Boeing in World War II

Business boomed as World War II pro­gressed. At peak production in 1944, Boeing’s Seattle plant rolled out sixteen new planes in twenty-four hours. During World War II, B-17s flew day­light bombing raids, relying on their armament of thirteen machine guns for defense against enemy fighters.

The B-17 was succeeded in 1942 by the B-29. The B-29 was twice as heavy; it had a top speed of 358 miles per hour (576 kilometers per hour) and a range of 3,250 miles (5,230 kilometers). The manufacture of the B-29 was spread all around the nation. Thousands of subcontractors supplied the airplane’s components to four production plants: Boeing at Renton, Washington, and Wichita, Kansas; Bell at Marietta, Georgia; and Martin at Omaha, Nebraska.

From the B-17, Boeing developed the 307 Stratoliner (1938), the first pressurized airliner, which seated thirty – three passengers. The B-29 gave rise to a cargo plane, the 367 (1944), and a passenger carrier, the 377 Stratocruiser.

This was Boeing’s last, big, piston – engine airliner. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the 377 carried 117 passengers from New York City to London at 340 miles per hour (547 kilometers per hour).