March 11, On this Day in Aviation History

March 11, On this Day in Aviation History

1957: The Boeing jet airliner prototype, Model 367-80, N70700, (destined to become the Boeing 707 and KC-135 Stratotanker), made a transcontinental demonstration flight from Seattle’s Boeing Field (BFI) to Friendship National Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. The aircraft commander was Boeing’s Chief of Flight Test, Alvin Melvin (“Tex”) Johnston. Test pilots James Russell (“Jim”) Gannett and Samuel Lewis (“Lew”) Wallick, Jr., completed the flight crew. The flight set a new transcontinental speed record for commercial aircraft flying the 2,325 miles from Seattle to Baltimore in only 3 hours and 48 minutes.

Aviation History | History of Flight | Aviation History Articles, Warbirds, Bombers, Trainers, Pilots | March 11, On this Day in Aviation History

The Boeing Model 367-80 is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (Photo by Dane Penland, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution).

Updated: March 6, 2019 — 4:37 PM
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