While the Boeing 707 was not the first jet airliner, it was the most popular aircraft during the jet set era of the 1960s. First flying on 20 December 1957, it entered service with Pan American on 26 October 1958.
Typically seating between 92 and 189 passengers, the Boeing 707 saw service throughout the world. Selling 1,010 examples, the last one was delivered to a military customer in 1994.
Boeing 707 Video
Following on from last weeks video about the Douglas DC-6, this week there is a look at the Boeing 707. This video runs for a little over ten minutes and gives a good overview of the aircraft.
Back in the 1950s, Douglas was the main supplier of passenger aircraft around the world. All of this changed once the Boeing 707 came into service, as it and follow up products such as the Boeing 727 turned the company into a major player.
BOAC Boeing 707 Video
For those wondering what it was like to be a pilot or cabin crew on the Boeing 707, you can check out this video below. It runs for around 5 minutes and has interviews with employees who were there.
First class sounds like an unbelievable experience what with the Beluga caviar and everything else served. Things have changed quite a bit today, partly due to people’s tastes but also due to cost.
A Qantas Boeing 707-138B Video
The Boeing 707 was a vitally important aircraft for Australia. Volunteers restored the first Qantas aircraft back to flying condition and returned it from the UK to Australia in 2007, where it is now on display at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach.
Running for 3 minutes, the video shows the aircraft’s arrival in Queensland. There is a flyby, a go around and then the actual final landing. Something to note is the sound of the early jet engines – they don’t make that much noise these days! The full story about the Qantas 707s and the restoration and return to Australia is at this fantastic web site.
Overall Thoughts
Pan American is the name most associated with the Boeing 707, and they operated over 100 examples with routes spanning the globe. This aircraft along with the Douglas DC-8 were really responsible for ushering in the jet age, which had been started by the British with their de Havilland Comet in 1952.
In a way, the Boeing 707 lives on, as the cabin cross section of the Boeing 727, Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 are all the same width as the original aircraft. I guess once you get it right, there’s no reason to change it.
Have you ever flown on board a Boeing 707? What was it like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Peter Scharkowski via Jetphotos.net
My first flight was with EI on a B707 all the way from DUB to SNN! I was 9 and it was a school tour to Limerick – out by plane and then back by train. Very exciting!
About 8 years later I was back on a 707 on a DUB-AGP charter operated by EI. It was quite elderly by that stage but I was happy be on board my ‘first aircraft’ again!
That would have been a very cool experience! I’ve flown DUB-SNN and SNN-DUB but for me it was on an A330 back when they still did it. Really cool you’ve been on the Boeing 707 a couple of times. I’ve only ever been on one in a museum, and it’s never the same when you’re not flying. Thanks for the comment!
LH DEL FCO, PA FCO CDG, QF CDG LHR, AI MAA BOM, TW BOM CDG (via TLV) & IA BGW DAC
That’s a really short one on QF from CDG to LHR! Looks like you have a lot of history with the Boeing 707, which is great! Thanks very much!
I remember the 707, flying a TWA 707 from PHX to SFO in 1967. I was 9 years old, and in those days we got dressed up to fly. TWA called it the “Starstream 707.”
When I served as an air traffic controller in Dayton Ohio, I can still the sound of the four turbofan engines idling at a TWA gate. I have never heard such a sweet sound from an airliner…
All the videos that I post from the 1950s and 1960s show that everyone dresses up to fly. It’s something that is completely gone these days. Nice to hear you worked as an Air Traffic Controller – that is not an easy job to do, from what I hear. Great you got to experience the 707 and so young too. Thanks for the comment!
I have so many good memories of the 707. Starting in the late 60’s, I flew many, many hours on the Air Force version, the KC-135 tanker. After the Air Force I worked for TWA. It was a kinder, more “glamorous” time in aviation. First class meals were served from a trolley cart with meals that rivaled many excellent restaurants. The 707 Intercontenental 320-B was the Queen Of The Sky as they say. Very loud by today’s standards, but otherwise very comfortable. I truly miss the people I worked and traveled with. Today, traveling is a stressful chore that I no longer enjoy.
There are/were hundreds of KC-135 tankers. I think Boeing made a huge amount of money off that programme. It sounds like a much more glamorous time really. Everything I’ve heard about the first class meals seems to lead me to the conclusion that they were far more elaborate than today. Sorry to hear that travelling is a stressful chore nowadays. I guess it happens as life marches on. Thanks very much for the comment!
Yes indeed. I flew the 707 at least twice: JFK-AUA, the return was a 747. The second I know for sure was Pan Am LIS-JFK because our non-revving selves got bumped off a TWA 747! I think I flew the 720 once ORD-JFK but I can’t be sure.
The non-rev life! Never 100% sure what’s going to happen. Nice that you got to try a Pan Am 707 though, pretty iconic stuff there. Thanks for the comment!
With my Dad, we took a Pan Am 720 from Port-of-Spain Trinidad to JFK so we could catch a Pan Am 747 to London. For a young kid it was a really nice trip.
I think that sounds like it would be a nice trip for anyone at any age really! Excellent that you got to experience Pan Am. Good times! Thanks for the comment!
I have four main B707 memories. My family moved to Frankfurt, Germany in 1969 and we flew there on an EL-AL B707 from JFK. The fight was severely delayed but we finally made it. The second was early in my career I was working for a company owned by Lebanese of Syrian descent and we had business meetings at their offices in Beirut in July of 1981. I was there with another American colleague. He departed the night before me back to Europe and I was booked on an MEA flight to Paris the next morning. I was able to make the MEA flight but when I arrived in Paris I discovered that soon after I left Beirut the Isreaeli Air Force bombed the airport which was the start of the Isreaeli invasion of Lebanon. The third (not as exciting) was a flight from Lisbon to JFK on a TWA B707 in first class. That was when first class was really first class. The last being a roundtrip from JFK to Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc in 1979 on vacation with my family. The 707 was a great aircraft and shrunk the world to what it is today.
Make that June of 1981
Cheers! Thanks for the comment!
Definitely some interesting stories there. I bet flying first class on TWA was pretty awesome – now that’s an experience I would have loved to have had. Great that you managed to get out of Beirut when you did as well. Sounds like you have some excellent memories there, and I agree, it really did shrink the world to what it is today.