The Boeing Model 247 is an early American

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal ( anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear."Model 247 Commercial Transport."
''boeing.com,'' 2009. Retrieved: June 14, 2010. Other advanced features included control surface

trim tab Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger Flight control surfaces, control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the ...

s, an

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...

and de-icing boots for the wings and

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

. The 247 first flew on February 8, 1933, and entered service later that year.Gould 1995, p. 14.

Design and development

Boeing introduced a host of aerodynamic and technical features into a new commercial airliner building on work with the earlier Monomail (Models 200, 221, 221A) mailplanes and B-9 bomber designs. The Boeing 247 was faster than the best U.S. fighter of its day, the open- cockpit

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

Boeing P-12. The low landing speed of avoided the need for flaps, and pilots learned that at speeds as low as , the 247 could be taxied "tail high" for ease of ground handling. The 247 could fly on one engine. With controllable-pitch propellers, the 247 could maintain at maximum gross weight on one engine.Seely 1968, p. 56. Aside from its size, much lower wing loading, and the wing spar obstructing the cabin, many of its features became the norm for airliners, including the

Douglas DC-1 The Douglas DC-1 was the first model of the famous American DC (Douglas Commercial) commercial transport aircraft series. Although only one example of the DC-1 was produced, the design was the basis for the DC-2 and DC-3, the latter being one ...

, before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Originally planned as a 14-passenger airliner powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

s, the preliminary review of the design concept by United Air Lines' pilots had resulted in a redesign to a smaller, less capable configuration, powered by R-1340 Wasp engines.Fernandez 1983, pp. 74–78, 104–105. One concern of the pilots was that in their view, few airfields could safely take an eight-ton aircraft. They also objected to the Hornet engines, which had a detonation problem when using the available low

octane Octane is a hydrocarbon and also an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH3(CH2)6CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers ...

fuel, and suffered from excessive vibration.

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

's chief engineer, George Mead, knew the problem would be resolved eventually, but P&W's president,

Frederick Rentschler Frederick Brant Rentschler (November 8, 1887 – April 25, 1956) was an American aircraft engine designer, aviation engineer, industrialist, and the founder of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Rentschler created and manufactured many revolutiona ...

acquiesced to the airline pilots' demand. The decision created a rift between Mead and Rentschler. Despite the disagreements, the 247 would be Boeing's showcase exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. The slope of the early 247's windshield was reversed from normal. This was a design solution, also used on other contemporary aircraft, to the problem of control panel instrument lights reflecting off the windshield, but the reversed windshield reflected ground lights instead, especially during landings, and it also increased drag. By the introduction of the 247D, the windshield was sloped normally, and the glare was resolved with a glarescreen extension over the panel. Boeing incorporated design elements to enhance passenger comfort, such as the thermostat controlled, air conditioned, and noise-proofed cabin. The crew included a pilot and copilot, as well as a flight attendant (then known as a "steward"), who could tend to passenger needs. The main landing gear did not fully retract; the wheels extended slightly below the

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

s, typical of designs of the time, as a means of reducing structural damage in a wheels-up landing. The tailwheel was not retractable. While the Model 247 and 247A had speed-ring engine

cowling A cowling (or cowl) is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings ...

s and fixed-pitch

propellers A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

, the Model 247D incorporated

NACA cowling The NACA cowling is a type of aerodynamic Aircraft fairing, fairing used to streamliner, streamline radial engines installed on airplanes. It was developed by Fred Weick of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1927. It was a ...

s and variable-pitch propellers.

Operational history

As the 247 emerged from its test and development phase, the company further showcased its capabilities by entering a long-distance air race in 1934, the MacRobertson Air Race from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. During the 1930s, aircraft designs were often proven in air races and other aerial contests. A modified 247D was entered, flown by Colonel

Roscoe Turner Roscoe Turner (September 29, 1895 – June 23, 1970) was a record-breaking American aviator who was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and widely recognized by his flamboyant style and his pet, Gilmore the lion, Gilmore the L ...

and

Clyde Pangborn Clyde Edward Pangborn ( ''c''. October 28, 1895 – March 29, 1958), nicknamed "Upside-Down Pangborn", was an American aviator and barnstormer who performed aerial stunts in the 1920s for the Gates Flying Circus. He was its half-owner, chief pil ...

. The 247, race number "57", was essentially a production model, but all airliner furnishings were removed to accommodate eight additional fuselage fuel tanks. The MacRobertson Air Race attracted aircraft entries from all over the globe, including both prototypes and established production types, with the grueling course considered an excellent proving ground, as well as an opportunity to gain worldwide attention. Turner and Pangborn came in second place in the transport section (and third overall), behind the Boeing 247's eventual rival, the new

Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a retired 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3 ...

."Boeing Model 247- USA."
''The Aviation History On-Line Museum'', November 19, 2004. Retrieved: July 26, 2009. Being the winner of the 1934 U.S. Collier Trophy for excellence in aviation design, the first 247 production orders were earmarked for William Boeing's airline, Boeing Air Transport.Boeing Company 1969, p. 35. The 247 was capable of crossing the United States from east to west eight hours faster than its predecessors, such as the

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American Trimotor, three-engined transport plane, transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, afte ...

and Curtiss Condor. Entering service on May 22, 1933, a Boeing Air Transport 247 set a cross-country record of hours on its

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to New York City inaugural flight.Bryan 1979, p. 109. Boeing sold the first 60 247s, an unprecedented $3.5 million order, to its affiliated airline, Boeing Air Transport (part of the

United Aircraft and Transport Corporation The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, vertically-integrated, amalgamated firm, ...

, UATC), at a unit price of $65,000. TWA (Transcontinental & Western Air) also ordered the 247, but UATC declined the order, which resulted in TWA President Jack Frye setting out requirements for a new airliner and funding Don Douglas to design and build the

prototype. Douglas eventually developed the design into the DC-2 and DC-3. The Boeing design had been the first to enter series production, but the 247 proved to have some serious deficiencies. Airlines considered its limited capacity a drawback, since it carried only 10 passengers, in five rows with a seat on each side of the aisle, as well as a stewardess. Compared to the more spacious DC-2 and later DC-3, the passenger count was too few to make it a commercially viable airliner. Another feature influencing passenger comfort was that the 247's main wing spar ran through the cabin, so persons moving through the cabin had to step over it. The

Lockheed Model 10 Electra The Lockheed Model 10 Electra is an American twin-engined, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, which was produced primarily in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The type gained ...

had a similar configuration, and while it was a more compact design, the Electra managed to carry the same number of passengers at a slightly better overall performance, and at a lower cost-per-mile. Seventy-five 247s were built; Douglas collected 800 civil orders for DC-3s before the

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

attack, and produced over 10,000 DC-3s, including wartime production of C-47s, while the rival Lockheed Electra "family" was eventually to reach over 3,000 in its various civil and military variants. Boeing Air Transport bought 60 examples, United Aircraft Corp. 10,

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

ordered three, but only two were delivered,'Das Große Buch der Lufthansa' Günter Stauch(Hrsg.) GeraMond Verlag 2003 pp. 70–73'Der Deutsche Luftverkehr 1926–1945' Karl-Dieter Seifert Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1999 pp.330–331 and one went to a private owner in China. While the industry primarily standardized on Boeing's competitors, many of United's aircraft were later purchased by Western Air Express at "bargain-basement prices". RCAF Boeing 247d

The 247 remained in airline service until

, when several were converted into C-73 transports and trainers. The

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

's 121 Squadron operated seven 247Ds as medium transports during the early part of the war. One of these aircraft was donated to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) for

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

testing, where it was renumbered

DZ203 DZ, Dz, or dz may refer to: Businesses and organizations *DarkZero Esports, an American esports organization *Delftsche Zwervers, a Dutch student society and rover crew *Delta Zeta, a college sorority in the USA *Discovery Zone, an American childre ...

. DZ203 was passed among several units in the RAF before being used to make the world's first fully automatic blind landing on 16 January 1945. Warlord "Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang ordered two Boeing 247Ds for his

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. He used one of them, named ''Bai-Ying'' (White Eagle), during the ''

Xi'an incident The Xi'an Incident was a Chinese political crisis that lasted from 12 to 26 December 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government of China, was arrested in Xi'an by soldiers of the Northeastern Army under the command of Ge ...

'' in 1936, during which he flew into the opposing Nationalist army's camp at ''Sian'' (now rendered as ''Xi'an'') under a secret truce, and had their leader, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, arrested, ending the civil war between the Communist and Nationalist armies, so they could fight together against the Japanese invaders. A number of specially modified variants included a Boeing 247Y appropriated from United for Air Corps use as a test aircraft fitted with two machine guns in the nose. The same installation later was fitted to a 247Y owned by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. This aircraft also featured a Colt machine gun in a flexible mount.Seely 1968, p. 63. A 247D purchased by the British RAF became a testbed for

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a lan ...

equipment and received a nonstandard nose, new powerplants, and fixed landing gear. Some 247s were still flying in the late 1960s as cargo transports and business aircraft. The Turner/Pangborn 247D still exists. Originally flown on September 5, 1934, it was leased from United Airlines for the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race and returned to United, where it served in regular airline service until 1937. Subsequently, the 247D was sold to the Union Electric Company of St. Louis for use as an executive transport. The Air Safety Board purchased the aircraft in 1939 and it remained in use for 14 years before it was donated to the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. It is displayed today with two sets of markings, the left side is marked as NR257Y, in Colonel Turner's 1934 MacRobertson Air Race colors, while the right side is painted in United Airlines livery, as NC13369."NASM Boeing 247D."
''Wayback archive'' of NASM Boeing 247D, originally revised May 5, 2001. Retrieved: July 26, 2009.

Variants

;Model 247 :Twin-engined civil transport airliner, initial production version ;247A :Powered by new P&W Wasp, on special order for Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1934 ;247E :This designation was given to the first Boeing 247 aircraft, it was used to test a number improvements that were later incorporated into the Boeing 247D. ;247D :Original one-off was a race aircraft designed for the MacRobertson Air Race; use of Hamilton Standard variable-pitch propellers allowed for a gain; the 247D configuration incorporated in production series bearing the same name. ;247Y :Armed version, one exported to China, second used for trials ;C-73 :Designation for Boeing 247D airliners impressed into military service in USAAF, 27 in total ;Model 280 :Proposed development of Boeing 247 with 14 seats and P&W Hornet engines

Operators

Civil operators

; * Viação Aérea Bahiana operated one aircraft. ; * Canadian Pacific Airlines * Quebec Airways ; * Private owner operated one aircraft. ; *

Avianca Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias de Colombia S.A.'', "Airways of Colombia", and stylized as avianca since October 2023) is the largest airline in Colombia. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it ...

as SCADTA operated 10 aircraft. ; * ''

'' operated one aircraft and used a second for spares/testing. ; * Boeing Air Transport (later United Air Lines) operated 60 aircraft. * Empire Air Lines * National Parks Airways * Pennsylvania Central Airlines *

United Aircraft The United Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer formed by the break-up of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in 1934. In 1975, the company became United Technologies, which in 2020 merged with Raytheon to form Rayt ...

Corporation operated 10 aircraft. * Wien Air Alaska * Western Air Express, the predecessor of Western Airlines, received some of ex-United Aircraft Corporation aircraft. * Woodley Airways * Wyoming Air Service

Military operators

; *

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

Accidents and incidents

;October 10, 1933: United Air Lines 247, ''NC13304'' (c/n 1685), was probably the first victim of sabotage of a commercial airliner. The aircraft, en route from

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, was destroyed by a

nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin (NG) (alternative spelling nitroglycerine), also known as trinitroglycerol (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless or pale yellow, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by ...

-based explosive device over

Chesterton, Indiana Chesterton is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, Indiana, Westchester, Jackson Township, Porter County, Indiana, Jackson and Liberty Township, Porter County, Indiana, Liberty townships in Porter County, Indiana, Porter County, in the U ...

. All seven on board were killed. ;November 9, 1933:A Pacific Air Transport 247, ''NC13345'' (c/n 1727), crashed on takeoff after the pilot became disoriented in fog and low visibility; four of ten on board died. ;November 24, 1933:A National Air Transport 247, ''NC13324'' (c/n 1705), was being ferried from Chicago to Kansas City when it crashed near Wedron, Illinois, killing all three crew. ;February 23, 1934: A United Air Lines 247, ''NC13357'' (c/n 1739), crashed in Parley's Canyon in fog near Salt Lake City, killing all eight on board. ;December 20, 1934: United Air Lines Flight 6, a 247 (''NC13328'', c/n 1709), struck a tree and crashed near Western Springs, Illinois, due to carburetor icing; all four on board survived. The aircraft involved was repaired and converted to 247D standard in July 1935 and returned to service; the aircraft was pressed into USAAF service in 1942 and redesignated as C-73 with tail number ''42-57210''. The aircraft was damaged in a wind storm at Duncan Field, Texas, on August 30, 1942, and was written off. ;March 24, 1935: The sole 247 operated by

(''D-AGAR'', c/n 1945) was damaged beyond economical repair in a collision with an

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

aircraft on the ground at

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and then scrapped ;September 1, 1935: Western Air Express 247, ''NC13314'' (c/n 1695), was being ferried from Burbank, California, to Saugus, California, when it struck high tension power lines after takeoff, killing all three on board. ;October 7, 1935: United Airlines Flight 4, a 247D (c/n 1698), went down about west of Cheyenne, Wyoming due to pilot error. Three crew and nine passengers killed, there were no survivors. ;October 30, 1935:United Air Lines Boeing 247D, ''NC13323'' (c/n 1704), crashed during an instrument checkflight near Cheyenne, killing the four crew members aboard. ;December 15, 1936:Seven died when Western Air Express Flight 6, a 247D,"Aircraft Accident Report, December 15, 1936 crash."
''Department of Commerce''. Retrieved: November 8, 2009. en route from

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

via

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, crashed just below Hardy Ridge on Lone Peak in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. The major parts of the aircraft were hurled over the ridge and fell over into a basin below. ;December 27, 1936: United Airlines Trip 34, a 247D (c/n 1737), crashed at the head of Rice Canyon,

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

, due to pilot error; all 12 on board died. ;January 12, 1937 : Western Air Express Flight 7, a 247D (c/n 1696) flight from Salt Lake City to Burbank, crashed into a mountain near Newhall, California, killing five. Among the dead was Martin Johnson of

Martin and Osa Johnson Martin Elmer Johnson (October 9, 1884 – January 13, 1937) and Osa Helen Johnson (née Leighty, March 14, 1894 – January 7, 1953) were married United States, American adventurers and documentary filmmakers. In the first half of the 20th centur ...

fame (adventurers, authors, and documentary filmmakers). ;August 13, 1937 :A 247 being operated by the Luftwaffe's proving ground at Rechlin (formerly ''D-AKIN'' of

, c/n 1944) crashed at Hannover, Germany, during a test flight, killing seven of eight on board. The aircraft was being used as a testbed for an experimental autopilot. ;March 13, 1939: A SCADTA 247D, ''C-149'', crashed near Manzanares, Caldas, Colombia, killing all eight on board. ;February 27, 1940 :A SCADTA 247D, ''C-140'', struck El Mortino mountain near Tona, Santander, Colombia, killing all 11 on board. ;July 30, 1942:A Northwest Airlines C-73, ''42-68639'' (c/n 1717, former NC13335), crashed and burned on takeoff from Wold Chamberlain Field, near

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota, killing all 10 on board.

Surviving aircraft

;c/n 1699, ''CF-JRQ'' :Exhibited in

Canada Aviation and Space Museum The Canada Aviation and Space Museum () (formerly the Canada Aviation Museum (''Musée de l'aviation du Canada'') and National Aeronautical Collection (''Collection aéronautique nationale'')) is Canada's national aviation history museum. The m ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. Donated to the museum in 1967 by California Standard Oil of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. ;c/n 1722, ''N18E'' :Exhibited in the National Museum of Science and Industry,

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 road, A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junc ...

, UK ;c/n 1729, ''N13347'' :Static display, flown after restoration at the Museum of Flight Restoration Center,

Paine Field Seattle Paine Field International Airport — also known as Paine Field and Snohomish County Airport — is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in uni ...

, Snohomish County, Washington, USA, to the Museum of Flight main facility on 26 April 2016 where it was subsequently installed in that museum's Air Park. ;c/n 1953, ''NC13369'' / ''NR257Y'' :Exhibited in the Hall of Air Transportation at the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, USA, with United Air Lines colors and registration as ''NC13369'' on its right fuselage and wing and as ''NR257Y'' with MacRobertson Air Race markings on its left side.

Specifications (Boeing 247D)

Notable appearances in media

Notes

Bibliography

* * Bowers, Peter M. ''Boeing aircraft since 1916''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1989. . * Bryan, C.D.B. ''The National Air and Space Museum''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1979. . * Fernandez, Ronald. ''Excess Profits: The Rise of United Technologies.'' Boston, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1983. . * Gould, William. ''Boeing'' (Business in Action). Bath, Avon, UK: Cherrytree Books, 1995. . * Mondey, David, ''The Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II''. London: Chancellor, 1996. . * Pearcy, Arthur. ''Douglas Propliners: DC-1–DC-7''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1995. . * ''Pedigree of Champions: Boeing Since 1916, Third Edition''. Seattle, Washington: The Boeing Company, 1969. No ISBN
WorldCat
* Seely, Victor. "Boeing's Grand Old Lady." ''Air Classics'', Vol. 4, No. 6, August 1968. * Serling, Robert J. ''Legend & Legacy: The Story of Boeing and its People''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. . * Taylor, H. A. "Boeing's Trend-Setting 247". '' Air Enthusiast'', No. 9, February–May 1979, pp. 43–54. . * Taylor, H. A. "Talkback". ''Air Enthusiast'', No. 10, July–September 1979, p. 80. * van der Linden, F. Robert
''The Boeing 247: The First Modern Airliner''.
Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1991. . Retrieved: July 26, 2009. * Yenne, Bill. ''Boeing: Planemaker to the World''. New York:, Crescent Books, 1989. .

External links

Film of United Airlines Boeing 247 NC13364 taking off from Vancouver Airport 1934

* ttp://www.acepilots.com/pioneer/boeing_247.html Boeing Model 247: First modern airliner
"From Mock Up To Latest Airliner," ''Popular Mechanics'', October 1932, early article on future Model 247

"Keeping Them In The Air" ''Popular Mechanics'', July 1935 photos and colored artwork of 247 pp.9–16

Maintenance & service manual for the Boeing Model 247 transport airplane
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The Museum of Flight Digital Collections
{{Authority control 247 1930s United States airliners Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear