNOW-HOW
WRITTEN BY:
Robb Zerr
BOOK DESIGN:
M. Alexander Harper
CONSULTANT:
Monica Wiedrich
A SPECIAL THANKS…
WE WANT TO THANK THE ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO HELPED US ON THIS AMBITIOUS PROJECT.
Barry Smith, Future of Flight Executive Director
Corbis Images
Flickr - The Commons Archive
Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour, Everett
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.
Museum of Flight, Seattle
Museum of History and Industry, Seattle
National Air and Space Administration Archives
National Air and Space Museum Archives
San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
Seattle Municipal Archives
US Air Force Archives
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE – WASHINGTON STATE
We are extremely proud of our past, but we openly welcome the future.
No one knows what the future holds for the aviation and space industry,
but rest assured that Washington State will be leading the way with new
ideas, new materials and a competitive spirit that has been the hallmark
of our aerospace sector for the last 100+ years.
Washington State: Building Business Legends.
For more information on Washington’s aerospace industry, contact us at
(206) 256-6100 or email moreinfo@choosewashington.com.