PAN AM

In September, 1968, the prototype Boeing 747 was rolled out of its Everett WA hangar with great fanfare, wowing the world with its massive size and great potential to affect the future of commercial aviation.

Before the new plane was ready to carry passengers, Pan American World Airways understood that something as big and unprecedented as the Boeing 747 deserved a proper introduction to the public. This film was part of that effort.

On December 2, 1969, just before Boeing delivered the first 747 to Pan Am for actual operational use, two preview flights for journalists were arranged from Seattle to New York and back. It was an in-flight unveiling for millions of readers and viewers around the world.

It was still early days for the Boeing 747 when this movie was made. The design was still evolving, and the huge new Everett plant was still coming together. But the plan was unfolding to create the biggest commercial jet transport the world had ever seen.

By any standard, the Boeing 747 was an outstanding technical achievement, incorporating a number of innovations and the aircraft pushed the design envelope of commercial aviation design. It was no wonder that the new plane had to be tested.

Any retelling of the 747 story has to include that of the American Supersonic Transport. When the 747 project was launched in 1966, there was every expectation that the US would build and fly a fleet of SSTs to complement the 747 to meet the demands of different market segments. This film, produced in 1969, presents Boeing's best pitch for why it was still a valid path for the country to take. Of course, things didn't work out that way. Courtesy Boeing Company.