How the Boeing 247 Took Out FORD planes To invent the DC-3

Video from the channel Aero Space about Boeing 247, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:53. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A documentary about the Boeing 247 and its role between the Ford Trimotor and the Douglas DC-3. It argues that in 1933 Boeing built the most advanced airliner of its time, but that reserving the first units for United Airlines pushed its competitors toward Douglas.

In the 1920s, US government airmail routes propped up the airlines, and the Ford Trimotor, with its corrugated metal skin, three engines and fixed landing gear, was the backbone of companies such as United, TWA and American. By the early 1930s, all-metal monocoque construction, variable-pitch propellers and retractable landing gear were maturing. Boeing combined those techniques in the 247, but delivered the first 60 production units exclusively to United, part of the same corporate group. Jack Frye of TWA asked Douglas for a better aircraft; that request led to the DC-2 and later the DC-3, championed by American Airlines for its sleeper service.

The 247 had a smooth metal fuselage, retractable gear and two Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines, and could cross the United States in under 20 hours. It carried 10 passengers, compared with 14 on the DC-2 and 21 on the DC-3. A more powerful variant saw little demand. The 247 remained in United's fleet until the late 1930s and later served military and utility roles during the war.