Under his guidance, a tiny airplane manufacturing company grew into
a huge corporation of related industries. When post-Depression
legislation in 1934 mandated the dispersion of the corporation,
Boeing sold his interests in the Boeing Airplane Company, but
continued to work on other business ventures. He became one of America's most successful breeders of thoroughbred
horses. He never lost his interest in aviation, and during World War
II he volunteered as a consultant to the company. He lived until
1956, long enough to see the company he started enter the jet age. B & W

The first B & W, completed in June 1916, was made of wood, linen,
and wire. Similar to the Martin trainer that Boeing owned, the B & W
had, among other improvements, better pontoons and a more powerful
engine. The two B & Ws were offered to the U.S. Navy. When the Navy did not
buy them, they were sold to the New Zealand Flying School and became
the company's first international sale. The B & Ws later were used
for New Zealand express and airmail deliveries, set a New Zealand
altitude record of 6,500 feet on June 25, 1919, and made that
country's first official airmail flight on Dec. 16, 1919.

First flight: June 15, 1916
Model number: 1
Classification: Utility seaplane
Span: 52 feet
Length: 27 feet 6 inches
Gross weight: 2,800 pounds
Top speed: 75 mph
Cruising speed: 67 mph
Range: 320 miles
Power: 125-horsepower Hall-Scott A-5 engine
Accommodation:2 crew


The war years: 1939 - 1945

Only 16 months after the Stratoliner's introduction, war clouds
darkened the European horizon. Phil Johnson returned from Canada and
took over as Boeing company president, in charge of wartime
production. He died of a stroke Sept. 14, 1944, while overseeing
operations at the Boeing Wichita plant. By the 1940s Boeing workers were building B-17s at a rapidly
increasing rate.