747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet

747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation by Joe Sutter and Jay Spenser (2006). The book is the autobiography of Joe Sutter, a Seattle native and World War II Naval officer who grew up loving aviation and, in 1965, while still relatively young, was appointed Boeing's chief design engineer for the world's first jumbo jet, the Boeing 747. The project began as important but not the main focus of Boeing. But by the time of the rollout of the first 747 airframe, the entire company had bet its future on Sutter and the viability of the 747. Sutter goes on talk about the interesting design variations that filled out the 747 family, and how that family continues to grow and improve several decades on. In addition to the 747, Sutter shares about his life and family, about his work on other Boeing airframes and about his appointment by President Reagan to the Rogers Commission to investigate the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

This book describes yet another group of folks who found themselves in an exciting and difficult position, and how they rose to the challenges and persevered. If you have an interest in aviation or history in general, I highly recommend this read.

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