Research Paper

William Edward Boeing: A True Game Changer

Introduction

Over time, people have been able to advance the technology that we use daily, and thanks to this, most of society today depends greatly on airplanes. People use airplanes to meet up with friends, family, and business partners, visit tourist attractions, etc. Most people also use Amazon to buy and obtain various necessary products. Airplanes need to be used to get those products delivered to their accorded destinations. Many different airplane companies help all this happen, such as the Boeing Company, one of the biggest airplane manufacturers in the world. Without the Boeing Company, traveling and getting packages would probably be greatly more challenging. Thankfully, this is not the case, and it all came from one man named William Edward Boeing. William E. Boeing was the founder of the Boeing Company, and his ideas and contributions to making planes were what turned out to be game-changers to the industry and the world.

Early Life

The beginning of the great man that is known today as William E. Boeing traces back to a man named Wilhelm Boeing. According to the “Biography of William E. Boeing,” Wilhelm “had a lust for adventure”. Because of this, he traveled to the United States when he was 20 after serving in the military for a year (Clark). Wilhelm probably got this “lust for adventure” while in the military. After some time, Wilhelm worked in the lumber industry, which led him to join with Karl Ortman, who was the father of Marie, Wilhelm’s future wife. This couple had a total of three children and, according to Joseph Noronha, “William Edward Boeing was born on October 1, 1881, in Detroit, Michigan, USA.” Marie and Wilhelm had two other children named Caroline and Gretchen, both younger than William (“Biography of William E. Boeing”). This family lived happily for some time, but when William was only eight years old, his father died of influenza, which he got from a trip from New York at the age of 42 (Harrow). Caroline was five years old and Gretchen was three years old at that time (“Biography of William E. Boeing”). William E. Boeing was later sent to a Swiss boarding school. This happened after his mother married another person, a doctor from Virginia, who William didn’t like at all (Harrow). William also went to Yale University as part of his education and later took the timber business just like his father had done (“Biography of William E. Boeing”). Later, William began his fascination with aircraft when he first saw a plane (Noronha). His fascination led him to try to ride an airplane at an airshow (Clark). This newfound interest in William Boeing would eventually lead him to make his own company, which would be a huge success over time.

Beginning of Career

William Boeing’s beginning in his career probably started due to being influenced by somebody. It is not well-known who influenced William Boeing to start a company in the aviation business, but the person that most likely affected Boeing was his father because he had a strong relationship with him (Harrow). His father did not work in aviation, but his relationship could have persuaded Boeing to succeed in his interest. Many events led William to start his career, starting with seeing an airplane for the first time and finding fascination with it (Noronha). After this moment, William went to the first significant airshow (Harrow). After being in the airshow, thanks to a man named Thomas Hamilton, Boeing met G. Conrad Westervelt, a United States Lieutenant in the Navy. Boeing and Westervelt became close friends and later partners in business. (“Biography of William E. Boeing”). It is important to know that without Thomas Hamilton having Boeing and Westervelt meet, the Boeing company possibly would not be as successful today since Westervelt was a significant influence in many decisions on the future company. William had his first flight on July 4, 1914, which led him to learn to fly in a flying school in October 1915 (Noronha). The name of the flying school was in Los Angeles and named Gleen L. Martin Flying School. In the same year, Boeing bought a Martin TA floatplane. The plane did not work very well, so he made some modifications such as a better pontoon, but the plane crashed. Because of this, he made a new plane with the help of George Conrad Westervelt, known as the B & W Seaplane, which had 2 pontoons and was impractical at that time (Harrow). After a successful flight on June 15, 1916 (Harrow), they founded the Pacific Aero Products Company on July 15, 1916. After Westervelt had to leave for the east when the Navy ordered him, the company’s name was changed to the Boeing Company on May 9, 1917 (Clark). Perhaps the event that most likely started Boeing’s future career was when the Martin TA floatplane because this led him to make his first plane, but the event that introduced him to the field of aviation was when he made the Pacific Aero Products Company with Westervelt. William learned from the plane crash to make a better one, so this is also significant to his career. Having Westervet leave was probably the hardest problem because he was his engineer, but William was able to solve this important problem in the future of his career (Harrow).

Significant Accomplishments 

William Edward Boeing had many accomplishments that have led him to be known all around America to this day. He established the airplane company that we know today as the Boeing Company. His company is now the “world’s largest aerospace company, a leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems.” according to Joseph Noronha. After founding his company, Boeing was pushed by his friend George Conrad Westervelt to sell planes to the Navy because Westervelt thought that the United States would enter World War 1 (Clark). This idea that Westervelt gave to Boeing led to Boeing’s first accomplishment, his first contract (Harrow). Boeing was ready to start building but since his friend Westervelt had left, he needed a new engineer so “Boeing addressed this problem by offering to build a wind tunnel for the University of Washington if, in return, they would establish a course for aeronautical engineering and send the most qualified graduates to Pacific Aero Products” according to Anders Clark. Also according to Anders Clark, “on May 9th, 1917, Pacific Aero Products became known as Boeing Airplane Company ''. Wong Tsu, one of Boeing’s engineers, sent two Boeing Model 1’s to the Navy, but since the Navy had a different belief of Westervelt, they rejected the offer. The Navy had another belief than Westervelt because, unlike him, they thought that they wouldn’t need them for World War 1 (Harrow). Wong Tsu made a new plane called the Boeing Model C, and these were sent to the Navy, which ordered fifty more of these planes, securing Boeing’s first contract (Clark). Another major accomplishment was making Boeing Plant 1, in which these fifty Navy planes were built. The Boeing Plant 1 was made from the Heath Shipyard (Clark) located “on the Duwamish River'' according to Christopher Harrow. After World War 1 ended, Boeing was having trouble surviving because new planes were not selling, so he started to sell furniture to dodge bankruptcy. This led Boeing to make its first plane designed to carry mail. Airmail contracts had been released, and Boeing won the bid for a contract when he proposed the idea of using air to cool the engine of a plane rather than using water (Clark). This was one of the revolutionary ideas that led him to succeed in the plane industry. Boeing designed and built the Model 40A, which had been designed for airmail and could only carry two people (Clark). This was the “first successful commercial aircraft” according to Christopher Harrow. It is important to note that the post office that used this eventually canceled all contracts, which led to Boeing making a separate company called Boeing Air Transport (Harrow). William Boeing also accomplished making his first plane designed only to carry passengers (Harrow). This plane was called the Model 80 plane and first flew on July 27, 1928. Then a better version was made, the Model 80A, which has additional features such as a reading lamp and toilet (Noronha). Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of Boeing was when he fused all his other companies into one. Boeing had made different other companies such as Boeing Air Transport. He also bought manufacturing companies, and many more, which led him to fuse all of these into a single company called United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (Clark). From here also came the biggest problem, which was that the government of the United States thought that he was making a monopoly, so the Air Mail Act was passed on July 12, 1934, which forced Boeing’s company into different smaller ones. Boeing retired but did not stay away entirely from his company (Clark). Boeing accomplished many other things that contributed to his success, but eventually, his luck ran out. Even though his luck ran out, he did not leave the plane industry without leaving a mark on it.

Impact on the World

William Boeing’s decisions and actions with the Boeing Company were visibly game-changers in the aerospace industry and have made a great impact in the United States of America, and in many ways, his impact was positive on the industry and the people of America. Starting with the industry of airplanes, Boeing’s impact on it could be considered positive since he constructed many planes with new, impractical ideas such as using air to cool down an airplane engine (Clark) or using two pontoons on a seaplane rather than one (Harrow), which means that he changed the plane industry. The United States benefited from Boeing’s work in this area by using his planes during World War 1 (Clark) so you could say that he changed the war field too. Boeing impacted America and the world because the company that he had founded eventually made “the company’s first jet airliner” according to Christopher Harrow. Boeing obviously did a lot more, but these impacts that he left could be considered to be the most important and well-known. It is clear that William Boeing’s new, revolutionary ideas and creativity truly left an important impact not only on America but on the world that we know today.

Lessons Learned from their Life

William Edward Boeing possessed many characteristics that truly left a great impression on who he was. According to the Biography of William Boeing, he had characteristics such as “perfectionism, attention to detail, and high standards”. These characteristics are what brought him success in his work. His ability to keep everything as perfect as possible is probably the most important trait that he possessed during his entire career. Without keeping everything as perfect as possible, his companies and airplanes might not have been as successful. His other traits were also a key part, but perfectionism could be considered the most significant one. Boeing learned lessons from his struggles of the past such as the death of his father, but he was able to keep going and learned that perseverance will eventually pay off. This can be applied to the life of anyone by simply keeping hope and persevering through all obstacles in life.  Many things turn William Edward Boeing into someone to look up to, but as mentioned before, perseverance was the most valuable lesson that he learned. This valuable lesson is what makes Boeing someone to look up to and admire. William Edward Boeing was truly a person that we can look up to, admire, and thank for all his contributions to the modern world. He truly was a game-changer.