The William E. Boeing Story - A Gift of Flight is the first-ever full-length biography of William E. Boeing; the father of commercial aviation. Boeing's story is an exciting one complete with bootleggers, kidnappers and a disastrous run-in with President Franklin Roosevelt and future Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. Boeing's story covers every aspect of early aviation starting with his first ride in a balloon in 1896 to the christening of the revolutionary jet-powered Dash-80 / 707 in 1955. Along the way, Boeing developed some of the world's most iconic airplanes including the P-26 Peashooter, the Boeing 247, the B-17 Flying Fortress and the mighty B-29 Superfortress. The Boeing Family gave author David D. Williams unprecedented access to the Boeing Family Archives which contained thousands of never before seen photos, diaries, and personal letters. This treasure trove of primary sources allowed Williams to create an extraordinarily vivid and accurate portrait of this influential yet private man.
David Williams is the Executive Director of the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum near Seattle. He has been involved in powerboat racing his whole life. Through his work with the Museum, he has restored over a dozen famous race boats and has become one of the world's foremost authorities on powerboat racing. He has been driving race boats for over 45 years and was the primary stunt driver for MGM powerboat-themed film "Madison." He has written extensively about motorsports and aviation. The William E Boeing Story is his tenth book.
Introduction; Prologue Bombs Away, 1915; Part I: The Beginning, 1889-1910: 1 Taconite; 2 Boarding School; 3 Wheel, Heels and Sand; 4 Wood Smoke and Rain; 5 Taking Wing; 6 A City Built of Wood; 7 In the Wake of the Great White Fleet; 8 Imposter!; 9 Rancho Dominguez; 10 The Oxbow Plant; Part II: Aeroplanes Are Your Best Defense, 1914-1918: 11 First Flight; 12 Preparedness; 13 Soloing; 14 Raided!; 15 Lawyers; 16 Mallard and Bluebill; 17 Pacific Aero Products Company; 18 University of Washington; 19 The Patent War; 20 The Zimmermann Telegram; 21 Telegram for Mr Boeing; 22 Spanish Flu; Part III: Growing Pains, 1919-1928: 23 The Hard Struggle; 24 Weaving Spiders Come Not Here; 25 Tell the Junk Man to Cart It All Away; 26 B-1; 27 Wet vs Dry; 28 Airplanes Not Cement Sidewalks!; 29 Dearly Beloved; 30 Whispering Wires; 31 Round Up!; 32 The Engine is the Machine; 33 Mr Boeing Goes to Washington; 34 Meeting the President; Part IV: The Great Depression, 1929-1933: 35 Near Death!; 36 Painful Progress; 37 A Million Angles; 38 Pratt & Whitney; 39 Depression; 40 The Monomail; 41 The Silent Queen on the Upper Deck; 42 Dangers at Home; 43 FDR; 44 Model 247; 45 Nitroglycerin; Part V: The Break Up, 1933-1938: 46 Money Matters; 47 Senate Hearing; 48 Not Worth a Nickel; 49 Project A; 50 Gone Fishing; 51 Flying Fortress; 52 Aloha; 53 The Sport of Kings; Part VI: The War Years and After, 1939-1956: 54 The Failure of Peace; 55 In God's Good Time; 56 Boeing Bombers Blast Battleship!; 57 A Day That Will Live in Infamy; 58 Back in the Fight; 59 This Terrible Game of War; 60 Superfortress; 61 Farm Life; 62 Aftermath; 63 Run for the Roses; 64 The Boeing Brand; 65 Bombing the Stadium (Again); 66 "Festung Europa"; 67 Another Empty Chair; 68 Silverplate; 69 VE-Day and VJ-Day; 70 Blue Skies and Tailwinds; Epilogue; Appendix Bill Boeing and Race; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.
