In the years following the Second World War, technological advancements and the rising need for mass transportation led to the democratization of air travel. Flight was no longer an extravagance, but a simple feature of everyday life. To match the growing demand of the post-war Jet Age, Pan Am commissioned Boeing to build the 747, the largest commercial airliner in the world. The plane’s size and innovative design transformed aviation, making long-distance flights more affordable and accessible to the public.

Designed and built in just two years and four months, the 747 was a feat of engineering. The original craft measured over 70 m (231 ft) long with a wingspan of 59.6 m (195 ft), making it one of the largest passenger planes in the world, and the first to earn the “Jumbo Jet” moniker. Unveiled in 1968, the plane set many records in the decades that followed, including the fastest commercial flight between London and New York at five hours, topping out at 825 mph when propelled by an exceptionally strong tailwind.

The 747 was principally designed by lead engineer Joe Sutter, who began his career at Boeing just as the company and its competitors pivoted to commercial flight. As a part of the company’s aerodynamic unit, Sutter worked on the 707, a revolutionary jetliner that boasted swept wings to cope with Mach phenomena as an object approaches the speed of sound, and four fanjet engines designed by Pratt & Whitney that carried the plane on intercontinental long-haul flights

First flown in 1957, the 707 spawned off other commercial jetliners like the 727 and 737, but by 1965, the plane that had inaugurated the Jet Age proper was increasingly obsolete. It was then that Pan Am commissioned Boeing for the next generation of commercial flight, with Sutter at the helm as director of engineering, overseeing a team of over 4,000. Juan Trippe, Pan Am’s founder, envisioned a double-decker plane, but eventually acquiesced to Sutter’s more practical single-story aircraft, as long as it could transport at least 350 passengers.

To accommodate Pan Am’s desired seat numbers, the single-story 747’s fuselage was to be 20 ft wide, twice the diameter of any previous plane. This would meet Pan Am’s goal and allow the 747 to be used for freight transportation as well. Its wings, swept at a pronounced 37.5 degrees, were designed to counter wind resistance and achieve speeds up to Mach .85, or 85% of the speed of sound. The engines were all-new high bypass ratio turbofans, where most air bypasses the engine core, allowing for more air intake and generating greater thrust.

From the outset, the 747 was an underdog at Boeing. Even its launch seemed fated for failure, coming in the midst of an economic recession during which Boeing sold no planes to domestic airlines. The commercial aircraft industry assumed supersonic flight was the future, and the 747 was intended to be a transitional product before Boeing unveiled its competitor to the European-built Concorde: the supersonic 2707. Yet, in just a few years, the 747 was dominating the skies, ferrying passengers across the world.