HISTORIC AIRPLANES: Boeing Aircraft

In 1925 Boeing produced its first transport airplane, Model 40 (M-40), a single-engine craft. Its successor, M-40A, built in 1927, was the first mail and passenger carrier. The company's trimotor craft, the M-80, was produced the next year. In 1930 the company introduced its streamlined Monomail airplane. Although this craft was not produced in numbers as large as the M-80, it represented another step forward in the company's airmail transportation system.

Still enjoying a series of profitable airmail contracts, Boeing was able to increase its passenger service. The B 247 twin-engine airplane, built in 1933, carried 10 passengers, 18 fewer than the M-80 could carry. The smaller passenger capacity represented an acknowledgment that passenger traffic had not grown as quickly as hoped. Until it did, Boeing and other airline companies continued to rely on airmail funds for survival and growth.

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