Boeing Model 1

Worthy of brief mention as the very first of the long line of Boeing aircraft, the Model 1 was known also as the B & W. Its design was the result of a collaboration between William E. Boeing and a friend, Cdr G.C. Westervelt of the US Navy, and the B & W designation recognised this association. Of wood and fabric construction, extensively strutted and wire-braced, the Model 1 was an unequal-span biplane, with ailerons on the upper wings only. The fuselage, mounted directly on the lower wing, had two open cockpits in tandem, and carried at the rear a tail unit that was a typical braced structure of its period. Power was provided by a Hall-Scott engine mounted in the nose of the fuselage to drive a tractor propeller. Floatplane landing gear included two single-step floats, strut-mounted and braced beneath the fuselage, plus a small float under the tail to prevent disaster in a tail-down landing.

The first of two Model 1s was flown initially on 29 June 1916, by which time Cdr Westervelt had been posted to the other side of the American continent. William Boeing decided, therefore, to establish a company to build these aircraft, and his Pacific Aero Products Company was founded on 15 July 1916. The first company to incorporate the Boeing name, the Boeing Airplane Company, was formed on 26 April 1917. The two Model 1s, construction numbers 1 and 2, were sold to the New Zealand government.