Jumbo: The Making of the Boeing 747

In 1968, the biggest passenger jet the world had ever seen premiered in Everett, Washington. The giant plane was called the Boeing 747, but reporters named it “the Jumbo jet.”

There was only one problem. It couldn’t fly. Yet.

Jumbo details the story of the world’s first wide-body passenger jet, which could hold more people than any other jet at the time. The Boeing 747 introduced new technologies to the aviation industry and played a pivotal role in middle class families affording travel overseas.

With an innovative design, the Jumbo jet took its first flight on January 22, 1970, taking passengers from New York to Paris in seven hours.